April is Poetry Month

Poetry month is a big deal in Rockland.  Some of the happenings around town have included local businesses posting poems in their store windows, local inns and hotels putting a poem on the pillow of the bed in their rooms, screening of "Louder Than a Bomb," a documentary about Chicago high school students competing in a poetry slam, and lots of readings by poets from around the state.

And... the Rockland Public Library held a poetry contest.  The theme was "landscapes".  There were 3 categories:  children, teens and adult.  I decided to enter the adult category and sent in a poem just a day or two before the deadline.  And, lo and behold, about a week ago they called and told me I had placed 2nd in the "adult" category.

So last night, I screwed up my courage, and with David's support, I went down and joined in what the library calls a "Poetry Swarm."  All the winners - about 5-6 kids in the children's category, 4 or 5 in the teen category, and 4 in the adult category -  were invited to - and most did - participate by reading the poem they had entered.  Plus - there were 3 other groups of readers, all local poets from the general area of Midcoast Maine, including the current and former Poet Laurette of Rockland (who knew?) and of Belfast.

Most of the poems were good, some were funny, and a few were very good.  I received nice compliments on my poem.  The best was from a man, one of the non-contestant readers, who came up to me after I read the poem and told me how much he really enjoyed it, and he mentioned to me that he was one of the contest judges.

So at the risk of ... well, not sure what ... but I'm going to post the poem I submitted here.  The poem:
.

      Subjunctive Mood

If it were not so early I would get out of bed and
I'd go down to the salt marsh for the day.

First I'd walk the chalky path that winds
between tall rows of spiked Spartina.

Next I'd amble on to where the heron stands
in slowly swirling water, stalking breakfast in the bay.

I might delay, stay to see long lovely limbs untangle,
dangle down beneath him in his leap from sea to sky.

Then I'd ramble on and on, pausing only long enough
to watch light wrung from day like juice from fruit,

to leave behind a slice of moon and stars like seeds
to shine beneath the milky membrane of pale clouds.

If I lingered yet then I might hear the turning tide's sigh
as it rose to ride the sea breeze on cicadas' wings.

Yes, I am sure if it had not been quite so early
I'd have spent the whole day in the salt marsh by the sea.


* * * * *

Peace.

What we're up to up here

We had a great albeit short visit with Sam and Cachao.  A long (long!) way for Sam to drive for a short visit - all power to him.  Here's a few pics:

 We took the ferry from Rockland to Vinalhaven, an island about 10 miles off shore here.  We passed the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse and I took this photo.  Later that afternoon we walked out the breakwater itself to the lighthouse.

 On Vinalhaven, we stopped to watch a channel running to the harbor where the water flowed fast!

About 1200 people live on Vinalhaven, a good number of them fish.  The lobster boats are on the water at Vinalhaven.

Now Sam and Cach are safe back home, and we're getting ready for spring here.  The weather has been beautiful - hitting around 50 during the day and bright and sunny, and not falling below freezing at night.  Come on up and visit us.  

If you're looking for a reason to get away from away and come on up to Maine?  How about one of these jobs recently listed on craigslist.com?  (I'm actually posting these as they give a flavor of what's going on around here - the business of life in midcoast Maine!)

Assistant Dockmaster (Rockland) - Rockland Landings Marina is in need of a WEEKEND DOCKMASTER to work from mid-June through mid-October. Job entails working independently, assisting sail and power boaters with all their needs dockside, selling gas, diesel, ice, some supplies, tending mooring, Taking reservations and coordinating boat slip assignments and all other duties involving marina operations. We do not provide repair service, haul-outs but can help arrange those functions with all our connections with orher technicians in the area. Additional hours and flexibility is a must. Experience and strong customer service and small boat handling skills very helpfull.  Compensation: $9.00 + OVERTIME!!!!!

Experienced Deckhand Needed (Harpswell) - Looking for an experienced deckhand on my lobster boat. Must have a drivers license, reliable transportation, and be on time everyday if not early.  Please email the following information:  Name; Age; Past Work; Location; Contact Information; Height and Weight.  If you get sea sick or car sick, this is not the job for you.

LOBSTER FACILITY LABORER (KENNEBUNK) - Maine Shellfish Lobster Division in Kennebunk is looking for self motivated, hard working individuals to join our team.  Opening on first and second shifts available.  Must be able to work weekends.  Experience with handeling of lobsters is perferred, but not neccessary.  Valid drivers license is a MUST!

Sternman for Lobster Boat in Harpswell - Sternman wanted for lobster boat in South Harpswell. Must be a non-smoking, responsible hard worker with driver's license and vehicle for 4 day work week. Please respond with ALL of the following information: Name, contact phone number, age, location, past job experience, and available start date. Must be able to lift 50+ lbs. Please do not respond if you do not live within 30 minutes of South Harpswell, don't meet the requirements listed or are not providing ALL of the above requested info in your response.  Compensation: Pay is share based.

* * * * *

What do you say?  Do you get sea sick?  I don't...

Peace.

My guys drive 1000+ miles to visit

More soon.

And here comes April...

Spring is doing it best to spring, but this morning - April 7th - it's in the 20's here.  It will warm up more during the day, I'm sure.  You can tell people are ready for Spring.  In the low 40's, with a wind making it feel colder, you see young people (and some not so young) out in t-shirts.  Brrr.

This will be a short post.  I'm looking forward to a visit from my son and older grandson, who are on their way, driving up from Atlanta.  They should arrive late this afternoon or early evening, and I have some cleaning up to do.

Yesterday I refilled the bird feeders.  Hungry little suckers.  Saw a Northern Cardinal singing high up on a bare tree branch this morning on the walk with Ella.

Another sign of spring - they have taken the tarp off the schooner they pulled up on dry dock down at Ulmer's point.  I guess they're fitting her out.  Shouldn't be long until she's on the water.  Three more schooners at the docks await their turns.

A couple photos:

Peace.

Of Blizzards, Birds and Boats

Okay, I think Spring is like the tulip bulbs some neighbors have planted in their yards - daring to poke a little green head above damp chilled ground.  Why do I say that - other than the first green of tulips?

First, Dairy Queen is open again, ergo the reference to “Blizzards” which (I think – haven’t actually been to a Dairy Queen personally in several or more decades, but my memory of TV commercials says) is DQ’s trademark milkshake drink.  I went to pick up Ella from doggie day care today and passed Dairy Queen by - there it was, open again after the long winter off-season, with cars pulling in and out and people in line to order.  So - Sign #1.

Second, more birds are back.  Someone at Ella’s doggie day care said they had seen robins here.  I haven’t (I did see robins when in Connecticut last week – poor things, arriving in expectation of Spring and being greeted with 4 inches of wet snow).  But I have seen many more birds in our yard at our feeders, all of which I filled up recently.  The suet is almost gone.  Today gutsy European Starlings took on a small group of Boat-tailed Grackles at the suet cage.  I thought Starlings were large birds, but Boat-tailed Grackles must measure 16 or 17 inches.   They sparkle in the sunshine.  Their heads, necks and shoulders are blue-green deepening to purple and then to black.  Their tails are distinctive, I would say more like fans than boats, but definitely distinctive.  On my morning walks I am hearing Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, House Finches, and others I can’t (yet) identify by sound and can't identify on wing or high in trees.  Birds, that's Sign #2.

Finally, this morning on our walk I saw that one of the Windjammers has been moved from where she had been laying in the water all winter, tied to a dock, covered with tarps (one of the several Windjammers at Ulmer’s Point that decorated their rigging with colored strings of lights at Christmas, one of which actually managed to hoist – probably by someone literally climbing or being hoisted up the mast - a lighted Christmas tree at the very top of her tallest mast).  This morning, this particular Windjammer had been pulled up on dry dock, some of the tarps removed. She's being made ready to sail - and she is Sign #3.  Here she is - not as beautiful as she'll be when she's back in the water, sails unfurled, catching the breeze, but still ...

I guess Passover and Easter are further signs of Spring.  David and I attended a Community Seder at the local synagogue earlier this week – which I have now joined as a dues-paying member!.  This coming Sunday we will join others from the synagogue and elsewhere to organize an Easter dinner as part of the on-going “soup kitchen” at a local church.  David has signed up to make 200 biscuits.  200 biscuits!  Too bad it will still be Passover so I won’t be able to enjoy one.  But other will - he made some for a prior soup kitchen and they were a BIG hit.

How lovely it is to walk outside in the sunshine, to have almost all of the ice and snow melted away, to come across sprigs of green poking up here and there, to see local businesses unshutter their storefronts, to watch the sun go down at a reasonable hour.  How lucky I am to be alive with another Spring ahead.

Peace.

Winter's last turn?

After a final dusting of about 3/4 inch of snow - which didn't seem to bother my little gang of Dark Eyed Juncos - see the evidence of their hopping around the snowy deck pecking for the seeds I had dropped there for them:

- the little snow melted away and we enjoyed a few beautiful warm (low 40's) sunny days in early March.   I could hear the songs of other birds - house finches? - as migrants began returning.  It felt like Spring could not be far away, and I made plans to go back to Connecticut for another visit to the office.  Then more snow was predicted on the day I had planned to make the trip.  So I moved the travel day to a day earlier and beat the snow.

In Connecticut we got about 4 inches, heavy and wet.  In Maine, David got about 14 inches.  I was away from Monday through Saturday morning.  A long visit.  Lovely to visit with H, see friends at work, catch up with D and V, but too long to be away.  I was so glad to get home.

And while there is still some snow on the lawns and in the piles where the city plows shoved it from the streets, the snow is melting and the sun is back out again.  It's hard to put my finger on it exactly but there's a sense of something stirring, getting ready to move if not yet moving.  It's going to be interesting to see how the "Season" affects the town, and life here generally.  David saw an add seeking "seasonal" help to fit out a schooner.

This morning I returned to my dawn-time walk with Ella.  One of the fishing boats at Ulmer's Point that had been shrouded in a plastic enclosure had been uncovered.  A real harbinger of springtime in a mid-coastal Maine fishing town:

While away I learned that Sam and my older grandson are going to visit during my grandson's spring break - just 2 weeks away.  I can't wait.  Here are some of the things I'm thinking we can do together while they are here for a few days:

** Walk out on the breakwater - if it's a warm day, not raining and not too windy

** Take the ferry to Vinalhaven, taking our car and driving around the island and then home again

** Visit the Rockland Public Library - they have a good children's section and Cacaho can take out books; they often have programs for kids - maybe they will while Cach is here

** Play in the little park near our house and take Ella (since dogs are permitting in the park from October 1 through May) and throw a ball and frisbee for her, and climb on all the neat devices they have for climbing on

** Go to the Lighthouse Museum in Rockland - David and I went when we were here to look at houses, after we made an offer on this house - but we didn't have a chance to stay long.  They have really neat exhibits, a lot of parts from real lighthouses and photos and videos.  Very cool.

** Cach can see and maybe help David with his re-fitting work on his kayak and the other work on the parts from my sailboat.  We have a real woodworking workshop in the basement these days.

I'm sure we'll have fun.  I just wish it were going to be warm enough to take Sam and Cachao kayaking and sailing, but not in midcoast Maine in April.  That's definitely summertime activity up here.

But one step at a time.  If we've seen the backside of winter, Spring is looking pretty good right about now.

Peace.

March arrives...

It's March and what appears to be the beginning of Mud Months in Maine.

We have had several days of "warm" weather - high 30's, even low 40's.  Cloudy damp days, drizzle or sleet-ish precipitation off and on during the day, turning to snow showers in the evenings.  We awake to find a slight cover of new snow on the deck, which melts away during the day.  We're making plans for adding paving stones to what an overly generous description might call the "path" between our back deck and the driveway.  Currently the "path" is basically mud, and to get from the house to the car, we - and I include Ella here, who seems not to want to get her feet muddy - try to walk along the edge of the backyard where there is still some leftover snow piled up.  I think I may soon need to get out my rubber boots.  I have a feeling they will be getting a lot of wear.

Meanwhile, life proceeds.  An art gallery in nearby Belfast is holding a show during March for local artists.  Anyone living within 30 miles of Belfast (we live about 25 miles from there) could enter up to 3 works of art, paying a registration fee of $5 per work.  David entered 3 of the cigar-box guitars he has been making.  The show openings were this past Thursday and Friday evenings.  If works are purchased, the gallery takes some percentage of the sale price, of which they are donating a substantial portion to a local food bank, I think.  We attended one of the openings and I took some photos.  First, a couple showing  2 of David's guitars hanging among other works:

Next, the third of David's guitars hanging below the only other musical instrument submitted to the show, a fiddle:

Finally, a close up:

This afternoon we plan on attending a local "Meet Your Farmers & Fishermen Fair" where local farmers and fishermen will have information available about CSAs (community supported agriculture) and similar "shares"of fishermen's catches.  

I'm including below a link to this week's column in The Free Press by Eva Murray.  (She's the writer living 23 miles off shore on Matinicus Island.  I mentioned her in an earlier post; David and I have attended a local "reading" where she read from her latest book about one room schools.)  I love this latest column in particular because it conveys such a feeling of what I have found Rockland in particular, and Midcoast Maine in general, is like to live in.    

http://freepressonline.com/main.asp?ArticleID=24681&SectionID=50&SubSectionID=72

Okay, got to go put more suet in the suet cage.

Here's to blue skies and peace.