Wednesday, 21 February 2024

Julian’s Island – 40 years ago

This is a photo I took 40 years ago at Saranac Lake in Upstate New York. With my priest friend and pastor Fr John Heinlein, I used to go for a week in the Adirondacks, and while I did mostly biking, swimming and taking photos, he would be doing a lot of water-skiing, besides the driving. The following two years, when I eventually got my driver’s license, I did some of the driving too, and one year I went by myself with his father Joe, driving even into Canada. Of course we always celebrated Mass for the guests who were at the Marlboro Club with us, and I took this photo just before we started to say Mass. Now on the lake there were a few islands that were named, but a few smaller ones had no name, and so I decided to name one of them 'Julian’s Island.

Julian's Island on Upper Saranac Lake

Nobody complained or objected and I believe it still is known as Julian’s Island. If you enlarge the photo with the chalice, you can see this little island just below the branch that extends from the tree on the right. On the second photo you see the entire island (which is actually a rock.) I did a lot of biking those days, all the way to Lake Placid, site of the 1980 Olympics, Tupper Lake, as well as around Upper and Lower Saranac Lakes. Saranac Lake is at an elevation of 1580 feet above sea level. Winter days were all snowy of course but the summer months were pleasant with low humidity and cooler nights.

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