Gone Fishin’

ADK has an annual fishing derby and Jerry was eager to fish with his grandson. 
They were successful.

Jerry caught two fish, one was a rainbow trout, the biggest in the pond.  Bennett caught three brook trout.  The fish made for a delicious dinner.

After a tasty lunch in the park café, we toured more of the exhibits.  This is the view from the cafe.

 The Boats and Boating building explained the history of the boating industry to this area of many, many lakes and rivers.  Guide boats were originated here and became a speciality of the area.

The logging exhibit presented the hardships involved in this industry so vital to the development of the Adirondacks.  Limbs and lives were lost getting lumber downstream to satisfy the demand for homes and furnishing.  The men played hard and lived rough.

There was a taxidermy exhibit of animals displayed for serious and frivolous reasons.  The serious displays have made us more aware of nature.  The frivolous ones showed feathers on hats, paws made into ashtrays and charming floral/bird decorations.  We found this exhibit generally disturbing but here is a photo of the most disturbing item of all.   It is a snuff box used by the British military.

At Cheryl’s suggestion we saw a movie and listened to a panel talk about taxidermy. The movie showed the collection of Walter Potter, the brother of Beatrice Potter.  He used taxidermy to create fanciful scenes such as Rabbits' Village School.

The speakers, a collector, a museum director, a photographer and a taxidermist explained that they use only animals found dead.  They explained both the artistic and educational displays of these animals.  We left feeling much less discomfort at seeing such displays. The profession is in revival with many women now in the field.

These are from the collector.