JOURNAL
It looks like we got about 1.5-2 inches of snow last night. The gentle storm will be good for our continuing moderate drought conditions – it should lie low and softly seep for a while – yet, it’s not plow-needy, which creates hard piling. Besides, we were getting tired of looking at the unchanging winter woods and garden. A little temporary dazzle always is nice.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 21, 2024.)
Above you see a moment in a clear winter’s morning in Conary Cove: The high tide is temporarily forgiving ecological sins by covering them with a translucent veil; patches of icy snow cling to the rockbound shore, adding to the morning’s tingle; migrating blue and pale purple clouds head off together, marking the territory below with their passing reflections.
A wider view of the coast and Blue Hill Bay shows the grand serenity in the moment:
(Images taken in Blue Hill, Maine, on December 16, 2024.)
Today, you’ll see two of Brooklin’s more successful restorations, which are both in the Center Harbor area.
First, you see above Brooklin Boat Yard’s restored pier and its New England-style gear shed being backlit by the sun rising over Eggemoggin Reach. The pier and shed were destroyed in last winter’s violent storms and rebuilt in expanded and sturdier forms this year.
Below, you’ll see the seaward side of what is still called the Odd Fellows Hall, although that organization sold it in the 1990s and it originally contained a general store and a notions store. This French Second Empire [Napoleonic] style building was built in 1896. A massive restoration of it was finished in 2020.
Note the distinctive gabled dormer windows on the top floor. Unseen: There is a large mansard hip roof and store front entrance. Added: The metal fire escape was added to conform to modern safety needs. Missing: The building had an attached four-story clock tower that was removed in the 1950s.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 15, 2024.)
Sometimes an image of an ordinary scene conjures an imaginary magnificence. Here you see the captain and a crew member of “Dear Abbie:” working intensely on mechanical issues that the fishing vessel was having at the beginning of the scallop dragging season this month:
As I watched, a sunlit bird suddenly appeared and hovered over them, as in depictions of a visitation by a holy spirit. The workers never noticed. But this is the solstice month, a time when significant spiritual events are celebrated.
On the other hand, this also is a time when a herring gull will do what herring gulls do – fly to occupied, but moored, fishing vessels in the hopes that scallop guts will be thrown overboard.
Nonetheless, we have a good ending to this story: “Dear Abbie:” was repaired and apparently is having a good scallop season. Those who want to credit the visiting bird are free to do so. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 4, 2024.)
Here’s the old red boat house in Conary Cove that we monitor in all types of weather and poses. In this image, she’s soaking up the sun during yesterday’s cold, but fine, December morn. She’s also enjoying a good high tide and, if you look closely, you’ll see that she’s sporting a holiday wreath to greet passersby. If you can’t see the wreath, take a look at the closer images below:
(Images taken in Blue Hill, Maine, on December 16, 2025.)
Above and below you see Brooklin’s Beth Eden Chapel being hugged by the shadows of wintering sugar maple trees. Those trees stood staunchly beside the one-room chapel and meeting place for many years.
This plain, late Victorian structure was finished in 1900 as a nondenominational chapel. It’s not used much now, but it was once the emotional center of a small rural community of hard-working people. They came to this place to offer prayers of hope; celebrate the joys of christenings and weddings; join in rousing hymn-sings; decide important local issues, and to weep at funerals. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 13, 2024.)
I thought I was the only crazy person in the neighborhood who would go down to the ice-encrusted and breezy shore during yesterday’s cold (but otherwise beautiful) morning.
Then, as you see be;ow, my neighbor came on the scene! Rowing in Great Cove!! Without even a hat or ear covering!!! When the recorded ambient temperature was 27° (F) with 9-mile-an-hour wind gusts!!!! (I hate to think what the windchill and water temperatures were.)
But, there may be some rationality here. As some of you may have recognized, this “mad rower” is the famed glacier explorer Paul Mayewski. He may think that 27° is relatively tropical and he probably gets cabin fever if he stays indoors too long. Click on the image to enlarge it. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 14, 2024.)
Above you see a stream with no name. It flows as a drain from wetlands, down through the woods, into a culvert and under Back Road, and out to Great Cove, where it will sweeten the sea with fresh water. Recent rains and melting snow have engorged it and sped its flow. Compare the above image to the one below, which shows the stream’s calmness during the rainy snow two days before:
And that’s an example of the problem – we’ve had some good precipitation here lately, but the ground is so hard from the ongoing drought and a few freezes that the rain and snow can’t soak into the soil well. They mostly become surface runoff that drains downhill, while the land continues to be stressed, fire danger remains elevated, and there is likely to be an adverse effect on spring growth. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine on December 10 [snow] and 12, 2024.)
Eat More Scallops! This image of Fishing Vessel “Dear Abbie:” hoisting her scallop “drag” appears with my monthly column in the current Ellsworth American:
Scott Keenan, the boat’s owner and captain, regularly sells some of his catch locally at favorable prices. So does my neighbor, David Tarr. Click on the image to enlarge it. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 9, 2024.) To read the column’s interesting facts about Atlantic sea scallops and how they’re harvested, click here: https://www.5backroad.com/montly-column
The weather gods apparently are not in the holiday mood yet. They seem annoyed and confused, or at least they’re apparently trying hard to make me feel that way. We had hard rain and heavy winds overnight in a storm that didn’t live up to expectations, at least at our house.
The highest wind gust recorded at the Brooklin School was 25 miles per hour. The winds usually are a bit higher at water’s edge. Yet, we had no power outage in the house and, as far as I can see through the windows, no trees blown down. This morning, however, we’re under a Flood Alert until 10 a.m. and I haven’t yet checked for damage at the shore.
The buildup to last night’s storm was more interesting visually:
Yesterday, as you see from the images here, we had steady (sometimes hard) rain accompanied by enveloping fog, with temperatures in the 50s. In the image above, you’re looking through that rain and rolling fog at the melting ice in the WoodenBoat lily pond; note that there are still areas of green grass way up here.
Below, see if you can find the lone, rain-soaked herring gull peering through the incoming fog at Naskeag Harbor, apparently also annoyed, confused, and not yet in the holiday mood:
The “point” at Naskeag Point directed our attention accusingly at the fog:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 11, 2024.)
As you may know, we monitor this arthritic old apple tree all year. In winter, we like to note how many apples she produces and how long she holds onto them. She’s apparently over 100 years old and extraordinarily tight-fisted. She’s been losing her fruit fast lately due to heavy rains, high winds, some light snow, and occasional freezing temperatures. Yet, as of Monday, she still was clutching five of her beloved progeny.
Of course, the remaining fruit are now in a such a puckered condition that only their mother tree could love them:
I doubt that any self-respecting deer would be tempted to try them. (Images taken on WoodenBoat campus in Brooklin, Maine, on December 9, 2024.)
It snowed a little last night here on the coast, as you see from this image taken early in the morning;
It looks like about an inch and a half has accumulated – enough to remind us that it’s winter; not enough to plow the driveway. It does give us a change of scenery for a while. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 120, 2024.)
Above you see ever-changing Naskeag Harbor on Thursday, as winter raindrops plunk targets in its waters, making no impression on the fishing vessel and summer residence that stand by.
The next day, the winter sun adopted its sun king pose above the Harbor and the “point” of Naskeag Point at the end of the road, making no impression on the abandoned canoe that stands by:
When I was editing these images, the lyrics of a very old song kept popping into my very old mind: “I’m gonna love you/Like nobody’s loved you/ Come rain or come shine.” (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 5 and 6, 2024.)
The Brooklin lobster trap holiday tree is up and lighted, thanks to many volunteers, especially Sarah Havener. It’s on the flag and monument lawn in front of the Town Office:
Those arriving and departing Brooklin will be reminded of the Community’s spirit and heritage and maybe feel just a little better by realizing that people still do things like this. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 7, 2024.)
Above you see the early morning light reaching Great Cove at the beginning of yesterday’s bright, but cold and windy, coastal winter day. There are whitecaps in the Cove and sprinkles of icy snow still season the fields, left over from a little flaked frenzy the night before. About two miles south, Naskeag Harbor’s waters also were roiling from winter winds:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 6, 2024.)
Abpve you see a winter view of Mount Desert Island taken Wednesday from the usual location on Brooklin’s Amen Ridge. MDI is Maine’s largest island and contains most of Acadia National Park.
The Island has many mountain peaks that create their own weather. Air coming in from the sea hits the mountains and rises fast, expanding, cooling, and often condensing into vapor that launches a train of clouds.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 4, 2024.)
Above you see the top of a 15-foot thicket of burning bush (Euonymus alatus) that is alight in yesterday’s wintery cold. Its red leaves have now dropped almost completely, revealing its mass of red winter berries that the birds will consume and reissue in fertilized form as potential seedling bushes elsewhere. Here’s: a lower image of the bush:
Maine wildlife regulators have deemed this once-popular Asian bush to be severely invasive and prohibited further sale and distribution of it in the state. Nonetheless, preexisting plants here abound and there does not seem to be much enthusiasm for removing them. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 4, 2024.)
Here’s a view of the near-mountain called Blue Hill taken Saturday from a different perspective than my usual one:
The Hill remains wooded, although probably not as wooded as when the native Abenaki people hunted wild turkeys there before the European land grab began in the area in earnest in the 1760s. (Image taken in Blue Hill, Maine, on November 30, 2024.)
As you see from this image taken yesterday, the recent drop of air temperatures is finally lowering the surface temperature of our ponds and forming ice in them that’s deeper than skims in some areas:
The size of the surface and depth of the water in these bodies will determine how fast “safe” ice will form – ice that’s walkable/skateable/fishable, etc.
It’s hard to predict whether or when the ice will mature enough for ice-related recreation in these changing climate times. However, now seems to be a good time to refresh our memories of at least the following guidelines, which are adapted from part of the state’s more numerous “Winter Ice Safety Tips”:
1. Pond or lake ice is never 100% safe; safety depends on numerous conditions, some unpredictable.
2. Before entering onto the ice, check its thickness by digging a hole near the shore with an auger or other instrument: Under 4”, stay off; 4” of “good ice” may be safe for foot activities (fishing, skating, walking, etc.); 5-7” of “good ice” may be safe for snowmobiles or ATVs; 8-12” of “good ice” may be safe for most cars or small pickups; 12-15”of “good ice” may be safe for a medium-sized truck.
3. “Good ice” usually is blue or clear and solid.
4. Potentially hazardous ice includes melting ice (light gray to dark black); water-saturated snow ice (white to opaque), and mottled or slushy “rotten ice” that contains areas where the texture is not solid.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 2, 2024.)
December arrived yesterday and gave a dull daylight performance of gray light, snowy rain sprinkles, and a raw wind. But she showed some promise by ending her day with this grand sunset:
(Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 1, 2024.)
