Tag: Maine island

January in Maine

It’s a cold and snowy new year–time for a little cross-country skiing to replace my usual morning hike around the island. I like to get up in the morning after a light dusting of snow and see what has traipsed through my yard in the middle of the night. This morning the tracks were clearly from my neighbor’s cat sneaking a midnight run on the bird feeders and a couple of deer wandering through.

With the summer people gone and the holidays over, January through March are quiet months out here–time to tackle big projects and then relax in front of a fire in the fireplace.  I especially like snowy weekends when it’s impossible to get out of the driveway and curling up with a book and a pot of tea seems like the only reasonable thing to do.

When the ski slopes beckon, there’s great skiing right now at Camden Snowbowl, Saddleback in Rangeley, Sunday River,  and Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley. If you’d like more information on things to do in Maine during the brisk winter months,  go to visitmaine.com and check out my guidebook, Backroads & Byways of New England for some off-the-beaten-track ideas for things to see and do.

Wishing everyone good health and happiness in 2013!

Leaf Peeping in Maine

Fall colors near Rangeley, Maine

Foliage is at its peak in northern Maine right now, with colors turning ever more glorious along the coast and in the southern part of the state.  I’ve just returned from my last boat trip of the season, a lovely sail from Portland to Bar Harbor and back. The fall colors really popped against the dark evergreens along the shoreline. Add autumn’s slanted light and it’s no wonder that  Maine has long attracted artists, poets, and writers. Here on my Maine island, days are comfortably warm and nights are crisp and cool — it’s a great time to visit anywhere in the state and take in some fall festivals, fairs, and church suppers.

Life on a Small Maine Island

Harbor view

August on my little island in Maine means:

–Sultry days

–Star-filled nights

–Lots of friends and relatives eager to squeeze in a visit before their vacation ends

It’s always interesting to welcome visitors here for the first time because their comments range from “Breathtaking” and “Charming” and “How can I move here, too?” to “What on earth do you do here all winter” and “How can you stand living so far from the shopping mall?” (yes, someone really asked that). Of course it’s not for everyone, but life on a Maine island exemplifies the state motto, “The Way Life Should Be.”  At least for some of us!

About 100 of us live in this tiny fishing village all year ’round; in summer the population swells to perhaps four or five times that number as visitors open up their seasonal homes to stay for a week or two or, sometimes, the entire summer. The ebb and flow of the seasons and the population is a fact of life here, much like the ebb and flow of the tides that surround us. Right now as I gaze out my office window the late afternoon sun is sparkling on the water, sailboats are drifting by, and lobstermen are unloading their catch at the co-op across the way. There may be better places for a writer to live, but I can’t imagine where that might be.