Adirondack Family Time™

There is something about a parade that can take away the winter blues. Perhaps it is the eagerness of those that participate. Perhaps it is the friendly competition of costumes and floats that make one anxiously look around the corner to see who is coming next. Each group taking part in the parade is no more or less important than the next. Each process is different. For Petrova Middle School it has been a powerhouse of participation. With over ten dedicated teachers and 40-80 students, their contribution to the 50’s celebration will be fabulous. The art room at the middle school is filled with parade goodies. Cardboard cutout electric guitars rest against the wall and oversized record albums highlight hits from the 1950s. A giant jukebox ties all the elements together. Students slowly filter in throwing names out with familiarity built around weeks of work. A few students grab Lucy while others wrestle with Howdy Doody. The room is tight and gets smaller still as Marilyn and Elvis jo...

Raquette River - Stoney Creek loop Distance = 1 mile loop Elevation - n/a Vertical ascent - n/a Snowshoe = yes Cross-country ski = yes The first words to end peace in the family are “Are we there yet?” Gone are the years when we can just tell the kids we are almost there. My son can pinpoint landmarks like he is channeling a GPS. If we end up turning around and detouring, my son lists the waypoints necessary to obtain the final destination and yes, he is usually correct, we are not almost there. We spend an inordinate amount of time going in circles; to school, pre-school, store, work, back to school, pre-school, store and work. You can either remember those times or you are still so in it that you don’t realize that you are going in circles. Sometimes going in circles is frustrating while other times it is a peaceful journey. My husband piles the kids into the car and asks me to escape my work for a moment. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going. He kept saying, “You’ll enjoy...