Earth Day stories in Falls Village

FALLS VILLAGE — Artist and author Pieter Lefferts read an excerpt from his book “What the Kek Kek Saw” at an Earth Day event at the David M. Hunt Library Saturday, April 22.

The reading came toward the end of an exhibition in the library of Lefferts’ art.

Lefferts recalled the first Earth Day in 1970. He was a youngster in New York City, decked out in “a pretty cool green shirt” and cleaning up trash.

Lefferts provided the setting for the reading, his imagining of a society of animals, inspired by his experience in the Adirondacks.

He asked the audience of 20 or so people gathered under a tent on the library grounds to imagine the animals sitting in a circle and telling stories, near a swamp, and with “abundant mosquitoes.”

“Like that,” he added, referring to the sound of auto racing from Lime Rock Park, clearly audible in Falls Village.

After the reading, Lefferts recalled how, as a very young boy, he was “obsessed” with raccoons, and was even given a baby raccoon as a pet.

He said he knew “Weezy” would eventually revert to her wild nature, but the animal stuck around from spring to fall, and then returned briefly the following spring.

Weezy used to sleep on his pillow.

“She purred louder than any cat.”