Hey peeps! Good to be back with everyone here tonight. As most of you know, I’ve been largely absent from this site for the last 10 months or so as I’ve refocused and settled in to my new job. More recently I’ve been back here and there, and tonight I’m here to share with you what had been for the last several years an annual summer Maine diary.
Last week we returned from a 14 day sabbatical and spiritual reboot to New England. Half of that was spent at our island property in midcoast Maine. It was a sorely needed trip for everyone in my family, but for me it was especially important. Last summer we didn’t go. It was the first time in my entire life I didn’t visit this place and I’ve been feeling the loss of that all year since.
While many things have remained the same over the years the undercurrent of climate change has been consistent for the past 15 years especially. In the picture above I note the old high tide mark. This was, for my entire childhood and into my 20’s, a reliable marker for high tide. We used to step off the boat onto that rock at full high and keep our shoes dry if it wasn’t rough. Nowadays, that marker is a good 20 feet up the shore. During this trip we had high tide at midnight and noon, bringing neap tides and a surprising intrusion into shoreline that is typically dry, and that at one point was reserved for inundation only during the fiercest of winter nor'easter. The changes represented by erosion, the salt-death of mosses and thick blankets of seaweed and other storm wash paint a picture of massive ecological distortion. While this diary isn’t about that, I can’t avoid taking note. The beauty and serenity of this place makes the change all the more alarming. Just beneath the surface of the glory we relish lies this ever present reality that my children will surely be dealing with in ways I can only imagine.
That aside, our time was spent boating to outer islands, exploring the shore with the kids, bird and seal watching and simply being. The moon was new this trip, and in the absence of light pollution we had a nightly view of the Milky Way that was almost too intense to bear.
So, please enjoy vicariously our time there. I hope these images soothe any frazzled nerves in your world tonight. I’ll see you in comments, and thanks for viewing!
