In the Right Place: Form Follows Function

To be sure, this building is plain. But, its beauty lies within, as is true for so many plain things.

Yes, I sneaked into the WoodenBoat School Boatshed yesterday to make sure that the floating jewels inside survived our nasty Arctic weather recently. They did, as you can see from this image:

The Boatshed is unheated, but is nicely utilitarian, even in winter. It’s a post-and-panel structure that keeps most wind and precipitation out and allows warming sunshine in through skylights on the roof and windows at the building ends. A gravel floor warms up a bit when bathed in sunlight and retains some heat. There are no water pipes to freeze and burst.

During the summer, the Boatshed’s side panels are removed, and classes and other get-togethers are held under the roof, while salty breezes come wafting through from nearby Great Cove, which is about 100 feet behind the camera. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 6, 2025.)

In the Right Place: Sky Art

Here you see last night’s sunset afterglow wrought in pinkish pastels:

Just before it disappeared and darkness descended, it flared into fiery red acrylics:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 6, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Tipping Point

The temperatures here yesterday afternoon shot up to 35 degrees with a wind chill in the high 20s. That feverish turn-around from the mind-piercing Arctic blast the day before was all the excuse that I needed to pull on the old boots and see what the icy invasion did to our woods.

The streams were frozen-over, as you see above, but not frozen-through; you could hear the water chortling below the ice. The floor of some parts of the woods looked like it needed a good sweeping:

There were conifer seed cones and needled branch tips, dead branches and dead treetops, and flecks of bark and twigs littered everywhere. Apparently, the ice weight and high winds were too much for vulnerable areas.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 5, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Where There's Smoke, Part II

It’s over. I think. Friday and Saturday’s record-breaking Arctic blast has moved out to sea and we are experiencing a torrid temperature of 23 degrees (F) with wind gusts of 9 miles per hour from the west-southwest as I write at 7:15 this morning.

Although records are not kept on sea smoke, it appeared to me that we had a record-breaker in that department, as well; the blast produced the most dramatic sea smoke and freezing sea spray display that I’ve ever experienced.

Yesterday morning, when I went down to Naskeag Harbor to take the images here, the recorded ambient temperature was minus 12, with a wind chill of minus 37 and wind gusts of up to 39 miles per hour from the Northwest. The Harbor was other-worldly:

The sea smoke hid our fishing vessels and the freezing sea spray covered them and the shoreline area with ice. Sea ice also started forming in the shallower waters along the shore. Here you see the ice-encrusted fishing vessels Tarrfish (shown twice, once a closeup) and Dear Abbey in the Harbor:

On the way back, I stopped off at Amen Ridge and watched the sea smoke sweep across Blue Hill Bay up to Acadia National Park in the distance, with its Mt. Cadillac arising and unphased:

When I got home, the patch of sea ice forming near the shore of Great Cove had grown:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 4, 2023.

In the Right Place: Where There’s Smoke

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” is not always true here in coastal Maine. Below you’ll see sea smoke in Great Cove and Eggemoggin Reach at sunset last night, looking like the beginning of hell freezing over.

The smoke was wafting up from the water and being swept south by gusts of over 30 miles per hour from the North. The ambient temperature then was minus 7 (F) degrees with a wind chill to humans of minus 27, and the water temperature was about 40. Here’ how it looked in Naskeag Harbor at dusk yesterday:

Sea smoke is an atmospheric reaction between very cold winds flowing over significantly warmer (albeit not warm) water surfaces that evaporate into crystals during the process. If there were no significant wind, some of the water surface probably would start to freeze into pancake ice.

It got colder here overnight. As I write at 7 a.m. today, the recorded ambient temperature is minus 12, with a wind chill of minus 37, and wind gusts of up to 39 miles per hour from the Northwest. It’s not going to be a day for a walk along the coast. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 3, 2026.)

In the Right Place: Ho-Ho-Ho and Oh-Oh-Oh

In light of the Arctic air now beginning to sweep down over us, I thought I’d show you Santa’s regional workshop across the road from us. Well, that’s what we like to think of it as, anyway. I’m told that the picturesque little building actually was a workshop and is about 100 years old, although it has had a new roof installed, among other restorations.

We’re bracing for Santa-like weather here with steady declines in temperature and high winds today through tomorrow. The 8 a.m. report today from the Brooklin School station was 12 degrees (F) (wind chill of -06) and gusts of 35 miles per hour from the west. Great Cove already is full of whitecaps. It’s supposed to get much colder, but at least its crystal clear. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 2, 2023.)

January Postcards From Maine

January this year in Brooklin was a month of cycles: freezing to thawing, sunshine to rain or snow, blue skies to gray, more freezing to thawing …. The result was a continuing series of wonderful contrasts.

(All images here were taken in Brooklin, Maine, during January 2023.)

In the Right Place: Tidy-Whitey

January made her exit yesterday, bowing gracefully in the form of a little snow fall early in the morning. It was enough to put a clean cap on everything without being a bother to us and the wildlife.

The plows quickly cleared the roads and driveways, the sun and some interesting clouds appeared at about mid-morning, and life went on “nice-and-tidy-like.”

All told, January was benign this year. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 31, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Bedded

Here you see two hefty does basking comfortably on the edge of our field yesterday morning, which is now covered in two inches of overnight snow. White-tailed deer such as these spend more time bedded down than on their feet, according to researchers. Apparently, constant browsing tuckers them out.

Unlike some hooved animals, deer don’t sleep standing (even in snow). And, when they lie down, it’s hard to tell whether they’re just resting or sleeping – they often sleep defensively, with their eyes open, their ears alert, and their noses inhaling local scents, according to the research.

When bedded, white-tails reportedly enter into a cycle of nodding off completely for a short time, then becoming searchingly alert for a similar time, and so on. Sleeping in groups increases the odds that at least one of them will be on the full alert segment of the cycle at most times.  (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 30, 2023.) Click on the image to enlarge it.

In the Right Place: The Untraveled and the Tamped

It was surprisingly tough-going in the untraveled woods yesterday, where stubborn snow and ice have gathered together and refuse to leave, despite recent warmer weather and rains:

Even the long-legged deer were sticking to the tamped-down trails, which also were a bit snow-covered and icy:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 29, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Burning Through

This was one of those shoreline days last week, when the sun was burning through heavy overcast, causing the trees to shadow and Great Cove to glisten.

(Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 25, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Coated

We seem to be in one of those New England weather cycles recently. At first, warmer temperatures and rain created a late-January thaw. It melted away most of the snow on driveways and reduced the white blanket elsewhere to a thin covering that was spotted with puddles of water and patches of reemerged grass. Freezing temperatures returned yesterday, icing up the carpet and its many puddles.  Then, above-freezing temperatures returned this morning with more rain to melt away more snow and ice. The fields now have significant areas of grass that our white-tailed deer can browse without digging.

Our local herd has been surviving this relatively mild winter very well, as illustrated by the yearling shown here as she sauntered by in yesterday’s first light and freezing temperature. She’s not only “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” her multi-layered coat is lustrously thick and apparently very warm. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 27, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Way-Off-Broadway Drama

Yesterday was a bit dramatic, weatherwise. Here’s yesterday’ sunset afterglow over Great Cove after a morning of snow-clearing rain and an afternoon of peek-a-boo sunlight:

(Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 26, 2023.)

In the Right Place: The Doe at Dawn

Here you see the first light Tuesday finding some of our higher treetops. While watching this from a bedroom window, I happened to look down to check the condition of our driveway. There stood a small doe, calmly watching me and nicely completing the picture.

She stayed long enough for me to take this image with my phone, then walked gracefully into the woods. That’s when she lost her poise: many drifts could not hold her weight and she had to continue her morning rounds plunging and stomping every few feet.

I’ve had my own ungraceful trouble with those drifts in the past few days; they give us old men good cardio workouts, but they sometimes are hiding ice:

Overnight and morning rain today have diminished the snow greatly and wiped our driveway clear. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 24 [deer] and 25 [woods], 2023.)

In the Right Place: Maine Gothic

Here you see a connected house on Back Road basking in yesterday’s sun. The house is known locally as (you guessed it) “The Red House.” The carpenter’s details on its main structures and the gothic top window are superb.

Red was a favorite color for Maine farmhouses and barns in the old days. The story is that good paint was relatively scarce and expensive, so many frugal farmers here made their own paint by digging red iron oxide from the ground and mixing it with skimmed milk and lime. The resulting rusty-red color resisted snow and sleet longer than the commercial paint of the time and perked up drab winter days.  (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 24, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Snow Wars

The popular, green-lined road to Town was transformed into a lonely, colorless runway by yesterday’s misty snowfall:

Meanwhile, lobster traps and safety cones at Naskeag Harbor fought to keep their colorful dispositions:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 23, 2023.)

In the Right Place: From Here to Infinity

It’s 32 degrees (F) and raining, with 15-mile-an-hour wind gusts, as I write. The rain is forecast to turn into significant snow and the wind is slated to increase to gale levels. Officially, our area is now under both a Gale Warning and a Winter Storm Warning.” It looks like we’re going to need plowing again.

Many of us depend on skilled neighbors to “plow us out” after winter storms, which can get tricky on some driveways. Above, you see the beginning of one nearby driveway that curves and dips severely down to the coast. Below, you’ll see our driveway being plowed Saturday.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 21, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Winterwear

Here you see a lily pond in its winter attire yesterday:

In the summer, it’s adorned with native fragrant water lily pads and flowers:

Leighton Archives Image

The pond, which is located on the WoodenBoat campus, is full of life – some at rest for the winter, some very much active in all seasons. Right now, for example, fish are visible in some areas of the pond, swimming just below its surface. As far as I can tell, they are common and golden shiners, a favorite Maine bait fish. (First image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 21, 2023.)

In the Right Place: No Problem

Yesterday’s snow “storm” did not live up to that name. Let’s call her a snowfall. She slowly and surely cast about 5 1/2 inches of relatively fine powder, but she was not a howler, nor did she leave boot-sucking drifts. Here are a few images taken as the fine snow came down:

This morning, all is calm, all is white:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 20 and 21, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Plowable

It’s been snowing most of the night and morning and we’re under a winter storm alert until 5 p.m. today. Today’s snowfall will be only our second driveway-plowable event of the winter.

The images shown here are from sunny yesterday, showing the results of our first plowable event, which was a ground-smoother.

It looks like what is going on now may turn into a boot-sucker. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on January 19, 2023.)