I stole this from my neice's blog (Henry's daughter). This is my brother when he was 38. His birthday was Friday so this was taken 21 years ago. The passage of time is an amazing event. This is a great picture. Everyone who reads Jen's blog has seen this, but my friends haven't. He's so skinny! But mostly he's full of joy. This is one of the ways I remember him. I also remember him at 50, which is good because I like calling up the image of how he was when he grew up. And we shared more because we were both grown up. or I was sort of. And he could enjoy the new improved me.

It's PANSY TIME!

It's PANSY TIME!
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

On my way to Plattsburgh from a meeting in AuSable Forks I stopped to get some pansies at my usual pansy place. SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM!! I fill a bowl/planter full of all one color of pansies, a mass monochromatic planting, different color each year. The bowl I use is plastic, though, and I broke it after it froze this winter. I broke a lot of things, very careless. Anyway, there are sooooo many colors to choose from. Pansies that are all one color? Bi-colored? Dark? Light? It was raining pretty hard, which may have hastened my decision. Also the owner came out to see what I was up to when he noticed me taking pictures of his flowers.

Perky little things

Perky little things
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

These were a definite possibility. Very pretty but maybe a little too perky. Sometimes I like something light and bright and other years I like to make a dramatic statement.

Anger eye?

Anger eye?
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

These were a possibility, but they were violas, tiny blossoms. Besides, when I took a closer look I decided I didn't really like them. Angel tiger eye too hard to say

odd combo

odd combo
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

You don't really think I'd pick these, do you?

Delta yellow blotch

Delta yellow blotch
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

And the winner is: Yes, it's Delta Yellow Blotch. Did I pick them because of the name? Now that I take a closer look at them, I think maybe. They look pretty in a bunch, though. Sometimes I buy a flat, take it home, change my mind and buy a second flat of a different color. Sometimes I do that after I've planted them all and I have to pull them all up and plant them somewhere else.

This year I must restrain myself, though--I have to get my finances in order. Yeah, this from the girl who has ordered a LOT of perennials already.

natalie

natalie
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

I got my hair cut this afternoon. Here's sort of what I had in mind. I want short hair (no, really I want the hair I had in college, very blonde and long, very very long) that's attractive and looks good on me.

hair

hair
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This would be perfect. Unrealistic, and I wouldn't look like this, but what a nice head of hair.

elizabeth

elizabeth
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is closer to what I ended up with

The Mountain

upland 004
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Here we go again--time to start taking pictures of Silver Lake Mountain.

I walked to camp Tuesday after work. Checked on all the buildings (no small task--6 cabins, main camp and my cousin's camp next door). All is well, no trees down, all buildings still standing.

Fred had said the ice might go out that day, but there was a little left.

I just missed the opportunity for a mirror shot of the mountain--the lake was like glass, but the dogs were thrilled to swim and ran ahead. After their swim their fur was really soft and shiny, free of winter's blech and smell. When they got out of the water they ran around really fast and Tess rolled in the duff. I've heard that dogs will roll on the ground when they're wet to make their coats cleaner. But then, I've heard a lot of things.

iceout

upland 025
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This turned out to be the last day there was ice on the lake. The ice went out yesterday, the 23rd. A little late but at least not May 1, which is really late. It's been very warm for 2 weeks now, but without a warm breeze it took longer.

proof positive

upland 034
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Here's a close up. The edges of the ice make a really nice sort of tinkling sound when it's like this. Too bad I missed it this year. Sometimes the dogs will swim through it, like icebreakers.

Large Print?

Large Print?
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is the sign above the door of my cousin's cabin. It was her mother's cabin and now it's hers. The name of the cabin is Upland, but winter has not been kind to the sign. I think this is really funny but I'm sure my cousin will take it very hard. So LP could mean Large Print--maybe I should swipe the sign and put it at the end of our LP stacks. Or LP could mean Lake Placid and my exhusbandthemayor might swipe it for his bedroom. Of course there is Long Playing, those albums we listened to. My cousin has a collection of those and could store them here. Oh, the possibilities of LP are endless.

Special place

Special place
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Here's what the front of the cabin looks like. The cabin sits on a little rise and has a great view into the woods with the lake beyond. It's right next to Main Camp, though, and every time someone goes in or out the door on the back porch it slams loudly and you hear it in this cabin (LP Land)

Swiss cabin

Swiss cabin
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is the last cabin in a string of 3 at camp (starting at the boat house). Each child of my father's generation had sleeping cabins built for them when they got married. This one was for my Aunt Frances (we called her Aunt Frankie. I wonder if she liked that? She never corrected us) and her husband Horace. Molly and I, in our impudent college years nicknamed them Pinky and Horrible. We had nasty names for all of our aunts and uncles. snotty snotty pooh pooh pants.

Anyway, myth has it that Frances did not want a cabin anything like the others so she insisted on hiring different builders. The rest were build by "boys from the mill." Hers was built by Swiss builders, hence the curved roof. Who knows if they were really Swiss, but they were NOT boys from the mill. Anyway, from this angle the cabin looks a little pathetic. It looks as if there should be a witch with an oven for little children inside. It's right on the water, though, so you can hear lake sounds all night. Very dark inside--very dark, sort of like Horrible was.

More water

upland 033
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is the Saranac River, outside of the village of Saranac Lake. I took it yesterday on my way home from the library there. This is supposed to be the Saranac River. This vista is just before the spot where I took last week's shots. The river has risen even higher--reports are that many bodies of water are about a foot above flood stage. I'm not sure what that means, but the water's high everywhere. And there's a ban on outside burning because everything's so dry. The grass is like tinder.

People here burn their grass in the spring because they believe it will grow back greener. I can sort of see that--it's the equivalent of raking up all that yellow, dead grass. Some of us also have burn barrels to burn our papers in. Guilty, me. We've had several house fires recently, a couple started by grass fires and a couple started by burn barrels. And one started by a grease fire in the kitchen. In that one the woman, in a wheelchair, managed to get 5 cats into their carriers and herd her 4 dogs out the door so all 9 pets were safe. Pretty amazing.

Two of the Town of Jay's fire trucks got stuck in the mud fighting one fire. Funny, but also not so funny. They had to declare a state of emergency so the town could go on private property to retrieve them. Oh, the things you learn in daily life.

Anyway, this is a pretty picture but I have no idea where the river is.

mountains and Saranac

mountains and Saranac
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

And here's a zoom-in on the scene. I don't know what the mountain peeking over the shoulder of the mountain in the foreground is, but it would make sense for it to be McKenzie--one of the mtns. seen at the head of Silver Lake.

I like discovering things in the frame that I didn't notice when I took the shot (although that is definitely not the sign of a good photographer). I didn't realize how green the trees in the foreground are. The camera distorts the colors, though, so I'm sure they're not that green. The poplars (popples) have tiny leaves (squirrels' ears?) now, so there is green out there for sure.

silhouette

silhouette
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

The view from the foot of Union Falls--plenty of open water, but plenty of ice, too.

I wish I could say I took this because the silhouettes matched, but it wasn't until I loaded the image that I noticed it. In the foreground is the hill (whose name I forget) that's at the head of Silver Lake. Over its left shoulder is Cranberry Pond. You have to bushwhack to get to it. Ken used to fish there as a boy--he and a friend (here's where I'm embarrassed at failing to remember who it was, having been told this story dozens of times) would go there and spend the night under the boughs of a hemlock tree (hemlocks are one of my favorite trees, their boughs are feathery and the needles sort of drip down). They'd fish for bullhead and always brought back a pailful. Then--now get this--they'd dump the pail into Silver Lake. HAH! Sort of like planting ragweed on an asthmatic's lawn.

Everyone says they used to catch bullhead, but the water is really too cold to sustain a population, at least that's what I think. Anyway, no one has caught a bullhead, I don't think, for a long time. I caught one once, many years ago, fishing in a boat by myself. I yelled ICK! and cut the line, dropping the fish back into the water. Supposedly bullhead have spikes on either side of their heads and the myth is that you have to nail them to a board in order to skin them. Ken has a friend who brings him bullhead pretty often. Marty is a great fisherman, who brings perch, bass, smelt and those awful bullhead for Ken. They're always cleaned and pan-ready. Ken used to ask for bullhead for dinner until I finally told him I DON'T LIKE BULLHEAD. Icky consistency and tastes just like mud. "What? You don't like bullhead?" Anyway, I don't have to eat it anymore.

mystery peaks

falls 006
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

The two mountains in the distance are the two you see at the head of Silver Lake. I've always been told by the Rogers family that they are Ampersand (left) and Mckenzie (on the right) (I think). When I told this to Rush he of course doubted me. Then he thought about it and decided maybe I was right. Oh yeah, that thing Jamie always said, "You MIGHT be right." Used to drive me crazy, back when it was easy to drive me crazy, because I would feel that the unspoken end of that was "but I doubt it." Now I laugh when people say that. Like when people say "That's not a bad idea." The unspoken there is "But it isn't a good one, either."

Power

falls2
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is what the dam at Union Falls looks like right now. The power company generates electricity from this, although the only time it EVER looks like this is in the spring. I have a friend who monitors the generator--he does it from home, on his computer (he only lives about a tenth of a mile down the road anyway) and he says it takes 10 minutes a day.

Anyway, sometimes there's hardly any water, just a trickle coming over the dam. I wish my family could see it like this. Henry would have really liked it, and Molly would stand on the bridge, listening to the roar and getting wet from the spray. I think JP may have seen it this way

Downstream

Downstream
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

And here's what it looks like on the other side of the bridge, looking downstream. Other times of the year there's a small flow, sort of more like a big brook.

Aw shucks--

No one we know made it.

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spring flooding

spring flooding
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Almost every spring that we lived in Illinois my father would drive to a river or two where flooding had been reported. Either he was fascinated by the event or took pleasure in seeing it. Sometimes I thought he liked witnessing the misfortune of people who lived along the river, whose houses and land were flooded. Anyway, these drives were nice because they were times when he was cheerful and enjoyed exploring new places and seeing things with his family. The Kishwaukee and Rock Rivers were his favorites and you could always count on them for some good flooding. Sometimes we'd drive pretty far--he liked to go for drives in the country.

After I moved here I figured out why he was so interested in spring flooding. It's a big deal here. Every night on the news they report which rivers (and Lake Champlain) are near flood level, how many feet they are from flood level, and which roads are closed or dangerous. Sort of like an invitation to curiosity seekers like my father to hurry up, get in your car and get out there to take a look.

The AuSable River runs through the middle of AuSable Forks and very, very often runs over its banks when the ice goes out or the snowmelt comes down from the mountains. Right now the river is very high and the news reported some flooding in the Forks. Lake Champlain has reached flood level as well. Sometimes when this happens and the ice is just going out the water will deposit huge (I mean HUGE) chunks of ice on land, often in people's yards. The ice will be 1-2 feet thick and the chunks are sometimes 10 feet wide. I've always been happy not to live near a river. Some people get flooded out over and over but still live next to the river.

People do the same thing my father did in the Midwest--go for drives to check out the rivers. Running the roads is a year-round pastime here, but traffic really picks up in the spring. No, REALLY picks up. Especially Sunday afternoons. The road in front of Ken's gets really busy. Really busy being a relative term, of course.

trees in water

trees in water
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

I think one of the indicators of a real river flood was always tree trunks under water. I have no idea how deep the water is here, but it always looks so dramatic to see the trees rising out of the water--and to see black water like this. Nice reflection, too.

river is wide

river is wide
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

I don't think the current is a strong as it looks here. But I'm sure the water is a cold as it looks

we're on a road to nowhere

we're on a road to nowhere
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

There's really nothing on the other side of this bridge--no road, no path. My brother would say "What the fuck?"

pony

pony
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Ah, she's quite a pony, isn't she.

Willis house

Willis house
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is the Willis house, down the hardtop maybe 2 miles from my road. It was probably built at the end of the 1800's. Henry Willis, who lived here with his wife and daughter (both named Mary), was a bellhop at the Lake Placid Club. Sunday night he would walk to work in Lake Placid--we figure that's about 13-15 miles at least through the woods, over the mountains. Friday night he would walk home to spend time with his family. I asked Ken when this was and he said "I must have been 6 or so," which means it was around 1920. There were few, if any, cars in the neighborhood then. Still lots of horse traffic.

I can't watch the whole thing, but I like to watch some of the final games of basketball during March Madness. Last night I watched the overtime of the final (championship) game. I've been rooting for Kansas for the past couple of weeks and yes, Kansas won. It was exciting. Jamie always said college ball was more fun and exciting to watch than professional ball. I think he's right. Anyway, I had a good time and my team won.

Kansas came back from nine down in the final furious seconds. Kansas beat Memphis 75-68 in overtime. The Jayhawks are national champions

View from the dam at the foot of Union Falls, the next lake over from Silver Lake. It goes Taylor Pond, Silver Lake, Union Falls. Taylor Pond and Union Falls were created by dams. Anyway, this shows the process of iceout. The ice gets dark, you get excited, then there's open water. Silver Lake's ice is starting to get dark. That means the snow on top has melted. Yahoo! My date for the iceout pool is April 18. Ken and I went through the dates last night and he said probably no one has a real chance until around the 20th (he thinks). I said I hope it's the 20th because that's Bill's date. Ken is the judge. Every granule of ice must be out of the lake before a winner can be declared, and only Ken can decide when that is.

The mountain in the background is Catamount. The children in my family were always discouraged (if not forbidden) from climbing Catamount because "Doctor Webster's sister died climbing that mountain." Turns out tons of my friends routinely climb that mountain and Henry and Jenica climbed it, and no one died. It also turns out that Dr. Webster and his sister were bushwhacking, fooling around and not on the trail, she slipped on some rocks and yes, she did fall to her death. So much for terrifying children with horror stories.

The hill in the foreground is rocky bluffs on the other side and they are at the head of Silver Lake. They're famous--we've all been "up the bluffs" a gazillion times. There's a really pretty view from there. The boardwalk trail continues beyond to the top of the bluffs. I love looking down on the lake, watching the waves and even (sometimes) boaters. The fall color from there used to be spectacular. Not so great now, some logging's been done.

This is the view of Whiteface. There will be snow on Whiteface well into May. I'm not sure if they're still skiing on the mountain, but they were last weekend. Must be about time to call it quits. There's that dark ice.

Looking up the Saranac River from the Cadyville beach. This is one of the last spots where the ice goes out. Most of the river upstream is flowing along. The river's high from spring runoff, really cool to see. Cadyvill beach is where we took our canoes out when we went on those famous canoe trips. It's also famous to Liza and me because it's where I left my brand new Docksiders when I was in college. I loved those shoes and was so proud of them--I bought them at the Sperry outlet in Naugatuck, Conn. with my friend Teddy.

Teddy was a lot of fun. My roomate Sally and I helped him get through college. We were pretty sure he had a reading disability so we used to take what he'd written for a paper and turn it into a real paper. Teddy drove Formula 4 race cars (the Indy 500 cars are Formula 1). His hero was Peter Revson, who was killed during a race while we were in college. That was really sad. Teddy used to sign his Christmas cards "Peter Revson."

Sally and I were roomates all four years of college but ours was not a good relationship. She was from Ohio so we had our childhoods sort of in common. The first 3 years were great and we had a great time. We had a love/hate relationship our senior year and it was terribly difficult. We knew we cared deeply for each other but we'd lost the ability to communicate and there were other relationships that complicated things. After college it got even worse. First we got an apartment in Bridgeport (where we went to college), then we both found other places to live with other people (I lived in a great house in Westport with Teddy and another friend). Things got worse. Sally went to law school and I went to library school and we saw each other once. Sally died in a car accident on her way home from school her second year in law school. It was such a hard thing for me to deal with, and I didn't fly to Cleveland for her funeral. That was when I learned that it's good to go to a person's funeral because, though you may not be glad you did, there's always a chance you'll regret it if you don't. It would have meant a lot to her parents if I'd gone, and it would have meant a lot to me if I'd gone. For years I had a hard time accepting her death. I think of her fairly often and wish I could share my life experiences with her.

No shit, Sherlock.

Here's that famous view of Alder Book that my family likes to see. The ice is out and the brook is gurgling along. Really pretty. The camera made it look dark that day because the sun was incredibly dark. What a huge difference it makes with the sun so high in the sky now.

And here's what it looks like in the other direction. Does this look like spring or what? Oh yes, it does, believe it or not.

spring!

spring!
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This is not the river this morning. This is what it looked like on a cold March morning. It doesn't look much different today, the first day of April. We'll see what April brings.

indecision

indecision
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

I never have a choice to make about this--I'm always coming FROM Redford (with coffee in hand) and going TO Cadyville. When we were children (and into our teens) we would take canoe trips down the Saranac River. My grandfather was the reason for the trips. Eugene, the jack of all trades, would load the wood and canvas canoes (which weighed at least 75 pounds but were beautiful) into his truck and on top of our station wagon and we would launch them in Saranac. Sometimes the river was so shallow we'd have to get out and walk along side the canoes. We'd get out at Cadyville, where Eugene would be waiting for us. We never thought it could be done differently--someone else would take care of the details. Then we grew up and had to figure out the logistics of a canoe trip. Where's Eugene? my family still says.

March sun

geodon 011
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

This was taken a week ago, when it was 4 degrees. Today it's 40 and there was mist on top of the snow when I left for work. The air smelled like wet dirt (as opposed to mud), one of my favorite smells. It means that somewhere snow is melting and bare ground is emerging. Even the cat was interested in the process. She bolted out of the house and will spend the day outside.

funny man

funny man
Originally uploaded by woodsrun

Proof that a doctor can have a sense of humor--

I have good news: because of the new diagnosis of AD*D we're going to try dropping one of the meds I've been taking since 2002. One that may be responsible for my inability to lose weight. LET'S HOPE SO. And let's ignore the obvious lack of exercise as the chief reason. Anyway, starting to taper off today and it will take about 6 weeks to rid body of evil substance, cutting down 20 mg a week. Cannot wait and extremely hopeful I won't notice a change of demeanor.

BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY:

Courtesty of Dooce:

Why aim for perfection when approximation is so much easier?

I love that. I think that's my life's motto. I've never thought I could even come close to perfection. The closest I ever considered I made it was with my baskets. I made some really beautiful ones. I have a talent for basketweaving and had a thriving business in the early 90's. Long story about that--attempt to have me do that full-time, etc. Of course it never worked out because I knew, even if J. wouldn't admit it, that we couldn't live without my librarian's salary and health insurance. But I digress. I love the process of making baskets, the emergence of something complex and totally different from what you start with. Most people can't figure out how baskets are made. Like putting together a Turkish puzzle ring. My siblings and I were adept at doing that from the age of 4, having lived in Turkey. My sister and I could do 8-band puzzle rings in a matter of seconds. Dubious distinction, that.

Anyway, baskets are great and I'm proud to be able to make some that are nearly perfect. Every one has a flaw, small maybe, but a flaw. Which is also great, proof that it's my work. People say that baskets can only be made by hand--there is no machine that can weave a basket. Who knows whether that's true or not, but think of the millions of baskets for sale in this country alone. Made by political prisoners in China, by poor women in Malaysia, by Mexican villagers. And still I buy some from time to time, just because I like their shapes, or the way they're woven. I tell myself it's time to start weaving again but I'm afraid weaving represents a certain sadness to me, a time in my life when expectations weren't met and there was too much disappointment. Plus the obvious: I was weaving daily from 6-midnight and all weekend. For wholesale prices. But I was proud of my work.