Yes, Eastport is a working waterfront. Especially if you like lobster.
Reshuffling the deck
The unexpected complication of discovering that all of the dumpsters in town were tied up until after the big Fourth of July events forced our contractor to delay the demolition of the front half of our upstairs. Our attention turned instead to the back of the house, where a wheelchair-ramp and small deck were seriously deteriorating. Think of it as a safety issue.
The project would fit into the interim.
Unlike a previous owner, we didn’t need the ramp. Basic stairs would do in their place, and that would free up more of our small yard. The existing deck, meanwhile, was too small for our needs, and my coconspirators already had dreamed up designs that included a ground-level apron. For now, we would focus on the upper level just outside the mud room door.
The old deck top and ramp walkway were deposited at the far side of the backyard, where they will serve as a platform for stacking our next firewood delivery, keeping the split wood off the soil itself.
The deck structure itself became more involved than I had imagined. This house renovation is, after all, a vast education for me.
For starters, the new concrete footers were more deeper than the amateur ones and large rocks previously used. Three feet rather than a foot max. No wonder the deck was sagging. I wasn’t surprised there, but I was definitely impressed by seeing the new ones done right.
The underpinnings for the new top were another matter. No 2x4s or X-bracing this time. I wondered if Adam was overbuilding this, but he assured me this was according to code and would support a roof, if we decided at some point in the future to turn this into a screened-in porch. OK, I’m on board.
Carpentry really is about building boxes, as I once heard. The framing above became the rigid system below, awaiting the deck top and railing.
The results so far really are redefining our backyard and its uses. Dining out there without having to consider those nasty fire red ants under your chair is a definite step forward.
If these were paper books …
Discounted “sale” prices would be used to move a backlog of volumes, either at the bookstore itself or at the publisher’s warehouse. It was rarely a good sign.
With ebooks, there are no stacks of boxes or precious book-shelving problems.
Maybe you remember the “remaindered bin” with its cheapo prices. What you likely don’t remember was that authors didn’t get paid royalties on those.
Still, they got books moving into readers’ hands.
Events like Smashwords’ big July-long ebook sale exist to stir things up a bit.
Check out my four selected entries at my Jnana Hodson author page at Smashwords.com to pick up some real deals.
Poetry has been an influence, too
Through much of my adult life, I’ve spent more time writing and distilling poetry than I did with fiction.
Part of the reason was that poetry fit my once-a-week time for sustained “butt time” addressed to my literary efforts. A novel, in contrast, requires a bigger window, at least for me. I have to admire mothers who put something good together while toddlers and family meals gave little respite.
For me, the practice of poetry, both as a writer and reader, springs from the practice of meditation I took up as a yogi and continued as a Quaker, though now it’s once or twice a week rather than daily.
Prose simply feels more secular and aimed more at a general reader. And even there, I’ve come to see that writing hundreds of thousands of headlines for a living had a poetic component in its brevity. My personal writing was one way of staying sharp there. As for the hundreds of thousands of newspaper pages I designed? They did fall back on that intense visual art training in high school.
Like my fiction, my poetry originated in trying to remember and make sense of what was happening around and within me. Sometimes, when I got around to a manuscript of fiction, I would cannibalize a poem, especially if it hadn’t yet been published in a journal. That was especially true when it came to Nearly Canaan and the Secret Side of Jaya.
I wonder if any of this goes back to my childhood interest in chemistry and then being stymied when I wasn’t taught algebra when I needed it, back in fifth and sixth grades. Freshman year of high school was too late, my line of inquiry had shifted to classical music and visual art.
Poetry is a kind of equation, even geology, rather than the Friday night football game a novel can play.
~*~
My juggling act between the daily journalism that paid my bills and the literary aspirations that I hoped would finally free me did result in what I’ve come to see as literary graffiti – flashes written on the run, even when they then underwent much distillation and refining. I think that’s most obvious in Subway Visions, Nearly Canaan, and the Secret Side of Jaya but also befits everything except What’s Left, and even there may have crept in through the earlier outtakes I wove in.
~*~
Shortly after my books were up at Smashwords, a fine writer I know told me over coffee that I was more of a poet than a novelist. Ouch! He may have even said a better poet than novelist.
I hope I’ve improved since then and have arrived at a better balance in the revised books.
What a deal! This month only, it’s half-price
My book has been seen as an alternative take on New England history itself, from the perspective of the region’s third-oldest settlement. By extension, the spin is seen from the town’s significant oldest minority. Quaking Dover challenges all of what you were taught. You know, the big turkey dinner with the Pilgrims, the tea party in Boston Harbor, Paul Revere’s midnight ride, and those infamous witch trials.
Tiny Dover up in New Hampshire was different from the start, as you’ll discover.
Check it out at my Jnana Hodson author page at Smashwords.com.
On the three branches of government
The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself make a law, though he can put a negative on every [new] law, nor administer justice in person, though he has the appointment of those who do administer it. The judges can exercise no executive prerogative, though they are shoots from the executive stock, nor any legislative function.
James Madison in Federalist No. 47
Think of it as an ‘advance reading copy,’ after the fact
Many of the books in my personal library arrived in the newsroom as advance reading copies, intended for reviews or perhaps mention in a column, except that we rarely printed one of those. Instead, the freebies went out on a shelf for first-come to be first-served.
For the book publishers and authors, it was a huge waste of money.
In addition to the two books I’m offering for free at Smashword’s big July-long sale, you can pick up a copy of my new Hamlet: A Village of Gargoyles poetry collection at just half-price.
It really is worth a visit.
Fog with Campobello Island, Canada
As seen from from our neighbor’s across the street in Eastport, Maine.
As a counterpoint to the political conventions
The poems in this rant aren’t in my usual voice, but they do address today’s political precipice, only from a slightly earlier historical perspective. And yes, that’s scary.
For this month only, I’m offering the ebook for free at Smashwords.com during its annual July sales sweep. What do you have to lose? Remember, it’s free.
Just go to my Jnana Hodson author page at Smashwords.com.
ATVs all around
My introduction came back in the late ‘70s when our landlord acquired a three-wheeler to get him easily from one end of his orchards to the other, and even up to the hill ranch and back. It was certainly easier to navigate through the trees than a tractor was.
These days, though, I see them everywhere.
Even though they’re not my cup of tea, here are some reasons.
- The machines themselves: More properly known as all-terrain vehicles, these small open motorized conveyances are either buggies (“quads” or “four-wheelers”) or tricycles (“three-wheelers” or “trikes”) with big, low-pressure tires and a seat that is straddled by a driver who steers with handlebars. So they’re not quite a motorcycle, OK? They are intended for off-road use, but commonly show up running on highway shoulders.
- Popularity: Honda introduced the three-wheeler in 1970, followed by the four-wheeler from Suzuki in 1982. They originally appealed to hunters and then sporting trail riders. Yamaha entered the market in 1987 with the Banshee, which added sand dune riders as fans. By the early 1990s, ATVs had also become a part of the American workplace.
- Pure fun: There’s a good reason for the big club down in Dennysville, as well as the recreational riders at the trailhead in Machias during their summer vacations. The activity is seen as a major tourism opportunity. You can zip along and bounce, feeling free. I think of them as a kind of three-season snowmobile.
- Ease of getting around: On the Passamaquoddy reservation just to our north, they’re a common way to get from one part of the village to another, no matter the rider’s age. Here in town, they’re still pretty much banned, with some folks complaining of the noise or potential trespassing. The controversy is a hot topic in many localities.
- Regulations: Few states require a license to operate an ATV. In Maine, where I live, there is an annual registration fee for an ATV. In addition, no one under age 10 is permitted to operate an ATM, and youths 10 to 16 are required to have completed a safety course and be accompanied by an adult. The rules don’t apply to land where the operator lives or on land owned by the operator’s parent or guardian.
- As for kids: Youths can drive them, although children under age 12 are advised not to ride machines having more than 90 cc engines or, under stricter guidelines, no one under 16 should be driving, period. In practice, though, parents do send the kids to the grocery and hear no complaints. In addition, smaller models designed for young riders are available. Engine limiters are among the safety features. Still, an estimated 22 percent of the deaths involved children under 16, as well 26 percent of the reported emergency room injuries.
- Safety: From the beginning, deaths and serious injuries occurred, most of them blamed on reckless operation and failure to wear safety gear such as helmets and goggles. Tipping and rollovers accounted for a majority of the accidents. In 1987 a moratorium on the production of three-wheelers went into effect, shifting the market entirely to four-wheelers. In 2021, there were 293 deaths on public roads – 59 of them riders age 29 or less. Texas, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania have the highest fatality rates, followed by Kentucky and California.
- Environmental impacts: They’re largely negative. Off-road use contributes to soil erosion, damages vegetation, and disturbs wildlife habitats. All uses increase noise pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollutants. On the other hand, they’re not as bad as a pickup.
- Cost: Roughly $4,000 to $12,000 for a new one, though customization can really up the total.
- Annual sales: North America recorded $2.2 billion in sales in 2022, nearly two-thirds of the global market, and it’s growing.
Jnana's Red Barn 