When my children were small, my old father told me, “Kids like very small and very big things.” This has been a week of very big things.
From the house porch I spied a minke whale loitering for a long time among the lobster pots southeast of the island. It’s long black back and fin rose and fell serenely sliding through the water. The creature spouted periodically spraying a white mist a few feet into the air that contrasted with the cobalt blue. Each reappearance after it had submerged was as exciting as the first glimpse. A lobsterman cut his engines and lingered in the area letting curiosity trump commerce for a time.
This week also marked the first sightings of enormous yachts of a different order of magnitude. Bright white wakes trailed the motors and massive carbon fiber sails made spotting the boats easy even after they passed Damariscove for Mohegan and beyond. The ‘small’ cruise ship that travels between Portland, Bar Harbor, and Bangor passes like clockwork heading first north and then south.
A tremendous warning sound at the mouth of the Kennebec announced the passage of the Bath-built Harvey C Barnum, Jr- an Arleigh Burke Aegis ship on its virgin sea trial. As it slipped by, I thought about the enormous amount of education, effort, and craftsmanship that went into building such a formidable ship. Its gray hulk dwarfed the now familiar landscape before eventually disappearing into the fog.
Last, we experienced a massive thunderstorm that you could see coming from the southwest for miles. The gathering clouds followed the contour of the coast and finally unleashed a deluge.
An extensive crew from Maine Island Trail Association came out last Wednesday and cleared beneath the tramway. Many thanks for their Herculean efforts.
Big moments for island visitors include: the worldly Genevieve’s special request to celebrate her 20th birthday on Seguin, 9-year-old Clancy’s time with his granddad as his father checked the moorings, and Andy and Grace, Bowdoin students specializing in colonial history and lighthouses, making it out for a perfect day with haze free views from the tower.
For all the continuity of Seguin- the trail work, tours, and domestic tasks- the island still offers new and big surprises.
