In Limbo

In Limbo

Illustration by Alison Haas The continued—and heartbreaking—search for the missing “I hate nature.” He said it as we sat in a college classroom, our desks pushed into a circle. I had just explained that our semester would focus on reading and writing about the natural...
Seeing Clearly

Seeing Clearly

Urban vs. rural reality Ten o’clock on a Friday night we rode the escalator up, out of Pennsylvania Station in New York City. We’d made the two and a half–hour drive from our home in the Adirondacks to the Amtrak station outside of Albany, then another two-plus hours...
Taking Off

Taking Off

Illustration by Mark Wilson When dreams are too big for the Blue Line Throughout 2019, in celebration of Adirondack Life’s 50th anniversary, we’re sharing an article per week from our archives—one for each year since 1970. In her October 2018 Short Carries column,...
Life Support

Life Support

illustration from iStock   Neighbors helping neighbors is the Adirondack way Three-year-old Michael Hart II loves mud puddles, the Power Rangers and playing soccer—things most kids his age embrace. But Michael’s also undergone heart surgery,* has low muscle tone,...
On the Road Again

On the Road Again

Illustration by Brucie Rosch   When home is six million acres Yesterday I hit a turkey in McCollums. I slowed my car as a half-dozen of them jogged across the highway. They passed, I accelerated, then, too late, a straggler appeared from a roadside curtain of...

A Piece of the Park

Half my life ago I spent summer weekends at a family camp on Lake Ozonia, with perch-catching extravaganzas, epic campfires and other multi-generational traditions. After that, while renting a place along Lake Placid’s Main Street, tourism—crowds, gift shops and...
Love My Neighbors

Love My Neighbors

Illustration by Mark Wilson   Even if they have three rows of eyes and eight legs A bug crawled in my ear during a High Peaks family camping trip last summer. I had been asleep an hour, snug in my sleeping bag, my husband and I on either side of our kids. I...