Incredible work: View’s new photography exhibit a must see

I know winter official begins on December 22, however we normally see some signs of winter by October-but not this year.

This extended fall season has given some of us more time to prepare for the winter that will eventually come.

Folks in Denver are currently experiencing below 0 temperatures and the snow is falling. That storm may make its way east by the end of the week.

They keep forecasting snow in the area but so far there has hardly been enough to even cover the ground.

I’m not complaining. This week when I was out walking I saw frogs jumping into brooks. If it gets any warmer I’m sure the peepers will start calling.

The Beavers have been busy putting up some very big food piles. It doesn’t freeze up pretty soon they will get sour.

The birds are still feeding on natural stuff in the wild so not too many birds are coming to my feeder.

Today (12/5) I saw Black-capped Chickadees and Siskins working the cones at the top of a big Hemlock by the Green Bridge.

They had cleaned out the White Spruce cones by the parking lot and moved to the Hemlock cones which were the next to ripen.

Next to ripen will be the Larch and White Pine cones and during the winter the Red Spruce cones will be ready to eat.

I saw some White-winged Crossbills working on Black Spruce cones back in the Plains. Most of these birds feed silently and only let out small peeps or chirps.

The Black-capped Chickadees give them away as they almost always call and feed with these birds.

On the trail to Helldiver Pond I saw a couple Boreal Chickadees feeding along with their cousins and several Golden-crowned Kinglets.

I let out a few Sawhet Owl calls and these birds were right in my face.

While walking a road in the Plains on Saturday I saw Bear tracks by Red River and Moose tracks by the Moose River.

However, fifteen miles in I only saw three Deer tracks.

Hunters were on to two of them and I heard a couple shots in the big Plains, but that could have been a beer can that died.

I heard today that the price of gas is going down 9¢ to 10¢ a gallon. The word must have gotten out in Boonville and Lowville as their prices have been 12¢ to 15¢ cheaper ($3.52 the other day) than they are locally for over two weeks now.

On Thanksgiving day my son Jason told me about an owner of an electric Chevrolet Volt who in a year’s time hadn’t put any gas in it.

I would bet that all the owners who had to give their’s up in the buy back a few years back have purchased another one.

In last week’s column I reported an inaccurate date for the upcoming opening of the Old Forge Camera Club’s photography exhibit at View. The show will open the first week of January.

The current photography exhibit at View is called Adirondack View Finders.

Shows like this inspire me to do better as I always have my camera packed when I’m out and about.

To have most of the well known photographers in the Adirondacks showing some of their work in one place is great.

Showing some of their works of art are Nathan Farb, Nancy Battaglia, Mark Bowie, Carl Heilman, Johnathan Esper, Clark Lubbs, Lesley Dixon, John Radigan, Eric Dresser, Joe LeFevre and Carl Rubino.

It was nice to speak with some of the artists about their work at the opening last Friday night.

Johnathan Esper of Long Lake is new to me as a photographer. He climbs trees to take some of his panoramic landscapes which are spectacular.

Local photographer Clark Lubbs has some great shots in the show that he took in the area.

Clark is the co-founder of The Starving Artists Gallery in Old Forge.

When you go to the show you need to see Nathan Farb’s still shots and movies of the flooding in the north country during Hurricane Irene. It is being shown in the ECO Gallery. The power of water is unreal.

In addition to the photography show is an exhibit by Matt Horner of Keene, NY.

Horner has used local stones to create some of most impressive art work I’ve seen in a long time. He has polished rocks to a smooth finish and created bowls and dishes from them.

You need to see and feel this art work. Most of it is for sale so get in and check it out.

The Old Forge Aububon Christmas Bird Count is coming up, but that’s another story.