My Kerouaction today: On Spontaenous Writing

At dusk it becomes very bleak looking, come March in Maine. The only color you can squeeze out of the stark landscape is a tint of red on the southwestern sky, as the sun sets behind the shadowy row of trees across the frozen lake. Dirty black and white snow banks hold dead looking oaks, maples, and beech trees rising out of them. An occasional black crow is seen scavenging, and even the color you got earlier from the bright bluejays is now long gone. There’s Emmylou Harris singing Cold Cold Heart lowly in the background and the only sign of warmth in the whole scene is the fire flaring and crackling from the corner of the room.

White Winged Crossbill

Check out the little white winged crossbill who stopped by the beach last weekend along with a bunch of his friends. I can’t remember ever seeing these little guys before. They have very interesting long, pointy bills, with the top being longer than, and overlapping the bottom, hence their name. They were incredibly friendly, letting us walk within a yard of them while they concentrated on the pine cones. There is an abundance of pine cones this year. We gathered a garbage bag full of them for burning in the fireplace and there are still thousands of them left, especially now that some of the snow has been melting.
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However, as of this morning - Thursday, February 19th - the pine cones are once again covered and I suspect the crossbills have moved on, taking with them possibly the robin Rick and I saw out the back window while sitting at the breakfast table last week. I'd had visions of spring in my mind for the past week after seeing so much bare ground on our walk at the beach. They were shattered this morning though I still couldn't help but admire the beauty of the snow.

Worked from home today and I wasn't nearly as productive as I wished I'd been, but I can do some more reading and editing of web pieces tomorrow morning.

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July Trip to Bigelow Preserve

A photo from my July trip to Flagstaff Lake in the Bigelow Preserve. It was my first solo trip in the camper. I think Rick was in PA.

Flagstaff used to be a very small lake but a dam was built on the Dead River back in the mid 50s, flooding the town of Flagstaff. People say when the water is low you can look into the lake and still see chimneys from some of the old homes.

You can see the Bigelow Range rising up from the lake. The double peaks towards the left are called The Horns.

It was a blustery day with storm clouds threatening and finally letting loose on me at about dusk. The camping at Bigelow Preserve is free on a first come basis. It was pretty deserted the weekend I was up there.

2008 Photo Favorites

Thought I'd post some of my favorite photos of 2008; ones that I haven't already posted here: http://www.myspace.com/fiorghra04345 or on LiveJournal. I like this one of Rick and his friend with the Kennebec River behind them.

And right next door is my friend Eddie's antique shop, called Poet's Antiques. You can see some of Eddie's paintings in the window and the sign for our favorite dive in Hallowell - The Wharf - which is on the floor below the antique shop.