Bitter Cold Blues: A Remedy

If you have kids in your life, or if you've been a North Country kid yourself, you know that winter can be a lot of fun - snowball fights, sledding, skiing, and so forth - but it can also be difficult. When the temperature dips below zero, as it is predicted to do this weekend, the difficulty is magnified. Many a kid who enjoys a well-bundled snowy adventure at fifteen or twenty degrees (Fahrenheit) will burst into tears when those numbers have a minus sign.

And when antsy young-uns are penned within four walls for two days straight, they might be okay, but the grown-ups who share the dwelling might have bald patches from pulling out hair. What to do?

Art helps, of course. Set out crayons and paper, scissors and glue, and the resident grown-up might have enough peace to fortify him- or herself with a caffeinated beverage. But still. To be cooped up is no fun. When my kids were small, I would often look for indoor places to bring them on biting cold days. And these days, North Country families have the Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

At the Wild Center, weekends have been designated as Winter Wildays, and Sundays are for Family Art and Nature. Each Sunday, visitors of all ages can enjoy an educational activity followed by a related art project. For example, the program for this coming Sunday, January 31st, promises fun with astrophysics:

"What Causes Winter? - Family Art and Nature Project (activity is great for children and families)
I'm sure some of us could do without all the cold, but in the Adirondacks, winter is an annual occurrence. Learn how the sun contributes to our seasons, and make a recycled sun catcher to hang in your window or garden when the temperature outside warms up."

Click here to see the Winter Wildays program through March 28th.

Then - get up & at'em! Bundle those tinies, head to Tupper Lake, and let them explore our wonderful North Country world through science, art, and fun!

Where? Tupper Lake, Lake Placid

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our North Country is fanatastically rich in artistic expression. Want art? Go to some of these places...

In Tupper Lake, The Brick Oven Cafe hosts displays of work by local artists. On Oct. 25th, they will be opening a new show of work by Beth Johnson. Now, I haven't been there myself, but I've been told that the food could be called artwork as well!

Also in Tupper Lake is the Casagrain Gallery. Again, I have not been there - but I have seen some of Gary Casagrain's oil paintings displayed elsewhere, and I imagine his gallery would be well worth visiting.

Lake Placid boasts the Lake Placid Center for the Arts, a delightful multi-media treasure trove. They have two galleries, each with rotating shows of local work.

Lake Placid has recently opened a branch of a New York City art center, called 511Gallery. I've heard good things about it.

If you happen to be driving through the Olympic Village, keep your eyes open for large, modern sculptural structures hither and yon. Those were comissioned for the 1980 Olympics, and yet stand.

I am sure I have missed important places in which to see and enjoy the arts in Tupper Lake and Lake Placid ... Dear Reader, educate me by leaving a comment!