Dog owners beware! Porcupines are back!

On another note: The past week or so, and perhaps even into much of this week, we will be experiencing some foggy weather. It’s all a part of easing into spring, I guess.

From my earliest time in Maine, I have been fascinated by the seas around us. Where I grew up, in the central Appalachians of Pennsylvania coal country, nothing compared to the magnificence that surrounds us here on the Boothbay peninsula. We had a few lakes and the West branch of the Susquehanna River, but there was not a view that compared to the endless waters of the Atlantic.

I have photographed with folks at Bigelow Lab from the very early days with the Yentsch founders.

Over the years, from time to time, I would be called upon to record new developments and expanding services for a variety of scientific subjects. The opportunity to meet and work with extraordinary individuals came with the territory. It was a great pleasure to be invited to help showcase some of the research projects which, for the most part, were way above my pay grade and totally fascinating. The collection of talented individuals from all over the world was, and is, amazing.

Please know that I do not judge. I try, as best I can, to not criticize. I know that no one is perfect. Being right all the time is clearly not possible. But, three to five inches, or four to six inches were predicted for our recent snowfall. Without any axes to grind or truths to be altered, the snow pile at the end of our driveway tells a slightly different story. 

Back in the late '70s when George McEvoy, Clem Brewer and Dan DeRepentigny owned the Tugboat Inn, I worked as the night cleanup person for the kitchen and the dining room. At that time, the dining room, which is now all guest rooms, stretched the length of the big building that extends out over the water. It was a pretty big space that could seat a lot of people and, at the same time, create significant mess for my vacuum. The waitstaff who managed that space were an extraordinary group of women who served food and turned tables with superior finesse.

Let’s say you’ve been a nurse in Minot, North Dakota, long enough and seek to enjoy the balmy mid-winter experience of Midcoast Maine. And you respond to an interesting position as advertised by one of our notable area hospitals. But you can’t just walk in the door of one of these facilities and declare your willingness to take the job. Somebody needs to review your skills and confirm that you are in fact qualified. Have I got a deal for you!

I was putting the tractor back in the shed the other evening (by evening I mean, 4:30!) after hauling some firewood and noticed a bright light in the eastern sky. I thought perhaps one of the New Jersey drones had gone astray and was scoping out our stock of foreign imports.

This is one of my most favorite times of year, but not for the reason one might think. 

For 24 years, we have published our “Around Boothbay Harbor” calendar. In that time, we have sold, shipped and donated over 40,000 copies to lovers of this paradise.

Give Don Viens a cocktail napkin and a ballpoint pen and he can sketch an idea for just about anything. In fact, I’d put money on a Don plan that doesn’t even require hard copy. Need a piece of furniture or an ornate item for your roof peak, a garden shed, or an entire house? Don can make it happen. And, quite possibly, he can make it happen in a way that you may never have envisioned using unusual materials from a 150-year-old barn stored under a tarp next to his shop. It’s as if wood has been waiting for Don’s next unique project, waiting for it to arrive. The more irregular, in many cases, the wood, the more uses revealed. Recycling is part of the genetic fabric of Don’s vision. Ideas present themselves in a karmic fashion. Wood offers reuse and Don finds a way to create new from old. It’s almost surreal.

Eleanor is in town!

The Boston Tea Party vessel made a significant 17-hour trip from Boston with tugboat help, landing at the Bristol Marine pier on Wednesday morning last week. The Eleanor is already in the hands of the exceptional Bristol Marine crew which is very focused on a substantial checklist of work. The same day the ship arrived in the Harbor it was floated onto the awaiting car and transported up the main railway, properly managed by a dozen yard workers, a tender boat and skilled diver who confirmed proper blocking support. The process of moving the ship out of the water is tedious and well thought out. A blocking plan had been in place for two weeks anticipating Eleanor's arrival but weather delayed the trip from Boston.

It’s a good thing the weather gods in our neighborhood have been considerate of late because the last rain we had motivated me to repair a big section of roof that I have put off for too long. It became painfully obvious to me that when we had discolored rainwater flowing from a dining room ceiling light, my time had come.

Jim Jellison, resident interesting person, never imagined growing an 800-pound pumpkin. It was not his life’s goal nor a project he had ever investigated. He just did it because he could and because he was curious to see, once the idea landed, how successful he might be. He actually grew four pumpkins, but one of them, which would have been the largest, blew up during a growth spurt. The 800-pounder can be seen on Route 27 in front of the old Boothbay fire station, now home to MITCHELL & CO studio. Two other slightly less large pumpkins can be seen at the YMCA Child Enrichment Center annex and Boothbay Harbor Elementary School. I think Jim told me they were around 700 and 500 pounds. Still a John Deere tractor needed to unload and place.

I think that “Woodstock” was the zenith of my tie dye exposure, for those who remained under exposed. The over exposed shall remain nameless. It was sort of the hey day of personal expression and colorful exploration and definitely a time when clothing, such as it was, remained optional. However, the tie dye phase seemed to fizzle a bit as things moved on through the ’70s and beyond. But not entirely.

According to some local history, the Bridge House, located at the center of Boothbay Harbor’s famous Footbridge, was built in 1902 by bridge tender William F. Foster. At that time, my guess is, there was a central section off the footbridge that pivoted open and closed to allow boats to enter the inner harbor. I know that for most of our 50 odd years’ existence here in the area, there was still a central section of the footbridge that was capable of movement. Such is not the case at present.

Did you ever go to the grocery store without a list? Not intentionally, but by accident leaving the list on the kitchen table after laboring over what to buy? Items listed so the resulting purchases are in the neighborhood of what is needed?

It’s just about time for some special boats to arrive in Boothbay Harbor and surrounding coastal communities. The sailing cruise ships are back on the high seas and with fingers crossed we hope many will visit us for the famous Windjammer Days.

How often, on our walk to pick up the mail, do we think about the means of delivery? The person who delivers? The people who sort? The people who load? For the most part, I think, we just take for granted that, if there is mail, it will come. In the dead of winter, the heat of summer, when it's pouring down rain or blowing a gale. If there is mail, it will come.

This time of year always makes me think of my visits with Barbara Cooney of “Miss Rumphius” fame, at her home in Damariscotta. The lupine plants are hitting high clover now in what seems to be a bumper crop year, albeit a slightly different one, at least for me. The plants seem to be popping up in different areas from past years, that is, less likely in places where they seemed more plentiful and more frequently in new spots. I’m wondering if that seems to be the case for other lupine observers?

One of the very most wonderful gifts of this photography business is the many friends I have made over the years. I have photographed with thousands of people both here in Maine, around the country and abroad. The experiences of meeting, working with and being in touch have created an exceptionally heartwarming and meaningful part of my life. To hear from old friends is richly rewarding.