Lake Placid Notes

Current book news note:  I am more than halfway through The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. It has some novel twists and turns, it takes place in the Scottish Highlands, and is very creepy. Good for RIP, if you are doing that.
Now for Lake Placid Adventures:
I have taken getaways to Lake Placid at least five times since we moved to the Adirondacks in 2005. As I see it, it's a way to stay in the Adirondacks and do Adirondacky things (hiking, birding, skiing, snowshoeing, paddling) while having a taste of big-city life at the same time. That's its attraction for me.
When considering Lake Placid, it is crucial to note that it is unlike any other Adirondack village or town or locale. Lake Placid has an abundance of very wealthy residents (understatement), and that is probably the single factor that allows this place to be the unique Adirondack destination it is. This area is able to support one of the best independent bookstores I have ever had the pleasure of splurging in. I become literally insane when I visit and always spend more than $100 when I am there. This bookstore is well worth its own blog entry, and I will have to do that.  And to think I didn't take a photo while I was in the store!

The above photo is a view of Mirror Lake taken from the area near the Mirror Lake Inn, a very short walk from Main Street, Lake Placid. I arrived Monday morning and left Thursday morning. Monday, when this photo was taken, was a beautiful day, as was Tuesday, which I spent in Saranac Lake.

So what I've been trying to say is that Lake Placid is in no way representative of what the Adirondacks, that 6 plus million acre state park is really like. For fun, and for an expensive splurge, I recommend Lake Placid, but if you can visit the less posh, and much wilder and just as beautiful areas of the Adirondacks, please do.
While hiking up and down Lake Placid roads, I will confess that I did just a wee bit of trespassing to take a few shots of beautiful Lake Placid. Taking photos of Lake Placid is immensely difficult, I can tell you from my experience. If I may be blunt, the public is not supposed to take photos of Lake Placid, because ALL of its immense shoreline is privately owned. Although I'm grateful that many,  many Adirondack lakes are within the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and are all publicly owned New York State lands and open to everyone, I am bothered that Lake Placid and all of the immense shorelines of the various Saranac Lakes

are not among them. It is a shame that New York State, when it set aside lands for the Adirondack State Park and Forest Preserve, could not claim even a section of these absolutely gorgeous lakes.

 Mirror Lake Inn has luscious gardens.  In this one, I captured a photo of a frittilary butterfly on zinnias. We have had a monarch butterfly explosion here this late summer and September, but this is not one of those. I have misspelled frittilary,  sorry.  There were  loads of these in Lake Placid last sunny Monday.

A Brief Update before Lake Placid/Saranac Lake Photos

I thoroughly enjoyed a trip to Lake Placid earlier this week. Lake Placid in the summer is horrendously overcrowded. Why ever do people go there? So I went Monday, the week after Labor Day, and the area was still extremely busy, loads of people, but I was able to get a great off-season, mid-week rate on a great hotel, and had a lot of fun.

In my next post, I'll share a few photos and stories of my travels. I especially enjoyed my visit to Saranac Lake, 11 miles to the west of Lake Placid. Saranac Lake is one of the most historic towns in the Adirondacks,  because in the late 19th century and the early 20th century it was a world-renown center for the treatment of tuberculosis. I walked all over SL photographing the Victorian houses that boarded tubercular patients. The entire history is fascinating. I will post some of the most illustrative photos. I walked so many miles! And Saranac Lake is so hilly, I went up and down, up and down over and over, photographing houses.  Need to research this all some more.

Early September Update and My Apologies

I'm so grateful and felt so happy reading the good wishes from everyone who responded to my post about our new addition to our household,  our very special Golden girl Sandy.
It's hard to explain, but I have been so exhausted,  so unbelievably worn out since we've had her, that I've not had the energy until today to respond to everyone who responded to my last post with best wishes. Sorry! I really am so sorry.
As wonderful a dog as she is, Sandy has never lived in a house before now. She lived in a show kennel with lots of other dogs, exercised with them in paddocks and had gay times, so I'm amazed in a way at how quickly she's adapted to our household, to being a "house dog." But the adjustment has required a great deal of dedicated dog time.

Reading stats:
When I hit my bed at night, I literally crash into oblivion. So my reading has been SPOTTY.
And, I did not mention that from July 22 until August 25 I was wholeheartedly  involved in an online fiction writing course via The Adirondack Center for Writing.  Yes, I am working on a novel, for the umpteenth time in my life. My desk is full of novels and half-completed novels.
Anyway, I focused my whole heart and soul into this writing course and it was a wonderful experience with a great mentor and teacher, who writes YA fantasy novels. Her name is A.C. Gaughen.  Her prompts and special "pushiness" forced me into all the right places to get something accomplished, which amounted to a promising start on a novel. Not my first, by any means! 

Still, despite everything, I have managed to finish reading a superb Gothic YA novel, Dreaming Darkly by Caitlyn Kittredge (2018). Set on an isolated, scarcely inhabited Maine island, this novel is the best Gothic I have read for this age group. No wonder, as Kittredge spent the summers of her childhood on a small, isolated, barely habited Maine island. I thought it was excellent. But, remember, I am a devotee of all books Gothic. Full of unexpected twists and turns and unbearable suspense.

I have been listening to Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb, an excellent narrative by a therapist about what it is like to be in therapy and what it is like for her, the therapist, to be in therapy and to treat her clients in therapy. Acutely fascinating and well worthwhile. First class!