WANAKENA WEEKLY #8 - 03/26/20 - 04/01/20

Happy Thursday! Happy April!

In an effort to “FLATTEN THE CURVE” Otto’s Abode will remain closed until further notice. This is our third week of being closed. THIS SUCKS. Strangely enough though, besides businesses being closed and the anticipation of summer folks arriving being extremely muffled, Wanakena still feels a lot like it did a few weeks ago when the pandemic first became a reality for Americans. Sort of strange. Though, It’s always really quiet this time of year – besides nature springing back to life that is. Neighbors remain out and about for walks around town as usual. We just keep our distance – which is no fun. Saw a Wanakener with a big ol’ bag of road-side trash they had been collecting on a walk back home from up Ranger School Road with wife and dogs. Great job! Random out-of-towner folks out for afternoon drives and strolls were seen around town over the weekend. Fighter jets still fly uncomfortably low, nearly taking your breath away and blowing your head off. Geese are around, honkin’ it up. Mary is still working the post office, though there is a piece of clear plastic – think: shower curtain – hanging in the teller window between he and folks in need of mailing assistance. The mail delivery truck still arrives twice a day. As of today, St. Lawrence county has 37 confirmed Covid19 cases. The number - like most places - is going up. A map via northcountrynow.com shows most cases are in Potsdam and Massena. Thinking about how to stay clear-headed, helpful, productive, hopeful, etc… an inspiring and enlightening quote from Donna Haraway jumped out while recently re-reading her 2016 book Staying With The Trouble : “It matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what descriptions describe descriptions, what ties tie ties. It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.” Or to less eloquently quote the Otto’s Abode bumper sticker: “IN A WORLD OF TROLLS – BE A GNOME”

WANAKENA WEEKLY #7 - 03/19/20 - 03/25/20

Happy Thursday! 

In an effort to “FLATTEN THE CURVE” Otto’s Abode will remain closed until further notice. This is our second week of being closed. We hope to re-open as soon as we can – can’t wait! We are a self-proclaimed Adirondack Art-Centric Travel Agency and Inconvenience Store – that bring said – at this point in time it is not exactly advantageous to be a travel agency. Or is it? Maybe now more than ever travel needs to be re-imagined. As far as the whole inconvenience store concept goes, although we do sell supplies and groceries, travelers aren’t coming around (hopefully) and a majority of our local Wanakener crowds mostly delve in chitter-chatter-over-coffee and guilty pleasures such as ice cream novelties and counter candy – unfortunately these types of activities disagree with the concept of social distancing – which we are strong proponents of at this time. A big chalkboard sign out-front reads: OF COURSE ART IS ESSENTIAL – BUT, DOING BUSSINESS RIGHT NOW IS NOT. We’ve still got the PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION tape playing on a little TV in the window – 1985 LIVE at the Syracuse Carrier Dome. Todd Hardware in Star Lake remains OPEN. Stone Manor in Cranberry Lake is COOKIN’TAKEOUT. UBs in Oswegatchie is COOKIN’TAKEOUT. Twin Lakes Hotel in Star Lake is COOKIN’TAKEOUT. Otto’s Abode is like a fish tank that currently not many people can look into. And there are fish in there… just gotta wait for 'em to come out from behind a rock. Stay tuned.

WANAKENA WEEKLY #6 - 03/19/20 - 03/25/20

Happy Thursday from the banks of The Oswegatchie!

In an effort to “FLATTEN THE CURVE” Otto’s Abode will remain closed until further notice. We’ve got a PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION tape playing on a little TV in the window – 1985 LIVE at the Syracuse Carrier Dome – mind melting. It’s even more quiet around here than it already was – which is just about as quiet as it gets. Clifton-Fine Central Schools are closed until 4/20. Ranger School locked-down (more info below), Black Waters Café closed – although they usually close for a month around now for “mud season”. UB's in Oswegatchie, Stone Manor in Cranberry Lake and Twin Lake in Star Lake COOKIN' for TAKE OUT. Folks out for walks, walking the dogs. Construction crews still working on houses around town; hammering away. Fighter jets still flying low overhead here and there. Mail truck still at 8:30am and 3:30pm. The gurgle of trucks on RT3 in the distance through the leafless trees. Mary at the Post office – STILL WORKIN’! Lots of birds. Carol says a beaver has been lingering around the culvert between the millpond and river – headbutting holes through the ice. And sand… lots and lots of sand.

WANAKENA WEEKLY #5 - 03/05/20 - 03/11/20

Happy Thursday!

WANAKENA WEEKLY #4 - 02/27/20 - 03/04/20

Happy Thursday! Happy March!

WANAKENA WEEKLY #3 – 02/20/20 - 02/26/20

Happy Thursday!