It’s kind of a secret spot, actually, just north of Eastport’s downtown. The people who live overhead can’t even see it.
Tag: Downeast
Fallen eagle
Chanced upon in a culvert in Edmunds Township. Those feathers, by the way, are both protected by federal law and valued in Native American culture.
Doctor T at sea
The world of wooden sailing vessels has many devotees, and they have a trove of stories linking captains, ships, first mates, cooks, builders, designers, and much more.
Dr. T, as Garth Wells dubs him, is a passionate Penobscot Bay habitue each year from San Francisco. He has a sharp eye for the waters, too, as well as some strong opinions.
Sailing with him aboard the historic schooner Louis R. French has been a delight.
For more schooner sailing experiences, take a look at my Under Sail photo album at Thistle Finch editions.
Deer Island Lighthouse
Across the Western Passage of Passamaquoddy Bay from Eastport, Maine, this small beacon flashes red at night. It’s also a warning of proximity to the Old Sow, the biggest whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere, and mostly on the Canadian side of the channel, as you can see here in one of its calmer phases.
To explore related free photo albums, visit my Thistle Finch blog.
Camden Hills in layers
They’re a landmark for much of Penobscot Bay. Sometimes, though, they appear more distinctly than they do as one broad outline.
For more schooner sailing experiences, take a look at my Under Sail photo album at Thistle Finch editions.
Moody moon
Playing around with the night setting on my Galaxy cell phone has produced some surprises, beginning with the aurora borealis.
Here is a full moon that looks like a sun in the breaking storm clouds. Zoom in and you’ll see that the moon’s round. Cameras see a moon as being much smaller than our eyes do.
Any photo that shows otherwise has been manipulated. Care to discuss?
Golden light in the late afternoon
Yes, autumn is in the air.
Here it’s seen on Penobscot Bay from a cruise aboard the historic schooner Louis R. French.
For more schooner sailing experiences, take a look at my Under Sail photo album at Thistle Finch editions.
A quickly passing glow
Time the view right and you may see Campobello Island, New Brunswick, turn buttery in the late afternoon sun. As an added touch, a few house windows suddenly burst into bright reflections. Here they’re simply vivid white boxes.
Historic St. Croix Island viewed from the north
The first French attempt to colonize North America took place in 1604 on this island in the St. Croix River but ended disastrously. The historic site is now an international park between Maine, USA, and New Brunswick, Canada.
Access to the island itself appears to be problematic.
Here it is seen from Ganong Nature Park (east of St. Stephen, New Brunswick) at the confluence of Pagans Cove, Oak Bay, and the Waweig River while the St Croix River veers off to the west and quickly narrows before continuing the international border.
Finally, something the public could see
When the scaffolding around the front and side of the house came down after more than a year, the public could finally see what we had intended.
The result actually took off in some tweaks that left it looking, well, we hope for the better – things like the double windows upstairs, which I’ve discussed in previous posts.
In a small community like ours, people were bound to gawk and talk, and so far all we’ve heard has been admiration.
When we embarked on this project, I quipped that old-house fixes took three times the estimated time and budget, and ours (alas) has been no exception on both fronts.
Actually, more, or maybe less, if you consider the Covid whammy and inflation. Besides, we got into a great deal more than adding space overhead: many of the extra costs addressed items in our home inspection report, things like rot, wiring issues, plumbing, masonry. Oh my, it was a long list in addition to the more pressing roofing situation that concerned our insurance policy.
So much of what we paid for would be unseen: the aforesaid rewiring (throughout the house, cellar to roof), sculptural work to allow the new farming to sit atop the old (how this structure ever survived before this is a miracle), spray-foam insulation, caulking. The interior storage lofts weren’t as simple as promised but they add for architectural drama (and the name of our architect, mainly us and Adam), nor were some of the exterior efforts to preserve the Cape image as seen from the street while drastically altering the reality.
But then, when our new cedar shingling was finally finished and the construction scaffolds were removed after more than a year, how handsome, as one of the coconspirators put it. Or, from my perspective, dramatic.
I’m hoping both Anna Baskerville and Captain John Shackford, as previous residents, would approve. As well as the list of others who have left their imprint here.
Frankly, we treasure all of it.
Jnana's Red Barn 