Hidden Maine

Lobster Goddess

Monhegan Invitation

Here is what I know: If you have not been to Monhegan Island, Maine, yet, once you see this video, you will want to make your reservations. Last summer, I spent three days on Monhegan. The still photo shows Manana Island which helps to create the harbor. Manana rises dramatically out of the ocean. The harbor alone is entertainment enough for days.

The video was taken from the porch of the Island Inn. The two white chairs on the sloping lawn were where I sat for much of my time on the island. Warm days, full sun, rising and falling tides, and boats coming and going — there’s a lot to see from the porch or the chairs on the lawn.

Lobster Goddess

Last summer, I spent three days on Monhegan Island. I recommend the island for an earthly reset. It’s a nice way to clear the cobwebs of mainland life out of the way. I skipped the island during the COVID years. I returned in August of 2024, and I sat in the white Adirondack chairs on the front lawn of the Island Inn. I read a book and had breakfast and supper at the Inn. I totally played the part of an old guy just reading, sitting, and watching. The opening photo shows the shadow of the claw of the lobster goddess across the harbor on the Island of Manana. If you’ve not yet been to Monhegan, it only takes an hour for the mailboat from Port Clyde to get you out to the island.

Powered By Kite

This was a recent Sunday. What I thought I saw wasn’t what was really happening. The day was hazy sun. The air temperature was 40°. The landside had a foot of fresh snow. The seaside parking lot was full of cars. I’d been sitting quietly, writing for a half hour when I looked up, I saw a dude on a surfboard, a thousand feet off shore, holding a butterfly kite.

I went back to writing. When I looked up again, I saw him shooting across the water. I got my camera out to film. My impression was that he was kite-surfing. I was impressed by his speed. I watched for a long time, believing he was using a kite for motion, not realizing he was also foiling.

I’ve tried surfing. The physics of foiling is more complicated than surfing. Add winter air, water temperatures, a foot of February snow on the land, and being barefoot on a board; it’s complicated. Adding the 10 – 15 pounds of a 10-foot long butterfly wing sail hand-held for half an hour, you would need to be someone superhuman to manage it all!

When I reviewed the film later, I could see that it was a foil board with a kite. Wow!

Sometimes, there are moments of clarity that are so perfect and so pure that they stop me dead in my tracks. There were several this morning. This was my favorite. The sky was seamless grey, with a sun burning thorough on high. There was a fine breeze out of the southeast. I watched several boats pass through a sun-dappled sea. I videotaped them. Then, this trawler appeared, heading out to sea. There was a sense of vastness to the ocean and the mission of the captain and his boat to go out somewhere into the solid grey to set the nets and catch 2,000 fish and return to port. There was something so beautiful in this 56-second capture that I just had to share.

The land is covered in snow, pure white. The cliffs, as they meet the sea, are black. The ocean that fills the spaces in between is silver-grey with sparkly light. This is a place you can visit in your car. It’s Shore Road in Cape Elizabeth, 20 minutes from Portland.

A couple of weeks ago, we sent an email with a picture of a grey sky with icicles. The temperatures warmed and the ice melted. This last week, we had another snowstorm, and longer carrot-shaped icicles formed. The morning I took this picture, the temperature was 18 degrees. The wind has been drifting snow. Spring is less than a month away.

A Silver Sea

Last we had a foot of snow overnight. The sky was hazy grey. The land was all white, and the ocean sparkled silver. It took ten minutes to shovel a path out to the driveway. The air temperature was 27° with a slight breeze. This photo was taken within sight of Portland Head Light at 10 in the morning.

I stepped out onto the porch one morning last week at 8 o’clock. The sun was rising through a grey sky. The ocean surface was ripple calm. It snowed overnight. There were fox tracks in the snow next to the house. The air temperature was 29°. Icicles were two feet long and dripping. It was another beautiful day in Maine.

SparHawk Mint Green Teal
Tourmaline Mining

Many wonder…when I was a kid, I wondered just how, when, and why gems were found. In the picture above, we capture a moment when a tourmaline crystal is lifted off of the sieve tray. This tourmaline, if clear enough when cut, will probably yield a two-carat gem.

This sieve tray held a couple of handfuls of pocket material. It was washed and washed until clear. Then, gems were picked out. The light green behind is the low point in the mine filled with water. The water is important to use to wash the silt and clay from the crystals. This was late August, 25 miles north of Portland.

In June 1968, I did a coastal run along the shore from Higgins Beach in Scarborough to Portland Head Light. I was 19 years old, and I believed I was indestructible. That run taught me I was almost indestructible.

That morning, I ran from our farm in Gorham 20 miles to Higgins Beach. I helped my family clean cottages for two hours, then crossed the river to run the Cape Shore. A portion of the run was sandy beaches and mostly rock cliffs. I did a side trip across the breakwater to Richmond’s Island. I never fell. Nineteen-year-olds have wings on their feet. I ran and scaled rock cliffs. I never stopped to rest.

I remember climbing down a particular cliff into a circular cove in Cape Elizabeth. When my feet touched the bottom of the cliff, I picked up a quartz crystal. It was the largest, best quartz crystal I had ever found. This crystal stopped me for a few minutes. As I continued to look around, I put the crustal in my pocket. I still have the crystal today. What I didn’t know that day was that twenty years later, I would live in that neighborhood and know this cove called Crystal Cove.

I continued along the cliffs but had to backtrack because the tide was rising. I went up on the road and passed in front of my future home. Twenty minutes later, I arrived at Portland Head Light. At that point, I had run 28 miles. From Portland Head Light, I walked back to Higgins Beach. I had reached my limit. I limped for two weeks.

This picture and video were taken at Crystal Cove, Cape Elizabeth, looking southeast at nine in the morning. Crystal Cove is filled with quartz crystals, tiny to huge. There is a crystal cave beneath the stone beach that has appeared only twice in 30 years. It’s 8 feet long and is filled with hundreds of large crystals. We have excavated doubly terminated quartz crystals, and one time, we found 13 pounds of crystals. Crystal Cove is a magical place.

The Many Moods of the Sea

The ocean comes with many moods. In spite of being eternal, there are days with sun, and there are days with grey skies, dark rocks, blue-green waves, and the sound of surf. We go to the shore regardless of the skies for solace, to sort through all the things we’ve been thinking about. Maine’s ocean is an awesome place for contemplation and reflection.

Where Do Gulls Go?

Andy and I were discussing birds this morning and migrations. We know geese fly south. Maine puffins fly out to sea; no one is sure where. Andy asked me where seagulls go in the winter. I told him they stay right here in Maine.

This video was taken at my grocery store’s parking lot, showing gulls swimming in open water and standing on ice flows. Yes, a grocery store with a parking lot that looks out onto salt water and tidal marshes. How awesome is that?