The Best Show of All

Up here in the north woods, the Fourth of July is a homemade celebration. And that makes it quite special. Given good weather, even in bad weather, everyone makes an effort to celebrate. If not for themselves, then for the sake of grandchildren and teenagers visiting from the city. This year it was a vintage Fourth. The weather was perfect - 80F with a temperate breeze from the north that kept the bugs away. The sun was shining, but gave us occasional relief behind beautiful puffy clouds.

On our lake, we have a 'boat parade' at 1PM. Mind you, the boats on our lake are not yachts. They are primarily aluminum fishing boats (aluminum due to the boulders), a few small pontoons, and 'Grand Lakers', a style of fishing boat that looks like a long canoe with a straight stern to hold an outboard motor. Everyone dolls up their boats with flags and streamers, and wears Uncle Sam hats and waves flags as we drive around the lake, counter clockwise in a caravan. A parade needs an audience, so others stay on shore, spraying the paraders with water guns, waving, shouting "Happy Fourth" and cheering. It's all over in 45 minutes and the parade boats disperse. This year we had 21 boats.

After that, everyone visits, and most have some kind of cookout and try their luck at fishing for bass, white perch, and pickerel. As darkness falls, one hears the booms and sees the brilliant color displays of fireworks. But those are unofficial and in some cases, not exactly legal. But there is something uniquely American about the whole day here, where citizens organize themselves to have a good time.

This year the day was special because the boat parade passed by a pair of loons with their new chick.

Then after the parade, when we were sharing a glass of lemonade with folks from a neighboring lake, a friendly yearling moose paid a visit.

Come to think of it, no matter what we humans do, Mother Nature always puts on the best show of all.

A pair of eagles floating in a Maine lake!

Just came across this amazing blog entry on the blog about the birds of northern Maine.
Apparently a pair of bald eagles was seen floating in Bottle Lake, and, well, you just have to read it. Great story, and the photographs are fabulous. Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes!
Amazing blog posting about a pair of eagles floating in a Maine lake

Launch of the man-made loon nest

Inspired by the Audobon Society, G. decided to build a loon nest to help the nesting pairs that come to our part of the water each spring. He consulted many websites about design, and went with a simple square version using hemlock logs, some old chicken wire left at an abandoned campsite, an old piece of plywood that he once spray painted with the words 'loon nests' to keep boaters from swamping them in years past, as well as sticks, branches and grassy soil. He also used some pieces of old fire hose to make two little slides so loon chicks can get onto and down from the platform.


This week we launched it, amid a stiff breeze from the south. We tethered one end to a concrete brick, and tied the other to the root of a half-submerged stump. It is visible from our dock, and we hope that within a couple of weeks the grass will grow up around it. Gary also added the feature of sticks as poles in the corners to keep eagles and other raptors from swooping down on the nest. A young nesting pair is in the area, and we've seen them scoping out the grass alongshore near the spot where it's tethered.

Here is a link to an amazing live webcam of a man-made nesting platform in use.  Live loon webcam in central Minnesota

Season's Beginnings

Spring arrives each year in northern Maine for me, with the occurrence of certain events. They seem to cascade all at once. It's like an orchestra gathering on a stage. Gradually, each player arrives, tunes up and warms up, and the sounds get louder and louder until the moment when the conductor raises his baton and the music begins. Well, the music has started up here, at last.

We had our inaugural fishing adventure. We went fly fishing with friends yesterday on a remote rushing river. On our way there, we stopped at a bakery in a small town near the river, in an old victorian home. After loading up on fresh bread, cookies and muffins for later, we made it to the river and picnicked on rocks near the water, then fished the rapids, hooking some bass . It was our first complete day spent outside. Fortunately, there was a fresh enough breeze to keep the black flies away.

This morning, coffee mug in hand, I sat on the porch and watched in awe as a yearling moose ambled across the 'front yard' along shore. The birds are back, singing like crazy; warblers, vireos, white throated sparrows, flycatchers and thrushes. A young pair of loons recently arrived in our waters, seem much younger and smaller than the pair that was here last year. Today, the motorboat and dock went in the water. It was warm enough to leave the windows open at the cabin all day. Our lake friends are arriving, one by one, driving hundreds and even thousands of miles to get here. And like them, the hummingbirds made it back to their summer home in the woods. Today, one of them sat for a long time drinking and drinking at the feeder. It must have been a long flight.

So the elements are here: friends, birds, moose, fish, boats, and black flies. The music of spring has begun.

Letting Magic Happen

The March, 2010 issue of Cabin Life Magazine contains an article by K, about entertaining friends at the cabin. Here is the link to it. Letting Magic Happen

Midwinter Thoughts of the Forest

It's midwinter today; we've got 45 days until the first day of spring, March 20th. Now that it's February, I start listening  to recordings of birdcalls and forest sounds to get me through the last weeks of winter. These sounds are a  great accompaniment to writing. My favorites are a CD called "Golden Pond" by Relax With, as well as an old cassette by the Nature Company called "Morning Songbirds."  

Today we received a letter from our friends at the 'camp' who live up north full-time. They don't have e-mail, so we engage in actual letter writing with each other. Their latest missive was a card with a note, a clipping from the local paper, a cartoon, and a small photocopied sheet with a quote typed on it. It looks like it had been typed a long time ago on a typewriter, then photocopied about 2,000 times.

THE PERFECT SENTENCE

The following has been called, by some literature professionals, the most perfect sentence in the English language. It appears on pages 114-115 in Thoreau's MAINE WOODS.

     "Once, when Joe (Aittean) called again, and we were listening for moose, we hear come, faintly echoing, or creeping from afar through the moss-clad aisles, a dull, dry, rushing sound with a solid core to it, yet as if half smothered under the grasp of the luxuriant fungus-like forest, like the shutting of a door in some distant entry of the damp and shaggy wilderness." Thoreau adds, "If we had not been there, no mortal had heard it. When we asked, Joe in a whisper what it was, he answered, 'Tree fall.' "

Rushing Wind

I think we can all agree that the U.S. needs to reduce its dependence on foreign energy. Increasing our energy independence will entail a combination of the wise conservation of existing sources while exploring alternate sources. It will include both personal behavior and government involvement. There is no panacea.

Here in Maine, wind power has become a very controversial issue. Governor Baldacci has declared the development of wind power a priority of his administration and in this State, what the Governor wants, the Governor gets. He has expedited the permitting process for industrial wind projects by eliminating certain requirements. Maine currently has 18 industrial wind projects either online or at some stage of approval.

But let's pull in the reins a minute. Maine is known as "America's Vacationland" because of its unspoiled natural beauty. Many of us have bought or built cabins in pristine areas as an escape from urban lights, noise and traffic. We love the land and respect nature. Clear-cutting the mountain tops and ridge lines to erect 400' tall industrial wind turbines would do irreversible damage to Maine's greatest asset, its pristine beauty. Why are we rushing into it?

There is plenty wrong with the way Maine has charged ahead toward the Governor's stated goal of becoming "the Saudi Arabia of wind" but rather than explain how ill-conceived his plan is, I'm going to take a more positive approach. I want to present a quick list of questions that should be asked and answered before any industrial wind project is approved.

1) Does the site make sense? The government has completed extensive and detailed studies of wind levels across the country. The resulting maps can be seen at:

www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps.asp
and
http://rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/

The American Wind Energy Association warns that "a site must have a minimum annual average wind speed in the neighborhood of 11-13 mph to even be considered".

2) Zoning. Is the site in an area zoned for industrial development or will zoning variances have to be granted?

3) Who's behind the project? Is it a public- or a private sector project? If it is private sector, we need to keep that in mind at all times. Who are the backers and what are their motivations?

4) Does it make financial sense? The project needs to make both short-term and long-term financial sense. If it's private sector, does the developer have sufficient capital? Will it be profitable? More importantly, would it be profitable without any taxpayer money going into it in the form of subsidies, tax advantages or other preferential treatment from local, state and federal government?

5) Are the projections valid? If the investors claim they will be profitable, are their projections based on realistic data? Every figure must be questioned and defensible. The burden of proof must be on the project's backers. Is there a ready buyer for the power generated? If so, is the projected sited near existing delivery lines that can handle the additional capacity?

6) Local impact. What impact will the project have on the environment, local economy, and the health of nearby residents? How many permanent jobs will be created? How will nearby property values be affected? Hard facts and trustworthy studies from existing projects are now available.

7) What impact will the project have on the current grid? Will the responsibility for building new grid capacity fall to the citizens? What impact will the addition power lines have?

8) Study the developer's reputation. Are there allegations of improper dealings associated with other projects? Any history of lawsuits or indictments? Have its other wind projects met their power-generating objectives?

9) Scrutinize those in favor. Which supporters have a financial stake in the project? Which ones have a less direct vested interest in it? Which ones support it because they believe "wind is green so wind is good"? Which ones intelligently back it only after careful consideration of the short- and long-term costs and benefits?

10) Scrutinize those against. Which opponents are against the project because they don't want it in their back yards (a.k.a. NIMBYs)? Which ones intelligently oppose it only after careful consideration of the short- and long-term costs and benefits?

11) Scrutinize the decision makers. This would be the officials of affected towns, the State DEP, Corps of Engineers, and others. If any individual with a vote in any stage of the approval process has any kind of relationship or stake with the project's developer, ethics demand that he declare that relationship and recuse himself.

12) Is it a net green gain? Setting aside the political and financial issues, will this project be a net gain in terms of 'going green'? Keep in mind that fossil fuels are used to start and stop the blades. Turbines also consume enormous amounts of grease and oil for lubrication and cooling. When the power generated is forced into the existing grid, the traditional power plants will by law have to throttle back and operate less efficiently, thereby creating more pollution.

13) What if the wind doesn't blow? Should the project fail to deliver as projected, will the developer be required to remove the towers and return the land to its pre-project condition through soil replacement and planting? If the developer has confidence in his projections, writing such a clause into any permit should not be a problem. If he refuses, consider that a red flag!

Well, that's my quick & dirty list. Before you ask, no, my cabin is not threatened directly by any industrial wind project. Yet I feel very strongly about the irreplacable value of a clean lake and a wooded ridge line whether it's outside my window or not. I'd just like to see wind projects subject to thorough, open, honest and ethical evaluation. Is that too much to ask? Let's not rush like lemmings to the cliff.