A New Perspective

For me, this weekend was different from anything I have experienced before in the Adirondacks.  The Adirondacks have always resembled my family, summer, hiking, and swimming.  This weekend I saw parts of the Adirondacks I had not before noticed.  I became more aware of the people and wildlife that inhabit the park.  The most interesting women I met was one of the women making yarn at the Adirondack museum.  She was an older woman from Germany who had come over “after the war”.  She was an incredibly interesting woman to talk to and so clearly passionate about her craft.  To me she embodied much of what we have studied about immigrants to the Adirondacks.  She was hardworking, optimistic, and actively maintaining tradition. 

This weekend was also one of the first times I had seen the Adirondacks as a place for agriculture.  I generally equate the Adirondacks with dense forests, but Asgaard proves that the Adirondacks can also embody rolling pastures and lush farmland if cared for properly.

I also enjoyed seeing the wildlife of the park that so often keeps itself hidden from the public eye.  Seeing fish, hummingbirds, red squirrels, and ducks is not uncommon, but the wolves, porcupines, otters, bobcats, coyote, and fox were all a rare pleasure.  I do wonder though why some of the animals are there though if they are not injured or being reintroduced to the wild.  If the refuge is not a temporary home, is there some better place for these animals?  Or is there presence as ambassadors of their species reason enough to retain them?