MaryAlice Musings and More

 I have spent this past week looking out to the east from my loft windows and deck, at one of the Schoodic sculptures.  Public art is so precious and nourishing and I will take home my memories of this sculpture sharing the shore with the Narrows, in the Lubec Channel.  "Five sculpture Symposia from 2007 to 2014 resulted in a world class collection of large granite works of art that make up the new Sculpture Trail of Maine. The Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium was an artist in residency program that gave sculptors from Maine and around the world the chance to focus on a single piece of public art created in Maine granite. The six-week symposia provided a stipend, materials and technical support to each artist, in a communal working space open to the public. The finished works are now part of an outdoor collection that spreads throughout the region. The project was supported through donations from the local communities, general fundra...

Fog and the International Bridge     Sunflowers, Fog, and the Bridge     Walking Another of the Cobscook Trails - The Coves -- Low Tide   Woodland Trail on the Cove Today I drive down Old Farm Point Road.  Some majestic old Victorians,  a beautiful old cemetery, and old general store.  Beautiful coastal homes on Cobscook Bay,  at the end of the road one of the organic farms, where I stopped at their little stand and got some fresh micro greens and a little garlic.   These trails are such a gift.  Wonderful signage, well marked trails,  picnic tables, and majestic views.  Today, I had unwelcomed visitors.   I have not had insect bites, not one since I arrived on the coast.  Today,  I was swarmed as soon as I got out of the car at Pike Lands Cove. They were vicious.  I itched as I hiked.  The "Pike" lands are beautiful and the first Mr. Pike brought a number of different trees and fauna to ...

  What a lovely last day of this holiday weekend.  The low tide this morning was very very low, and the morning moved from brilliant sunshine to fog rolling in from seemingly everywhere.  Dense at first then lifting exposing more and more of the narrows and it’s flats.   I listened to my Ruth Reichl Save Me the Plums Audiobook as I washed the dishes and brewed my tea. It was another morning where I could feel the deep appreciation that comes from these simple moments.  Enjoying hearing Ruth's voice tell tell enjoyable story of food, people and life.  Smelling my favorite blend of tea as I sipped and watched the fog moving thickly around the narrows.  Moments like this are timeless.  I put them on along with a sweatshirt as I got ready to leave the house and take a morning hike while the tide was low.   I headed out of town to the Parklands of Cobstock Trails.   I have not walked any of these trails before and I was not disappo...

  The sun is low in the western sky as I get ready to post today.  The clouds, puffy and not moving in the eastern sky are a beautiful shade of lavender and pink.  The water is calm, moving towards high tide.  It has been a beautiful day minus the tech gremlins.   I was wondering if mercury was in retrograde, but no that does not happen until October 13th.  Some key got stuck on my laptop, not enough that I could actually tell that there was something wrong with a key on the board, but after too much time with apple support - I will not bore you - or trigger myself by going into any details.   The good news is that all seems well.  The computer is working.  The day was glorious.  I am feeling rested.  Tomorrow I am going to Quoddy State Park and some of the new trails that have just been completed earlier this year.   Monday is supposed to be another wonderful day and I am very glad to still be on the front end of my ...

  The Semipalmated Sandpipers do not know that there is a global pandemic.  The adults are here, mostly the mothers, the juveniles and other adults will be arriving soon.  The Cormorants are also here. There are also a small seagull type bird who arrived this week because some winged insect hatches have started and the gulls eat the hatches that are at just a certain space in the air.    I had no idea that I was staying in Lubec at a time when thousands of migratory birds were making a stop before doing their next leg south.  It brought me hope.  The birds and the harbor seals continue their annual rituals.  For many years I have found that this time of year is one of favorite get away times.  I have gone to the North Shore of Lake Superior,  Stout's Island Lodge on the Island of Happy Days, Stonington-Mystic Connecticut, Lubec and sometimes "camp".   These are all places that I have gone to soak in the change of season,...

I am spending this week on Pleasant Street, just around the corner from Dewey-Mowry.  I do think that there is Mowry Street, but I did not walk over that way today.  I have absolutely no connection to my father's family.  I have talked to one cousin, who was also estranged from the family for a number of years, but she knew not much more than my nothing.   Last year when I discovered Mowry Preserve, beach, street with my dear friend Marcia and her daughter Mona I felt like somehow I had found some way to build a story around my ancestral home.  It is fun to have found this very special coastal place.   This is morning i spent a couple of hours walking the beach.   The fog when in and out.  The lighthouse came and went.  The sun burned through the clouds only to be hidden once more.   The waves swelled in and out.  The tide was somewhere in the middle moving towards a high tide.  I walked away from the narrows and alon...

 I am at the most eastern point of the United States.  I have come here every year since I have moved to Maine.  I can see the Roosevelt International Bridge from my windows.  I can hear the foghorn tonight.  The smells at low tide were briny and evoked life from the ocean.   I can see Campobello Island from the deck.  The bridge is closed, no going to Canada on this trip to Lubec.   I am here for a week.  A week of being at the ocean,  hiking in the state park, along the new Cobstock Trails, and meandering down the streets of Lubec.   There are a few places that are doing take-out,  I got lobster dinner to go tonight.   The Lubec Brewing Company is open 11-4, they have a really nice beer garden with tables that overlook the water.   I have good books.  The wifi is strong.  I have good things in the refrigerator to eat.  The mattress feels great.  I am doing my best to try ...