Offshore Lights and Walking on Water

Good morning everyone. Epic seems to be the word for everything these days. So pardon me if I go with the trend but yesterday was "epic." We took a hitch offshore to tour Mt Desert Rock Lighthouse. The storm damage from several years ago is still apparent but the stone tower stands true and the horn still sounds. What struck me most about the day was the number of birds we saw. The air was just alive with gannetts, shearwaters, storm petrels,and semi-palmated plovers. Watching the gannetts diving from 40 feet up gave me a headache but nature has provided airbags in their skulls to absorb the shock. Watching the shearwaters take off I realized that they run across the water in an effort to become airborne. How cool is that? We also saw a shark that passed just under the stem of the schooner and the flapping flipper of an ocean sunfish, also known as a mola mola. It was big!

Last night we had some good soaking rains here along the coast but things have cleared off nicely and we are getting ready to go explore Blue Hill Bay.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

PS We do have a few spaces available for the next few weeks, especially for our September 5th Lighthouse tour when we will once again make an extra special effort to get out to see the offshore lights and the pelagic critters that live there. Give Jen a call if you are interested. We are offering a discount for that cruise as well as a donation to the American Lighthouse Foundation.

Hail Mary

My heart is heavy with sadness as I write this particular blog. Since the beginning of August our dear friend and cook for the last 12 years, Mary Barney, had been struggling with cancer. I have intentionally respected Mary’s privacy and I apologize to you for not sharing any news about Mary’s health sooner. On Monday afternoon Mary passed away very peacefully at home, surrounded by friends and “family”. Her departure was as graceful as the rest of her life. Many people, including Jen, have been doing heroic work to support Mary these last few weeks. Oddly enough Mary was never very excited about transitions though this was about the fastest transition she ever made. And as I struggle to let go of Mary I realize I am terrible with transitions as well. We used to joke about how we liked things just the way they are, thank you very much, so why change what is working already even if it might be less labor intensive. Hard works is its own reward. I used to joke about getting Mary a Cui...

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