Newsletter

Argy and I travelled to Bar Harbor on Saturday to visit our son Noah who is a junior at the College of the Atlantic. As part of the trip we spent a couple of hours snowshoeing in the National Park. The weather was perfect; cold but not too cold and clear as a bell. There was plenty of snow that was crusted over from the rain at the end of last weeks storm and about a half an inch of new snow that fell early that morning.

The start of a new year is a time to look forward to the coming year and reflect on the year past. As always I enjoyed spending time outdoors with a variety of interesting folks. I was lucky enough to have the chance to take a bunch of kids on their first outdoor trips and spent many days on the waters and in the woods of Maine. I am looking forward to doing to all again in the coming seasons.

This time of year makes me realize how fortunate I am. Maine Outdoors has become a successful business that I enjoy working at every day; and sometimes they are long days. I have clients that I like to spend time with and best of all; a good part of the year is spent outside in a place that I love. I am always grateful when one of you reminds me how beautiful this place is and how fortunate I am to be able to work here. How many folks can say that they see eagles or ospreys close up on at least half of their work days each year?

Now that November is here things have started to wind down for my guiding season. The weather is still pleasant and I am working on getting firewood in for the next two winters. I have it all cut up and have started to split and stack it. Hopefully I can get it all under cover before the snow piles up in the woodlot. I should be safe this week as we are forecast to have daytime temperatures in the 60's. Hmmmm maybe I should be going fishing and not working so hard on firewood! Hope that you are getting out and enjoying the fall as well!

Curious Moose!

The leaves are mostly gone in Northern Maine and the woods have taken on that russet color of late fall. Yesterday the frost did not melt off until nearly noon and I saw some ice in a puddle that was still there in the shade at two in the afternoon. I spent the last couple of weeks at Libby Camps guiding grouse hunters. I enjoy the fun with some great folks, good dog work and of course interesting wildlife sightings. I always like getting into remote country and walking around with the dogs.

As fall progresses the amount of color in the leaves changes almost daily and peak foliage is a fleeting moment at best. Over the last week the color has come steadily and we have gone from a red tree here and there to more than half of the trees in bright color. This picture (click here)was taken from the boat launch on Seven Tree pond in Union. A nearly perfect fall day with hardly a breath of wind and pleasant warm temperatures made it impossible to stay indoors and get any work done.

The seasons are changing noticeably now. We have a freeze warning for tonight so I need to cover the tomatoes and cucumbers to keep them going. From here on we need to enjoy every fully ripe tomato because before long we won't have them. I know you can buy tomatoes in the store all winter but there is really no comparison.

The weather has definitely changed now, the wind is blowing pretty strongly out of the northwest and the angle of the sun is getting low in the sky. I can tell because it gets hard to see down into the water making my job just a little more difficult. The sky is that crystal clear blue that we get in clear cool air. The crickets are chirping steadily in the warm afternoons and getting in the house at every opportunity. I guided some excellent fly anglers Saturday for bass; the fishing was great when we started but diminished as the wind came up and the barometer began to rise.

All of the signs of the impending change in season are here. The air has cleared and the humidity seems to be gone. Union Fair is underway and the traffic is at the annual peak in town. On the river the cardinal flowers have nearly gone by and the arrowhead is in full bloom. Over the last week the numbers of painted turtles sunning on almost every rock and log along the river has been nothing short of amazing as they take full advantage of the warm sunny weather. Here and there a maple has already given up the season and is now turning a brilliant red.

This has been a very busy summer but before I know it the goldenrod will be in full bloom and the first red maple leaf will show up on the shore of one of the ponds. I noticed cardinal flowers on the shore of Seven Tree Pond this week that tells me we are near the end of the summer and the transition to fall has started.