GRAFTON TOWNSHIP — Thankfully, there’s no shortage of birch bark on the ground in Grafton Notch State Park.

I drove up there from Newry on Wednesday afternoon to get some photos of the low water in the Bear River at Screw Auger Falls and potential sightseers trying to cool off from the near 90-degree heat.

While I was trying different settings on my work camera to photograph a pair of short waterfalls flowing over a ledge, two young women and their dog walked out of the woods from the parking area. One woman walked right up to the falls to photograph them. Perfect! A sightseer and waterfalls. I took her picture taking the photograph.

The two women tried unsuccessfully to climb up the ledge before heading over to Screw Auger. I met them as I headed over there while they were returning and asked the young woman I’d photographed for her name. To my dismay, I’d left my notebook in the car, so when she told me, I wrote it on the palm of my left hand in ink.

Then, after thanking her, it dawned on me that I’d probably fall into the water at some point and the ink would wash off. That’s when I spied the birch bark. Hey, paper is paper whether it’s in tree form or not.

—Terry Karkos