Here you see Summertime on a cloudy day in Down East Maine: The clear, fresh water of Patten Steam is chortling into salty Patten Bay at high tide; the reflections of the thick and lush leaves along the shore are painting the moving water a deep emerald in which alewives are jumping and making circles, and a few pink beach roses are adding visual spice for the observant.
It brings to mind the opening, brilliant, and scene-setting couplets of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” lullaby in Porgy and Bess:
Summertime
and the livin' is easy.
Fish are jumpin’
and the water is high.
Those lyrics were by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, except that my “water” above was their “cotton” in the original. As the renowned songwriter Stephen Sondheim noted, that famous opening line uses “and” instead of “when,” which makes an exquisite difference poetically. It expresses a universal feeling about Summertime, not just a description.
That feeling was created at the meeting of the two Patten waters that day last week. Adding to it was a youngster in Maine summer attire who was trying his best to catch one of those alewives;
(Images taken in Surry, Maine, on June 26, 2025.)