Living alone out here in the great north woods gives me plenty of time for contemplation. The area where I live in Northern New York is simply called the North Country. It is different: bleaker, emptier, starker than the same latitude area in Vermont which is called the Northeast Kingdom. It is no kingdom here, but for some strange reason friendship really seems to flourish. 

The local flora collection is found on personal walks in the woods around our home in the northern foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. These are the trees and plants we see around us every day. Some of them, like the herbs and berries, can only be found in season. Others, like pines and spruce, are ever present.

I like to point out these local flora when taking people into the Adirondacks in my work as an Adirondack Guide.