Spring is springing little by little. Here on Southport Island things are moving along at a snail’s pace.

Wiscasset is in full bloom along the Route One corridor. We know this because in the last week we have driven through Wiscasset Village six times – somewhat of a record for us!

It was a packed house! Hundreds of people coming to pay their respects on a beautiful spring day when anyone could have been elsewhere – a very impressive gathering for Mr. Farrin and his family.

One of the things that struck me during a recent visit with Dr. William M. “Barney” Balch, senior research scientist at Bigelow Lab, was his sense of curiosity. Our conversation reminded me of our very earliest interactions at the old Bigelow Lab in West Boothbay Harbor when I photographed with and for Clarice and Charlie Yentsch. Barney was there from the beginning of Bigelow at that location, a devoted associate of the Yentsch tenure.

For almost 235 days Kirsten Nueschafer sailed alone via the three Capes and just over 30,000 miles to win the Golden Globe Race around the world. She was one of 16 sailors who set off from Les Sables - d’Olonne, France, on Sep. 4, 2022, and one of three who finished. Others met with a variety of complications that took them out of the race. Kirsten actually deviated from her intended path to rescue a fellow Finnish sailor, Tapio Lehtinen, from the Indian Ocean. She was 95 miles from Lehtinen when his boat sank. She sailed hard through the night to find him, a small miracle in and of itself. Kirsten delivered Tapio to a commercial vessel and returned to carry on in the race.

Recently, during a drive to doggie day care, my car radio, tuned to NPR, revealed a most interesting bit of news.

It seems that an artist won a photography contest with an AI-generated image. Boris Eldagsen won the World Photography Organization’s Sony World Photography Awards for a piece titled “The Electrician.” This is pretty amazing stuff!

One of my enjoyable check ins over the years, here in the harbor, was my altogether too frequent visit with Ken Brown and Brown’s Wharf. Ken had fabulous stories of many adventures here in Maine, around the U.S. and abroad. It seemed there was no end to his wonderful tales. I was a devoted audience. He had friends from far and near, many who returned yearly to stay at Brown’s and catch up with Ken and family. He sat in the corner of the office pretending to be nobody special, watching and listening. New visitors to the Wharf had no idea who he was and he enjoyed the anonymity until someone got a little frisky at the front desk. I only saw him come out of the chair in a hurry a couple times. Once speaking fluent German he completely demolished an arrogant visitor who was giving one of the staff a hard time. The person was so freaked out he fairly flew out the door never to be seen again. Horace Lee would gleefully back up my observation. Horace and I fought over the chair next to Ken!

I looked under the bed this morning, and there I was!

While in the vicinity of dust bunnies, dog hair and a variety of boxes, files and other out of sight items, I decided to dig deeper. It was an amazing adventure which led me to older collections that have been accumulated elsewhere., i.e., the office! And, true to form, other mysteries revealed themselves. Stellar organizational skills have eluded me all my life. So, it’s fun to dig deep sometimes just for the fun of it to see what goodies may await.

One such item is shared in today’s photograph.

For all us flat landers who have migrated to the world waters, it’s a special privilege we share, given that, in many cases, our arrival at the ocean’s edge has been a life-changing experience. I speak from the personal experience of growing up in a small central Pennsylvania coal mining area and then teaching in a large New Jersey public school. The transition to the coast of Maine has been a true gift. We are so grateful to have started our family here, raised two lovely young ladies and managed to enjoy a very special life for almost 50 years. As a kid growing up I could never have imagined such a special place. We are very fortunate.

Jim Fossett’s photograph of the Footbridge reconstruction reminded me of my limited interaction with our famous harbor crossing. In my earlier memory I recall visiting Chetley Rittall at his boat shop in what is now Brady’s restaurant at the head of the Harbor. At that time boats had access via the swing span of the Footbridge to and from the very innermost part of the harbor. As I recall from noticing the tides in that neck of the woods, navigation needed to be well timed as there were some fairly significant ledges that might capture the attention of navigators. The channel really diminished as the tide drained – OK for kayaks but not so good for bigger boats. If a boat went into Chetley’s shop at high tide, and remained too long, the visit would be extended until next high water. I think all boat captains familiar with the harbor waters knew this.

What’s next? The life and tunes of Corey Tibbetts!

Remember “Cracker Jacks” and the little prize at the bottom of the box? It wasn’t much but it was fun to see what the prize would be. The process of anticipation!

What a beautiful day was Sunday, March 12!

After a stretch of unpredictable weather which brought us snow, winds and deep freezing, this day was a real gift. It’s the kind of day that helps us look forward to warmer days and more sunlight. And, it was the first day of the new shift to more afternoon light. At 7 o’clock there was still a glow in the western sky. I know we will be seeing more challenging weather before winter officially ends, but this day held promise.

Brothers and Sisters!

WBLM radio station in Portland became 50 years old on March 1!

BLM (which I always thought meant Bureau of Land Management— still do), had humble beginnings. It was started by Jim Mitchell (no relation) as an “easy listening/elevator music” station during the day, in a trailer in Litchfield, Maine. But under the cover of darkness — Rock and Roll baby! The first song broadcast in the overnight was The Moody Blues’ “The Story in Your Eyes.” The rest is history! Skynyrd, Zepp, Stones!

Recently I came across information about the Victory Chimes – she’s for sale.

My first encounter with this major vessel was during one of Boothbay Harbor’s Windjammer Days in the early 1980s. A photo I made in the Harbor showing Mark Friant and Merritt Grover zipping by the great ship became one of our first postcards. Mark and Merritt, I’m pretty sure, were still then in high school. They moved quickly about the waterfront back in those days leaving much flotsam and jetsam in their wakes! A dynamic duo to say the least!

Within a span of less than two weeks we experienced temperatures ranging from negative 30 degrees, with NW wind chill, to 50+ degrees with full bright sun. That’s a big temperature swing! Adjust to that Batman! What’s a mother to do?

It was quite fascinating to attend Gerry Boyle’s talk last week at Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library. Mr. Boyle shared some very interesting stories about his career as a reporter and writer. I was most impressed with the way he spoke about watching and listening. Clearly these are two well-developed skills encouraged by years working as a newspaper reporter in a variety of locations. The talk provided much usable information.

I’m not sure which is worse – no water or no electricity! We’ve had an opportunity lately to experience both, and I’m still undecided!

Our most recent stretch without power reminded me of how poorly prepared we were for such events of reasonable duration. Specifically, the need to run the portable gas generator from time to time to be sure it will operate when called upon to do so. I called; it did not answer!

Everyone had a garden in our neighborhood. From my earliest memory I recall the massive plantings of our next door neighbor Herman Marx, who had come to the U.S. after the second World War, traveling from job to job on a motorcycle with a sidecar laden with his masonry tools. He had homing pigeons, too. Herman shared a lot of fresh veggies with us and often,when the timing was right, delicious canned delicacies, including jellies and jams.

Last week’s column showing our deteriorating fence met with a variety of reactions!

“Hey Mitch, looks like you might want to spend a little more time mending fences rather than devising new plans for collecting doggie waste.”

“Cute. But what’s all that mess beyond the fence?”

Every morning we escort our pup to the back door and out to a small fenced in area for her daily contribution to the Earth’s surface. She’s not pushy at all about this, in fact if truth be known, it’s quite possible she prefers the warmer interior of our house. Thank goodness she has learned it is not appropriate to deliver anything inside, for which we are grateful. Took some time to get her trained but nice she has figured things out. She actually rings a bell when she wants to go out!

Bill Kirby came to Boothbay Harbor in 1988 on a road trip with his father. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but he liked the area, close to the ocean and less complicated than the world in which he had lived for much of his life.