Dawdling on the Quietside

The Waterfront Gallery is closing for the season so I went down to Bernard to pick up my unsold work. It was a beautiful fall day, warm and sunny, with the leaves just starting to turn ... I have to admit, I dawdled. Driving past Pond's End (the tip of Long Pond in Somesville) the lake was glassy smooth and it would have been silly to just drive past.

So I got out and admired the view. A stranger was there, also looking out over the lake, so I said, "Couldn't ask for a nicer day." (A pretty standard comment between strangers around here.) And to my astonishment, he replied, "There could be a few more clouds in the sky. But that's being picky, I suppose." Another photographer! Because really, only a photographer feels a beautiful day is improved by clouds. (But it is, because otherwise you have a big blank void in the upper part of your photos.) Wish I'd thought to ask his name, maybe I know his work.

When I finally got to Bernard, I drove around town for a bit. There are two streets, so it didn't take long. After I picked up my work from the gallery, I figured, why not, so I drove down a street I've never taken before. And found someone there is ready for Halloween:

The pirate is wearing a survival suit. Fishermen wear these in the winter so they don't die of hypothermia if they fall overboard. The skull is wearing the national costume of the United States.

And then since I was practically there anyway I wandered over to Seawall to check out how the tourists are weathering the closure of Acadia National Park. Don't get me started on the Park closure - it's already hitting many of my friends hard. Not just the park rangers, but caterers, innkeepers, shop owners. A lot of people are cancelling their trips - if you're one of them, come anyway, there's still plenty of awesomeness on the island! For example, the parking lot at Wonderland was barricaded, but lots of people were parked along the roadside at Seawall, admiring the marsh and the rocks and the views. The light was too glaring for good photos, so I went around through Manset and watched crews working in the boatyard there.

 In the end my hour-long trip took three hours, but what a shame it would be to miss all that!