Tag Archives: opinion

A plow clears my driveway as a winter storm covers the landscape in blowing snow.

Respect, don’t Fear, the Weather

Watching winter storm “Hunter” — thank you Weather Channel, like winter storms needed names — drop a dense snowy blanket outside my dining room window, should I be glad this isn’t a “bombogenesis,” “snowpocalypse” or “snowmageddon?”

We love to be afraid of the weather, maybe in the same way we love horror films. We all like a good scare. But bombarded with media messages of weather fear, that occasional scare has become a constant drone of weather worry. We’re inured to it; our children are basted in it.

What’s the problem? Fear leads to bad decisions. Worry wears us down and inures us to real dangers.

And there are dangers out there to judge, to weigh, to consider.

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The Great Adirondack Eclipse

A solar eclipse in stages.

A solar eclipse in stages.

Now that the “Great American Eclipse” and all that solar hoopla is over, let’s turn our attention to the April 8, 2024, solar event: The Great Adirondack Eclipse.

On the afternoon of that early spring day, a total solar eclipse will be viewable from almost all of the Adirondacks and northern New York.

Draw a line from Plattsburgh to Watertown and you’ll have the path of totality.

So if you are in Saranac Lake, Lake Placid or hiking in the High Peaks that day, you’ll see it. Of course the path of totality also includes Burlington, Syracuse and a big swath of the central and southern United States as the eclipse track heads through Dallas and into Mexico. But in the interest of marketing, let’s ignore that.

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Brigid fishing at camp on Chateaugay Lake

Return to an Adirondack Camp

If you have a cottage or camp or second home in the mountains, on a lake or at the seashore, you’ll recognize this idea: Going to camp isn’t about exploring, its about returning.

When I write “camp” I don’t mean camping in a tent or summer at sleepaway camp. Those are great experiences. But camping is about exploring and summer camp is about a time of life.

Returning to an Adirondack Camp is like returning to a home that is more than a home.

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Welcome to Adirondack Dad

I love the Adirondacks.

No, we don’t have the grandeur of the Tetons or the rhythm of the seashore. But we do have startling beauty, wonderful access and a nature ethic that builds on a history recreation and family fun.

Jack Downs

Jack Downs

And I love being a dad. I’m an older dad now, with two girls in college and one entering middle school. This blog is an attempt to look back at my years with kids outdoors and look forward in ways that I hope some of you will find helpful.

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