Lake Placid, New York

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

My Econo Lodge accommodations are luxurious compared to what I’ve had for the past six weeks. A room with a view containing two double beds, a television with an endless number of channels to select from, coffee maker, bathroom and shower facilities, free WiFi internet access, plus continental breakfast as well. Luxury! Pure luxury! (Spoken with mock regional English accent.)

Lake Placid is right in the heart of New York State’s snow country. It reminds me of the small towns in the NSW and Victorian high country, like Thredbo and Falls Creek. Went for a lo-o-ong walk late in the evening into the Lake Placid village to explore the neighbourhood, as is my habit (I’m about a kilometer and a half out of the main village). After dinner I headed back to the hotel and in the dark and took a wrong turn and headed down an unlit road into the freezing Adirondack night. I thought, This doesn’t look or feel right, and after walking a couple of hundred metres in the dark with only the stars above to light my way, I turned back and quickly found the right road back to the hotel. I didn’t fancy being lost in almost zero degree temperatures in the Adirondacks that’s for sure.

Down the end of the main street there is a little park with seats and benches, and lawn running down at a fairly steep angle to the lake’s edge. There is also a small sound shell where four local musicians were performing old folk and country standards in the vein of Peter, Paul & Mary. Later I was sitting in the park having lunch in the late afternoon sun, and watching the world go by. Little kids were running around, and I it occurred to me how easy it would be for one of them to be running down the small hill with such momentum, that they would be able to stop themselves from falling into the lake, which was not fenced off at all. I kept wanting to say to several of them, “Stay away from the water”. And the phrase kept returning to my head, over and over. Before too long, I had started writing this song.

Don’t Go Down To The Water

© 2008. Jim Lesses. All Rights Reserved.

Chorus

Don’t go down to the water,

Stay away from the well.

Keep your eyes off the Taylor boy,

Or we’ll all be goin’ to… Well…

Nobody listens to Papa,

They’re always chidin’ at Ma.

Sittin’ there chewin’ t’bacca,

Nursin’ that ol’ liquor jar.

So she went down to the water,

Took a drink at the well.

Makin’ eyes at the Taylor boy,

An’ the rest – I don’t have to tell.

On another occasion, when I was coming back from a walk, a church in the main street began playing some melodies on the church bells. It lasted for almost 10 minutes, and was quite lovely. I asked a woman who was out walking her dog, if the bells played each day at 5pm, and she said yes, and they also play at midday, and she thought at 6pm.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Woke up early this morning at around 5.30am and for some reason thought to pull the curtains across to see what sort of day it was going to be. Dawn was breaking over the mountains and it looked like it was going to be beautiful clear sky day. I went back to bed, but again, one phrase kept repeating in my head, and I had to get up and write it down: Dawn breaks over the Adirondack Mountains… Over the next hour or so, as I tried to go back to sleep, I added more lines to the song.

Dawn breaks over the Adirondack mountains,

With sky as clear, as I have ever seen.

Each breath is frozen, and flows out like a fountain,

And I’m as happy as, I have ever been.

© 2008. Jim Lesses. All Rights Reserved.

I keep thinking I don’t want this run of songs to stop, which I’m worried will happen if I go back to New York. Went out this afternoon for a long slow amble around Mirror Lake. A sign indicated that the distance around the lake is 2.7 miles. I was a great day for the walk, and it was nice to view the village from the other side of the lake.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Out in the village again this morning. Looking at the snow on the mountains. Feeling the frost in the air. Thinking this would have been mighty hard country to tame and build a life in for yourself and your family many years ago. Remembering the novel, Big Sky, and thinking about mountain men, and trappers, and fur traders, and Indian killers, and wolves and coyote roaming the high country in search of food, and how hard men were needed in hard times to open up the country, and create the New World – not matter what the cost to life and limb. And so another song was born. Here is a little video from my YouTube page that might be of interest...