Burnt Cove, Deer Isle, A Decade Ago

When is the last time you took a trip down memory lane? I have embarked on that trip again today. Taking a decade's old journey back in time, I find myself on a remote island off the coast of Down East Maine. On the western edge of Deer Isle I find Burnt Cove. Carved into the landscape surrounded by quaint, clapboard houses and large, granite boulders, this tiny cove is the consummate Maine setting. Heavy clouds hang low in the sky, on this warm Summer's day, giving every element a larger than life feel. I snap images moving my viewfinder a tad left, then a tad right.

After photographing Burnt Cove, I drive the narrow, winding back roads further south on Deer Isle. Using a map, I hug the coastline taking in the scenery. An hour passes and I make my way back to Burnt Cove with anticipation. Just as I had suspected, the low cloud base had lifted giving way to blue skies. Have you ever seen such a beautiful Maine setting as this. Needless to say, the red clapboard house is a priceless find.

The granite boulders that hug the coast, as they do in most Down East shorelines, coupled with the dense Fir trees that grow right up to the water's edge, sets the perfect scene. My love affair with coastal Maine, and an equally passionate love affair with sailboats, brought me to the farthest northeastern state of the U.S. I can only hope if I journeyed to this remote area today that I would find a similar landscape. However, I know there is nowhere, in this our United States, that is safe from urban sprawl. So lucky to have captured these images at a time when coastal Maine was still rugged and unspoiled. Time really can stand still. All you need do is press your shutter release button. Click, and the scene is yours forever.

I have a very lazy weekend ahead with only a few chores. Perhaps the out of doors, which constantly beckons to me, will take over and I'll find myself by the lake shore today. Who knows. ENJOY!

Stonington, Through My Lens

If I could go back to Maine, I would go in a heart beat, but I have other fish to fry. So I scan my image library and sigh. There is no place quite like Maine. It's beautiful. It's rugged. It's unique in so many ways. I drove into Stonington, Maine, on Deer Isle, on a very foggy, Summer's mourn and headed straight for the waterfront. I reached the dock just in time to see this beautiful tall ship making its way across the harbor.

As the fog began to lift, I drove from one side of town to the other, creeping slowly through a busy, tiny town to find the opposite side of the harbor. As I approached the waterfront, camera in hand, this beautiful tall ship was sailing by. I absolutely love the old dock in the foreground with the sea gulls perched on top.

With the fog fully lifted now, I turned and made my way to the car, having driven way out on the main dock. Before I got in the car, I looked up and saw this scene. The quintessential Maine clapboard houses sitting next to the the water's edge, while a wharf side restaurant complete with log stilts jutted out in the harbor itself. What a perfect setting. Stonington is such a quaint, albeit teeny tiny town, situated on the southern most edge of Deer Isle. If you have never visited, you've missed out.

Before getting back in my car, I also noticed these small boats tied up to a smaller dock. The sun was bright and the water was a gorgeous blue. I couldn't not snap a few photos. This tiny town is so remote and isolated, and to think of the harsh Winters, and to see that tourism was, and still is, thriving here was such a comfort. I am amazed to think about the fishermen making a living out on the open ocean working their lobster traps, but that is exactly what they do.

Before leaving Stonington, I stopped at a small shop in town. Curiosity took over as I walked to the back of the shop next to the waterfront. A small sailboat was floating aimlessly through the harbor. At the water's edge lay a tangled mess of rope and bright pink buoys. Oh, how perfect. Throw in a bit of rocky coastline that Maine is so famous for and you have the perfect seaside image.

If I visited Stonington today, I would stay a while and snap more images and immerse myself in this quaint, tiny seaside town. I had dreamed of this trip for years and to live it was absolutely surreal. I'll be back with my next stop at Burnt Cove on Deer Isle. And yes, I've shared this trip before, but I just couldn't not share again. Can you see why. I hope you are staying warm in the throws of this Polar Vortex with negative degree days and even colder nights, not to mention snow squalls in the north every other minute. And before I leave, goodbye January. You seemed so short and sweet. Oh, and least I forget, these beauties (photos) were all taken with slide film on a manual Pentax camera. Take that you DSLRs! ENJOY!

Burnt Cove, Deer Isle

It has been close to a decade since I journeyed to the beautiful state of Maine for an adventure. Maine is situated in the northeastern part of the States. Over the course of a week in August of 2008, I drove along the coast of Maine. First, I stopped in the quaint small town of Camden, situated along the Mid Coast. I walked around the harbor and shopped in Stonewall Kitchen, and even drove way up to the top of Mt. Battie to take in a view of the entire Mid Coast scenery.

Then I pulled up stakes and drove farther northeast to Downeast Maine. I made the Barncastle Inn, just outside of Blue Hill, my base. From the inn each day, I would venture out trekking to various locales in and around Downeast Maine, such as Deer Isle, Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park. I spent a day in Bar Harbor and took in the harbor walk along the coast. Just as I was finishing my walk on the approach to downtown Bar Harbor, I caught the last of the tourists as they boarded the beautiful tall ship, Margaret Todd, as it set sail for an evening sunset cruise.

I visited the small island of Deer Isle, just south of Blue Hill, where I photographed the foggy harbor of Stonington with several tall ships cruising through. One afternoon, I made the short drive from Blue Hill to Burnt Cove on Deer Isle to photograph this precious little inlet with its colorful New England homes situated on the coast. The sailboats sat idle as the buoys bobbed up and down. The fog hadn't quite burned off by early afternoon so what fog was left added just the perfect amount of charm to the whole scene. It was simply gorgeous.

Believe it or not, this image and all of my Maine photographs were taken with my old Pentax camera, which had no automatic settings at all. It was all manual. You really had to know your stuff when it came to settings. None of this digital camera stuff at that time. It was several years before I transitioned to digital. I will be back with more images from my Maine adventure. ENJOY!

Burnt Cove, Deer Isle, Maine

Sometimes in life we find ourselves in the midst of major controversy and upheaval. I found myself there these past few weeks. 

Some days I ask God why. Others days I say to God I will endure. Each day brings a new beginning and a hope for a better day.

When I seek strength and courage, I oftentimes look back at better days. And today I found refuge in a familiar place,
where I spent a good deal of time one midday in the Summer of 2008 capturing several images of this beautiful place called Burnt Cove, 
on remote Deer Isle, in Down East Maine.

My dream is to get back to Maine this year. Yet, I have a daunting task ahead of me.
I will find the strength and courage I am looking for, as I know it is within me.
The problem is whether I can find a way to help those around me better understand.

I realize more each day this is a difficult task to achieve . . . to find understanding.
This is where I find myself today. This is where I remind myself to step softly and pray for grace. 

And there it is . . . my resolution I made nonchalantly at the start of this new year. 
To be more kind and graceful. 
I have come full circle. 

Knowing I can be strong and courageous. 
Praying that I can find the grace to help others better understand.

How amazing life can be.  One can find what one needs from within.
But one cannot always find the words to help others better understand.

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you today.
You, my dear friends and followers, are also my refuge. ENJOY!

Sunset Cove, Deer Isle, Maine

The fishing boats, the blue water, the sandy beach, the rocky shores, the fresh seafood. I'm missing New England and especially my favorite place, Maine. Oh to be back there right now. It has been calling me of late, but I haven't made any plans to go back as yet. Perhaps. ENJOY!

Lily Pond, Deer Isle, Maine!

In July of 2008, I traveled to Maine and stayed generally in the vicinity of Deer Isle. There is a lily pond alongside the road north of Stonington which I read about in a nature photographer's brochure. I missed it the first time I drove by it, but on my way back to the inn one afternoon late I drove by it, realized what it was and turned around. These are just two of the images I took which I recently had scanned. The light was so bright, my images are a little saturated and my photo editing software didn't help much. Hope your weekend is going well. It's going to be 88 degrees here today and sunny. YIPPEE! ENJOY!

Postscript: Lisa of Red Willow asked how I made my new header. If you wish to read about it, I wrote a "how to" in the comments of my last post. Have a Great Day!

Pink Buoys!

On a short walk along the bay in Stonington, Maine, several summers past, I happened across these bright pink buoys. Buoys come in all shapes, sizes and colors but these, I think, are the cutest ones I've seen as yet. Couldn't help but take a few photos. The beauty of this post, I'd totally forgotten about the photo of the sailboat with the pink buoys, and I didn't even remember taking it to be scanned a few weeks ago. So when I happened upon it on the DVD tonight, well, I was surprised.

As I meander my way through my archives of old photos from days gone by, you'll notice there's no method to the madness. Whatever strikes me at that moment, that's what I post. One day The Smokies, the next day New England. Who knew. Rainy weather coming my way tonight. Hope you have sunshine wherever you are. ENJOY!

Eggmoggin Reach, Maine

A little something from my archive. Hope you're having a great week. ENJOY!

Giving Thanks . . .

As if you haven't noticed by now, I get bored with header images often. I have no image to post today just a thought about my new header image I felt compelled to share. I felt a collage of images was in order. So I sat down at my computer and I thumbed through the "thumbnails" and I picked the images I wanted to show in the collage. I wanted some red, some yellow, obviously blues and greens, and I wanted to show summer and fall and winter and spring.

When I was finished choosing images, I pressed the button and wa la, a new header image, accompanied by this ornate font I've been into lately. And then it happened, I got to looking at the images and noticed that all but one image was taken from my 35mm camera and not my digital. I surmise my eye can still see the beauty and quality of the 35mm film that I used to call every photograph I took. And then something else happened. I got to looking more closely at all of the images, and wa la, there are seven different states represented in my collage.

Manchester Farms in Lexington, Kentucky right, next door to Keeneland Race Course
The Barn at Myer's Cabin, Mustatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, Seymour, Indiana
Miner's Castle, along Lake Superior's National Seashore, Upper Peninsula, Michigan
Sunset, Morton's Overlook, and a beautiful Fall tree along the forest drive, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Looking out toward Eggmoggin Reach and a look back at the village of Stonington, Deer Isle, Maine
The Beach, Chatham, Massachusetts
A very frozen Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio

And then I got to thinking, hmmm!!! I've been busy traveling the Midwest, the Mid Atlantic and the Northeast these past ten years. How lucky am I? So I give Thanks to God for all of these fabulous opportunities. ENJOY!

Eggmoggin Reach, Maine #8

I know what you're going to say . . . can't you post anything else but Maine photos. Well, this is just about the end of that series from my Maine trip. However, I did want to share Eggmoggin Reach, if for no other reason than because it's such a cool name. It's basically a mile wide body of water between the mainland and Deer Isle. At least I'm fairly sure that's what it is. How it got its name, I don't know.

Just so you know I haven't gone wacko and have nothing to post but Maine images, I am going to have some of my slides from two and three years ago that I took while trapsing through the Great Smoky Mountains scanned and I'll post them soon. I was looking back through them the other day and saw some gorgeous fall colors and said surely my followers just might want to see these and I'll bet they would welcome the change in scenery. I'll get that done this week. In the meantime, please enjoy the last of my Maine images.

Burnt Cove, Deer Isle, Maine #5

It's time to leave Stonington behind. A few miles down the road from Stonington on Deer Isle you'll find Burnt Cove. While researched my trip, I discovered a list of off-the-beaten-path photo ops on Deer Isle, one of which was this quaint little cove. I found Burnt Cove on an overcast afternoon. Walking out to the shoreline, I could see the potential for a few nice photos. The houses perched against the shoreline with the trees framing them, and the quaint little cove with its boats moored, calmly waiting for a trip out to Penobscot Bay. I hope you feel the essence of Burnt Cove as much as I felt it that day creating these images.

After leaving Burnt Cove, I had traveled about a mile when I came upon a path leading into a woods right off the road. I stopped and got out of the car and took the path, which as I guessed, lead out to the shoreline. Obviously, a well worn path used often by the locals as right at the end of the path laid a pair of old shoes left behind by someone. The last image is the beautiful little beach I happened upon. I had to photograph these large, brown rocks perched at the water's edge. Their weather worn look made me wonder what stories they would tell about winters past and storms blown in off the Atlantic into the bay. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed taking them. I share these images unretouched as I shoot the light with my Pentax. Enjoy!

Stonington, Deer Isle, Maine #4

That's right. We're still in Stonington, Maine, taking in all the sights. Almost done though. Couldn't leave Stonington without sharing some of the local flavor in the way of boating. I love the blue skies and the blue water. It was such a gorgeous day and I felt so blessed to have happened upon it. For those of you who live near water, I envy you. The closet thing to water here in Kentucky is the Ohio and I'm sorry but it just doesn't compare to the harbors of Maine. And by the way it had taken me thirty years to get back to Maine from when I first visited which is why I chose this destination. I loved it then . . . I love it now.

I really hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them. Believe it or not so far everything you've seen was photographed right off the pier. Amazing. Stay tuned. There's more coming. Enjoy!!

Stonington, Deer Isle, Maine #3

So glad you decided to take this trip with me. The last few days I showed you a foggy Stonington harbor. Today, well what a difference a day makes. We have lots of beautiful sunshine.

We pull into Stonington which basically is a two lane road running along the waterfront. On one side of the main street are shops, galleries, restaurants and a quaint motel where many of the professional photographers stay while they're in town to photograph this beautiful village. On the other side of the main street, sitting next to the waterfront, are houses, shops and restaurants, and behind that is the beautiful harbor with its many sizes and shapes of boats. We pass the main section of Stonington and come to the pier on our left. Let's drive out onto the pier and park the car. Wow, looking back onto the little village of Stonington from the waterfront, it is so beautiful here.

The first image is my favorite photograph taken of the village of Stonington looking back from the pier. In this image you see houses, shops and restaurants lining the waterfront. The second image I took because I loved this house sitting right up next to the pier and how the rocks frame the shoreline.

Stonington. Truly a unique yet beautiful place to visit. Just think, the local fishermen come sailing in after a long hard day of checking their lobster traps and what do they see as they pull into the harbor, but this beautiful little village welcoming them home. I knew you would love this trip. I'm so glad you're along for the ride. We're not done yet. So stay tuned! Enjoy!!