Bruce John Riddell’s magnum opus has been published!

“LANDART, From Acadia to Zen” took 10 years to produce from over 35 years of work. His book is now available at Sherman’s Bookstores and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. It is an astonishing 260 pages of photographs, text, sketches and technical information illustrating the vast experience of Riddell’s incredible career.

Barna Beal Norton was a legendary resident of Jonesport, Maine, who, for all of his adult life, battled with the Canadian government over ownership of Machias Seal Island, a small 15-acre island off the coast. Barna felt that the island was given to him and that he owned it. The Canadian government did not agree.

Once upon a time, many years ago, in the far off land of “Sarah’s Scoops,” I had a chance encounter with Aurelien Recoing at a small picnic table. I was sneaking a nice blueberry something-or-other on a cone, just on my way home from an out of town job.

Over the years it has been my great good fortune to watch and photograph boat construction projects here in the Boothbay region and beyond. What a terrific learning experience for someone who never stepped into or onto a boat until probably age 20!

When we first landed on Southport Island (massive move from Boothbay Harbor) I had big dreams for a large garden. With a bit of a wreck Ford “9N” tractor and a rescued two bottom plow, I set out to cultivate a garden of heavenly delights – veggies galore, corn, maters, greens! The works.

Once again, Captain Mark Stover gave us a wonderful tour of what became quite a unique day.

Every year Mark gives me a call inviting me and anyone I wanted to come along with him on his Redhook sea cruiser. This year our daughter Mae was home from New York City just long enough for her return flight to be cancelled, and just in time for a boat ride with Captain Mark. Even mother Susan was able to join us, which is generally not possible. We had a lovely fun ride accompanied by Sabrina and her little cousin Rose, and a young lady named Suzanne who had lost her way to being on board the Virginia from Bath which was captained by her boyfriend. Mark told her that we were going for a toot around the harbor and she would be welcomed aboard. Mae and Suzanne accompanied Captain Mark at the helm.

One of my old baseball coaches used to say, “You win some. You lose some. And some are rained out. But you gotta dress for ’em all.”

Over the years and with hundreds of photographed weddings, the final say is always Mother Nature. No one particularly looks forward to an over ambitious day of rain, wind, or snow for their special day. But my experience with well-weathered events has been far from dismal. In fact, I dare say, weather has often created a more intimate interaction with parties involved.

Over their growing up years with oodles of summer and after school jobs, one experience always seemed to impress our daughters. Both girls worked with Lindy Bragg at “Calypso” in Boothbay Harbor. Frequently we would hear, “Mom (or Dad) I met the coolest people today at work. Lindy has some really neat stuff and many of her customers visit every year they come to the Harbor. They look forward to stopping by.”

It’s evenings like this that help sooth the soul.

I have often spoken of the mystery of surprise and the gift of wonder with my “work.” And this week’s photo is a brief confirmation. What a lovely evening in early June when the light is happy and just right for discovery.

We were sorting through some old family letters at home last week and came across mail from John Endicott, my wife’s uncle, dated June 18, 1937. The letter included instructions from Donald B. MacMillan as follows:

Alice Hodgdon Thompson, Hugh’s mother, was a bright and shining light when I photographed at the Hodgdon Yachts yard on Murray Hill Road in East Boothbay. She would always alert the crew when she joined them at break time, “Watch the language.” For the most part everyone obeyed with an occasional slip up Alice seemed to manage quite well in the shipbuilding environment, partly, and probably because she had grown up around boats and the workers who built them. Famous for building many significant vessels, Alice’s father Norman Hodgdon had a shop on the east side of the Harbor adjacent to what once was Cap’n Fish’s motel, now the home of the newly created waterfront park.

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.