Saint Sauveur Mission on Christmas Day
In June 1613, French Jesuit missionaries attempted to establish a colony on Mount Desert Island. Convinced by Abnaki Chief Asticou that the current day Fernald Point would be an excellent location, they came ashore, celebrated mass, and named the place Saint Sauveur. Presumably the reference is to our holy savior Jesus Christ and not to an actual saint since, to the best of my knowledge, …
Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House
Our friends keep asking us for pictures of our home. Here’s what it looked like this morning after the second of two back-to-back snow storms. The house was built in 1931 and that’s about all we know of its history [see update below]. It does seem that every recent owner has done something to improve it and we are trying to keep up the tradition. Downstairs there’s a kitchen, dining room, …
Bitter Cold in Southwest Harbor Maine
Southwest Harbor, Maine on a cold December morning is the subject of this brief post. When I awoke today and saw the thermometer reading only 1°F I knew it would be a good time to get more pictures of sea smoke. After a quick cup of coffee, I jumped in the Subaru (which thankfully cranked over and started immediately) and drove down Clark Point road to the upper town dock which is just …
Little Long Pond Carriage Roads
Mount Desert Island has more than 50 miles of carriage roads, most of them located in Acadia National Park. The five mile loop that we snowshoed on this morning is on private land that the Rockefeller’s generously allow the public to use. From our house in Southwest Harbor, we drove 20 minutes to get to the parking area which, amazingly, was plowed. The temperature was in the mid teens, …
Winter Storm in Acadia National Park
This morning brought the first winter storm of the season to Mount Desert Island. Around noon we drove to the Seawall entrance of Acadia National Park (about 10 minutes by car from our house in Southwest Harbor). I wish we had gone out a few hours earlier when the tide was high to see the waves depositing rocks and a lobster trap up onto Route 102A. The temperature was just around freezing …
Swan’s Island Maine in December
Swan’s Island, Maine in December is a cold place. How cold? When we left Bass Harbor to get on the ferry the temperature was 1°F. That’s pretty cold. And you have to be pretty crazy to go out on a boat in the ocean in that kind of weather. But my friend Howie was on a mission to scout out locations for a photo project he is working on and he asked Janice and I, along with his …