The Duck Family, Fourth Lake

There is a natural rhythm and pattern to life in the Adirondacks. You notice it everywhere. The loons call out for their mates, the lone loon left behind calls out in desperation. The ducks appear every year with a new brood, visiting us on our beach. When our house was finished, the animals seemed curious and came to the house to visit us, check out the new place. We had not just ducks but a baby bear, too many deer, and birds of every sort. We even have an eagle, though we have never seen it. The eagle's nest is high up in the tallest tree in the property. It looks like a giant football perched firmly on a strong branch. The mail boat stops and points it out to tourists, as the new duck family drifts past them.

Blackie, Our Baby Black Bear

Black bears are a part of life in the Adirondacks. We just don't want them in our garage eating packages of Hostess "donuts" left around by the caretaker. This little guy visited us briefly and scared the hell out of my little brother Rob. On another day, the bear and his mother visited Penwood, took a bag from McDonald's from a tractor and ate french fries while watching the workmen build our house. Still, I like them far better than the deer, which love to eat our plants, and are beginning to push me over the brink. My father had the grand idea of putting a salt lick out on an old tree stump to feed the deer. Now they think they own Penwood and have been tearing through the plant life like crazy. We'll take a baby Black bear over deer any day.