Adirondack Smorgasbord

Adirondack Smorgasbord
By John R. Greenwood

I love the Hudson River for many reasons. Most of them are within eyesight and earshot of my photograph of The Irving H. Densmore Memorial Bridge. The bridge spans the Hudson in the Village of Corinth and connects Saratoga and Warren Counties. I grew up a few miles south in Greenfield Center but my father loved north and hated south on the compass, so I became intimately familiar with the Hudson at an early age. I learned to swim, waterski, and fish in the waters on the north side of this span. I named this piece Adirondack Smorgasbord because of bounty that lies beyond this photo. Whether you love to hunt, fish, hike, or you just want raise a family you can find the best of the best of anything outdoors here. Living in this area all my life it's easy to take its offerings for granted. The main artery of the state and the Adirondack Park for me is the Hudson. It is the connector of all the small villages and tributaries that bind nature and people together. To me the Hudson denotes strength and resiliency. I only hope that all the money and effort that is being put in to the river over the last several decades will someday be appreciated by the generations following behind us.

I find a river more exciting than a lake. A river takes you somewhere and brings new things to you. It has more movement and change in its makeup. I've always wanted a home or a camp on the Hudson; a place to observe and absorb. Maybe one day that opportunity will arise. 

Watercolor of Corinth, NY by Jack Lewis
1962

I discovered a book a few years ago in the recesses of the Lyrical Ballad Bookstore in Saratoga. It's titled The Hudson River by Jack Lewis. Jack was a watercolor artist from Delaware. He died in 2012 at the age of 99. In the 1960's he spent a couple of summers traveling from the source of the Hudson in the High Peaks to New York's Battery Park where it empties in to the Atlantic. He would document a scene by painting a watercolor and then write a simple description of the day, the scenery, and the people he met. 

The book has become one of the favorites of my collection. I loved it so much I recently purchased a second copy--just because. It came in the mail the other day and I wrote about the stamp covered package that it was wrapped in.

Now you see why I was so thrilled at the two-fer I received.