Weekend at camp

I had planned to take some vacation time last week after the long weekend and spend it at camp.  Then we got a call from some friends from PA who wanted to come to Maine for the weekend so we offered to let them stay there.  I sometimes feel very guilty about having two nice homes while some people go homeless and it helps abate my guilt to generously share camp.  Many of my friends know where I keep the keys and know they're welcome to go out and use it when no one is there.  So I was happy to change my plans and let Keith and Beth stay there.  They stayed Saturday through Tuesday and left for Acadia on Wednesday.  I left work early on Tuesday and we all enjoyed a paddle and a campfire.  

Keith

                                Beth                           

This wicker chair had seen better days so we decided to make it part of our campfire.  Later, looking at photos, we discovered what appeared to be some evil spirit enveloped in the flames.  Look at the top of the flames.  Scary.  I tried to convince myself it was benevolent but in reality it does look pretty evil.  

So I took Tuesday afternoon off work to spend with our guests and Wednesday afternoon off to spend solo and stayed the night at camp and woke Thursday to a beautiful morning.  It was tough to wake up to such a gorgeous day and leave camp but I did.    

Even with all the rain we'd been getting the water on The Cobb had been going down and became extremely low this weekend.  This time of year the water should be high.  The loons and ducks count on knowing where the high water is in choosing their nesting sites.  I emailed the Cobbossee Watershed District to find out what was up and discovered that the water was being lowered to allow for some emergency repairs to the New Mills Dam.  Apparently the repairs should be done early this week and then the boards will be put back in place and allow the water levels to return to normal.  I think it's still too early for the birds to have started nesting so I think they'll be ok.  This is how low it was on Sunday:

Thursday night I woke briefly about 3 a.m. and found this little guy peeking in the window.   Actually he wasn't all that little but he was definitely cute.  

Sunday Rick and I were sitting on the deck and saw this heron land in one of the dead trees in the marsh.  I was able to get this photo of the heron about to launch just as the osprey flew into the frame.

I love that you can see his little rat tail thing (there's probably an official name for it) and the hair on his neck.