MAINE MORNING DUCK REPORT..APRIL, 09

A most unusual visitor frequented the "duck channel" this morning. First glance out the kitchen window and I noticed a rapidly moving item swimming parallel to the south bank. A few walkers on the foot path had stopped and were observing the quickness of this water creature. Not the usual bird life we normally monitor. My immediate thought was, "A muskrat." I watched it swim about for a few minutes and then adjourned to enjoy to my morning coffee and reading. Upon refreshing my cup of java and another glance out the window, there, before my very eyes, was a big, old bucky beaver sitting on the duck channel bank. More observers had gathered, many sporting cameras with telephoto lenses. Easing forward into the marsh grass, they were within feet of this unusual visitor to our neighborhood. Bucky took it all in stride and posed with confidence for a considerable time.

Taking time to watch this gift of nature made me realize that the days of fog and rain of late seem totally insignificant when I can look out my windows, in an urban setting, and experience a beaver's rite of spring in my own front yard. Just as I was thinking, "Not another overcast day," nature delivers a gift.

Bucky paddled about the duck channel (sans ducks) until the tide began to flow. Not to be left behind, he took natures lead and could be seen swimming with the tide.

It's evening and again the hour of full tide. Neither ducks nor beaver are to be seen in the channel or on the bay. Maybe tomorrow. But just for today, let me celebrate a brief encounter with one of God's many creatures and a break through of blue sky and sunshine.

FULLY CHARGED

While enjoying a spontaneous Valentine's Day brunch with my son, Selby and our friend, Betty, the conversation was centered around personal electronics. I had been gifted with a red, mini MP3 player. I know this devise is used to download and store music for one's own use, but its necessity is totally lost on me. Because it's a gift from Selby, I'm appreciative of it and it carries great meaning.



"My room is on battery back-up," Selby announces.

"On battery back-up!" Betty and I respond in unison.

"Ya! The battery keeps everything running in case of a power outage."

"Exactly what do you have in your room that needs to be running?" Betty asked.
The list was to unfurl!

2 HD TV's......a 7" and 20"

XBOX 360 HD

HD Cable Box DVR

5 disc Surround Sound 1000 watt DVD player

WI-FI

Laptop computer

AND

Wireless lights

"The battery keeps everything running for up to forty minutes."

I was rendered speechless.

"Tell me that again so I can write it down."

It was like listening to a foreign language. All these new electronics were out of our realm of reality. They're obviously part of my son's daily existence, but will they ever be part of mine? As I'm attempting to minimize and simplify, electronics are demanding me to turn on and tune in. I never did fully utilize my "Palm" as the tapping didn't work for me. Will I be tuned in with my little MP3 player and jiving along the footpath? Time will tell.

As I've been attempting to get this "new age" experience posted, my keyboarding has been severely limited because of ICE BITE! Each day the wrist and arm improve. Now it's time to re-build the muscle tone that deteriorates so quickly. Hoping to be full speed ahead in another week.

In the meantime, I received a call from Selby telling me of a new piece of electronics in his possession. It's a mini DVD player. Hooked up to his 7" HD TV and installed in his SUV, his friends can watch a movie while traveling to and from the mountain and snowboarding.

What can I say. LIFE IS GOOD.

ICE BITE

Frost bite happens when one is exposed to below zero temperatures for a prolonged period of time. Frost actually penetrates the skin. It is not kind.

Ice bite is when slippery ice gets the best of skater or walker and takes them down.....FAST....without warning! Bang, and one is on their bottom. So it happened to me on Friday. The shock is over but I'm left with a wrapped right wrist. Consequently my keyboarding speed is severely handicapped and reduced to what my left hand can perform. The end result is that I'm temporarily unable to get the "Postings" on line that have been stirring in my head. By mid-week I'm hoping for improved mobility and will try to catch up. I have some good stories!


In the meantime, I leave you with an image of one of my favorite paintings, "The Storyteller."

It might more aptly be named "The Blogger."

Promise for most postings this week.

MAINE MORNING DUCK REPORT...JANUARY '09

Sea smoke dances over the northeast Back Cove channel leading to Casco Bay. A progression of Arctic air masses (The Polar Express) has caused ice formations to form on the surface of this tidal basin so we are frozen over from shoreline to mid-bay. One doesn't walk on this ice as the continual ebb and flow of the tide creates ice pilings rather then a smooth, thick surface. We are experiencing a winter-winter this year! That means temperatures have remained consistently cold so that the snow remains on the ground rather than being washed away by rain or solar heat.





Our friends the ducks look like black lava rocks dropped on big chunks of white. Not much paddling in the open waters. But they do continue to march up the duck channel with the rising tide and leave for open waters as the tide recedes. There continues to be ever changing life along the foot path. Due to the treacherous conditions, we will explore the winter shore line as the Canada goose does, from above, in V formation. Visibility is as far as the eye can see on this crisp blue, blue sky day. No discernible wind so the gliding will be smooth and easy. Let's not ruffle our feathers. Come on, let's take off.


Flying counter-clockwise, we're launching from the duck channel directly in front of my home situated on the mid-south shore. Baxter Boulevard separates the shoreline on our right from the embankment on the left which borders the south, west and north corridors. The eastern arm, or Bayside, is a combination of noisy Interstate 295 and large sports fields.


Our journey has us exploring only the water line as the bird flies. Marsh grass grows along the southern, western and north western shores. In addition to the southern duck channel, a stream flows into the cove due west and another urban drain is due north. These areas are the favored locations for water fowl congregations...moving with the ebb and flow of the tides. Morning finds them resting and feeding on the southern shore while mid-day and afternoon they fancy the bay, either due west or north. Could it be the waterfront afternoon breeze that draws them to these locations?


Continuing in flight we find beach terrain on the northeast and eastern shores. About a hundred feet off the northeastern beach is a bird rock where seagulls flock. It was on this rock that a bald eagle landed on November 30, 2006. Why do I recall the specifics. It was the day I found my new home. Driving the Boulevard, listening to Rachmaninoff's Concerto in C Minor, spotting the eagle...the future was feeling very good. OOPS. I digress.


On the eastern beach is an ever changing rock sculpture garden built by one of Portland's many unidentified artists. I am in awe of our own mini Stonehenge. Five, six, seven rocks precariously balanced on one another surviving the forces of nature. Sometimes one falls to a northwest blow or vandals, but another is quickly erected and the sculpture garden evolves. Like the tides, it has an ebb and flow.

Coming around we now glide over the southeastern beach which is adjacent to the Back Cove parking lot. Bustling activity here with cars coming and going so it's only foraging seagulls frequenting these grounds. Anything for a scrap.


Although the cove formation is square, the scalloped edge and meandering foot path creates a rounder appearance. Our journey seems as though we are circling, always banking to the right. (That's flight speak.)


Tides in the Back Cove range from a high of 10.4 feet during the new and full moons to a low of
-8 feet during less extreme lunar phases. On average, the tide change is 8.5 feet. At low tide the bay appears to be one very large clam flat with a small channel, drawing 4 feet, leading to the open ocean. This lack of draw keeps the area pretty much boat free, although during the summer a lobster man sets a few traps in the southeastern quadrant. Hauling the traps is subject to tides. I believe Frederic Law Olmsted, designer of Portland's park system in the 1870's, would like knowing that the Back Cove is an estuary for ducks, geese, herons, egrets and the occasional bald eagle.


As we glide back towards the southern shore duck channel, I am aware of more details to describe. Those will have to wait until the foot path is passable or the great Snow Goose comes and sweeps me off my feet.

THE RITE OF HIBERNATION

HIBERNATION is a derivative of the Latin word "hibernus, wintery." It's literal translation means to spend the winter in a dormant state. Especially in the northern climates, we are all too familiar with this season of lengthy nights and shortened daylight hours, layers of clothes, securely tightened windows, and a constant eye to the weather channel. Just like the animals, we often put on a few extra pounds, become shut-in and lethargic.

This year I've taken a different view of the season. I've decided to celebrate what many consider negatives and try turning them into positives. It's made a considerable difference and I'm experiencing hibernation jubilation.

I'm grateful for:

• Long nights so I can enjoy more candlelit hours. Whether lighting candles on my kitchen window sill for the enjoyment of commuters driving home

on Baxter Blvd. or whiffing the Frasier fir scent of my favorite Thymes candle glowing in the living room, lighting candles as the daylight hours shorten has brought a scented serenity to my home. This I will miss with longer days of light.

• Having a stack of books that I know will be devoured during the "long" hiberius nights. I always read a David McCullough non-fiction during February. Last year my friends asked if I was still "in the Panama Canal" as I worked my way through PATH BETWEEN THE SEAS. It was a worthy trip. This year ," THE GREAT BRIDGE" is on deck. Anyone want to join me span the East River?

• Soup Suppers that are often and healthy. I've been developing a soup-a-week venue. In researching new recipes, my extensive, but often under utilized cookbook library is coming to life. You know a cookbook is just an ordinary book until it has food stains on its pages. I can hear the authors breathing. Hello James Beard, Fannie Farmer, Marion Cunningham, Julie Russo, Shelia Lukins, and my favorite, Bonnie Stewart Mickelson author of HOLLYHOCKS & RADISHES from Pickle Point Publishing (That's another story in itself.)
  
• Walking in the city and having all the sounds muffled by the snow.
• Wrapping a scarf around my neck every time I venture outside.
• Visiting museums and galleries to get out of the weather.
• X-country skiing for just an hour....anytime of day.
• Vintage hankies for when the sniffles set in.
• Beach walks, winter colors of white and gray, and huge moons.

"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
Albert Camus

Hibernation is just what you make of it!

FAN THE FLAME

A NEW YEAR!

The traditional holiday of making resolutions that are rarely kept. This year I decided to undertake that time honored tradition a bit differently. No, I'm not going to take back my resolutions. God only knows I have enough on my plate. But I am going to remove many from that daunting RESOLUTIONS list that invariably haunts me for twelve months... and individually burn them. I've created my FIRST ANNUAL "ENOUGH ALREADY" LIST.

Inspired by a suggestion from the book SIMPLE ABUNDANCE, I created a list of things I place in the "Enough Already" category. Begin by completing the statement, "Enough already with _______________." For instance, one of mine was, "Enough already with being bothered by a noisy neighbor." I wrote that on a slip of paper, folded it and added it to the pile of concerns I wanted to torch. In the end I had written nine "Enough Already(s)" on separate slips that were folded then dropped, one at a time, into the lovely fire dancing in my fireplace. One of the slips drifted to the corner and I thought, "Oh, no, which one is it that won't be done with!" But alas, fire is energy and it seemed to seduce the escapee into the fold of golden-amber flames. Relief. Nine concerns no longer viewed as "have to do or my problem" but acknowledged and set free to the universe. In their own, rightful time, each will be achieved.

I still have a couple of resolutions requiring my attention, one day at a time. Some of the other stuff though, "enough already." Let it go. Maybe I'll have to let it go again next year, and the year after. But for 2009, I'm giving it an energetic lift-off and I'm just a little bit freer.

So fan the flames with "enough already" and enjoy the warm glow of letting go.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2009

MAINE MORNING DUCK REPORT: WINTER SOLSTICE

On this shortest light day of the year, with a blizzard roaring, life crawls to a snails pace. Is this what it was like a hundred years ago? Life as nature intended.

IMAGINE. It is December 21, 1908.

A perfect day for a sleigh ride on Baxter Boulevard which borders The Back Cove. Wrap me in ermine, bundle me in the sleigh led by a perfectly matched pair of mares, snap the whip....let's go!

"Sleigh bells ring are you listening,

In the lane, snow is glistening

A beautiful sight, We're happy tonight.

Walking in a winter wonderland." (Bernard & Smith)

Was it better a century ago or is it just the romantic view of days gone ? I believe that the images create an illusion which is always seen through tinted lenses. But I have found a way to make peace with today's 24/7 hectic life, while embracing the shortened hours of day light. I have become attuned to the ebb and flow of nature.

Nature has a way of jolting us to a pace that is more human. Two storms back to back provide that very dose of "natural" sedative. Gray skies have been looming since the 18th. The first blizzard arrived on the 19th just in time for the evening drive. The 20th remained a "day with no time." That is my description of when morning light is the same as afternoon. No visible sunrise or sunset. Just flat, gray skies. Such was nature's forecast of an ensuing storm. No weatherman mistakes here. Mother nature being 100% accurate. The ever so light snow began at 9:30 am on the 21st and in one hour gained to blizzard force. White was the predominate color and would remain so, even after the 4 pm sun down. Dense snow riding thirty mph winds blanketed the air as well as the ground. It's called a white-out.

And so the winter solstice came and went in a natural furry. All we could do was stay put, light candles and celebrate a cozy home.

Our friends the ducks were visibly absent for two days. I think they were riding out the storms tucked under the twin bridges a few fathoms down the foot path. But this morning they returned, with the tide ebbing into the "duck channel." Marching before the rising tide, ducks and geese together returned to the neighborhood. They announced, "We survived the blow!" CeCe and Daisy were as excited as I was to see our feathered friends. You see, they have become our "natural" gage of life's true rhythms.

Today the sun shines once again. It's journey north has begun. The season of rebirth is upon us.

Live in each season as it passes; breathe air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet drink and botanical medicines.

Henry Daivd Thoreau

MERRY CHRISTMAS

HAPPY HANUKKAH