FIRST TASTE OF MAINE, A WELCOME HOME: PART 2

After visiting Orono Bog, we headed home.  On the way, we stopped to pick up fresh lobster for dinner!  A giant lobster sculpture near Hancock proudly touts the renowned harvest from Maine's productive waters.

In her 1958 book, The Peninsula, Louise Dickenson Rich rendered a charming account of life on nearby Gouldsboro Peninsula.  We took turns reading it aloud in the weeks before our journey to Maine.  The author provides a richly-detailed description of early settlement, including the lobster traps so much a part of this coastal way of life.  The open-ended cage, formerly constructed of bent local woods, contains a funnel-shaped net with the funnel's small end extending into the center.  A mesh bait bag is suspended in the middle of the trap, accessible to the lobsterman for removing the catch and replenishing the bait via a small hatch on one side.  A lobster can crawl into the trap through the large opening, but finds it very difficult to escape through the small interior hole.  A weight is placed inside the trap so it will descend into the lobster's domain.  In the old days, the traps were constructed and maintained by the entire family and were a prized tool of the trade.  Along with buoys and lobster boats, discussed later, they were valuable assets, and that remains true today.  Here is a modern trap.

People make a living as they can in Maine, so came the answer to my puzzled question about the often-absent town centers.  Instead, people decide how they can best apply their skills and hang out a "shingle" to advertise their business.  This is different from the practice, familiar to me, of rented or leased building space in a town center, where business operators often commute some distance to open their stores for business.  This family business sells lobsters, fresh from the cold, pristine waters of coastal Maine.

The lobsterman's wife helped us select them from one of the tanks located in their converted garage.  These were soft-shelled lobsters.  Their shells aren't really soft, but the chitin (pronounced KITE'n) in the shell is not yet fully developed.  Since this makes them unsuitable for shipping, they are perfect for local consumption!  The lobsters were placed in a sturdy paper bag and off we went to prepare them for dinner.

On the way, I had noticed that traditional buildings in Maine wear the rustic patina of cedar shake siding.  Where in the west this material would shrivel with sunburn in short order, it is particularly suitable to Maine's cool, moist coastal conditions.  This lovely family home is true to form.  Jonathan's parents still live in the 150-year-old farmhouse where he grew up, in Sullivan.

The shop where jonathan's dad has spent so many hours

fixing and tinkering and making things is no exception.

The family garden is an important source of year-round food,

and by mid-October it is nearly ready for winter's cold.

The vegetable garden is Dad's pride and joy and

Mom joyfully brings in freshly-scrubbed produce for dinner.

Chloe is in one of her favorite lookouts.  She can peek through the kitchen window to see what's cooking, or watch from her perch for garden invaders.  Twice during our visit, she helped solve the garden marauder mystery - voles!  Don't worry, there are plenty more - and, like my own cats, she is growing too old to present much of a threat to the birds.

Mom's gardening talents were expressed in

artistic arrangements that filled the south-facing sun porch.

Behind this lively arrangement of zinnias is a bowl filled with Dad's favorite, "rattlesnake beans" - the final harvest of the year.  Simple, nutritious, organic foods are the norm here, and few things in life could be more elegant.

Even though we felt tired from our little hike in the sun
at Orono Bog and the hour's drive from Bangor,
jonathan came from a fun-loving family...

as pre-dinner antics with Mom quickly proved!

When the lobsterman's wife learned this was my first Fresh Maine Lobster meal, she generously sent us home with seawater to steam them in, instructing us carefully on the preparation:  in the large steamer, bring the seawater to a full steam, add the lobsters; when it begins to steam again, set the timer for eleven minutes and - well, all that's left is the grin when you taste it!

Maine lobsters are greenish when they go into the pot, alive...

... and turn bright red as they cook.

The saltwater steaming makes a remarkable difference.

Accompanied by fresh vegetables from the garden,
it was the best lobster dinner ever!

Coincidentally, the headline says it all.  = )

FIRST TASTE OF MAINE, A WELCOME HOME: PART 1

I awoke in Maine two time zones and a different world away.  It wasn't long before I realized how really different it was from the arid west!  Our first visit was to Orono Bog, where jonathan's Mom and Dad happily escorted us.  They were plainly glad to see each other, and welcomed me warmly.

Registered as a Natural Landmark in 1974, a boardwalk meanders through Orono Bog.  The link will take you to jonathan's insightful account of the bog.

National Natural Landmarks serve as a reference to pristine habitat with primary disturbances from natural processes, rather than human.  Near the bottom of this link is a list of National Natural Landmarks by state.  There may be one near you!

 

Entering the bog
from the edge of a mixed hardwood-evergreen woodland...

... there was color everywhere!

The loosely-settled composition of the bog surface - an interface between water and soil high in organic matter - contributes to partially-fallen logs.  As the sun streamed through around us, trees rubbed against each other and creaked in an almost eerie pitch.  It was like entering a magical world of heightened sensory stimulus, all new to me.

Brightly-colored berries still clung to many branches, attractive to birds who were evidently enjoying the final fruits of summer.  Jonathan's mom pointed out that this one is a type of holly.

Bunchberry plants, in the dogwood family, rise above the mossy, leaf-strewn surface of the bog where soils are relative firm and not permanently saturated.

Pitcher plants were green in the tall tree canopy...

... and red in the open bog.

Trees are stunted in the more saturated areas of the bog, where few species can tolerate the conditions, so shade here is provided by much shorter plants.  In the wetter bog areas the soil surface is dominated by red sphagnum moss - does this contribute to the color variation of the red pitcher plants?

Bog rosemary
provides a striking variation in color and texture.

A mystical blue haze seemed present in some areas.  Swamp Gas Blues?  It could be a song - I can even imagine an elfin dance!  The strange effect comes from the trunks of standing dead trees, shining grey-blue in the sun, playing optical tricks with the complementary reds and golds nearby.

From the moist areas in the bog, it was fascinating to see the dwarfed vegetation grade into taller shrubs and trees, the glowing woodland beyond, all expressions of localized soil, moisture and pH conditions.

Eriophorum, cotton grass,
is a delightfully common bog resident.

As the boardwalk carried us back into the woodland zone, autumn leaves provided a rich contrast to the steel blue waters of the bog.

It was curious to see the distinctions between communities in the bog, and not all of them plants!

It was a perfect autumn exploration, filled with fresh smells, brilliant colors, the woodland sounds of trees and birds and insects - truly a tonic for impoverished urban senses.

There were rich colors below...

... above...

 ... and all around!

 Thank you, Orono Bog!

WELCOME TO KNOTHOLE KNEWS!

This has been the best year ever!  I photographed a hooded crane -- a Siberian native rarely seen in Idaho, journeyed to southern Arizona for more birding adventures, relaxed at the Oregon Coast in mid-July, and marveled at the spectacular autumn colors of Downeast Maine in October.  In the course of the year's journey, I've enjoyed watercolor painting, English Country dancing, and working with native plants, as my front yard is beginning to attest.  The best part of all this has been time with friends and family, especially the bounty of discussions and excursions with jonathan.

I hope you'll enjoy the ongoing adventures in narrative and images as much as I enjoy them first-hand!


 Exploring Downeast Maine in October... stay tuned for more tales of adventure!