MAINLY MAINE
September 06, 2006
When I stated to travel I expected to go to places that I had only heard about before. Places like, Athens, London, Paris, Moscow, and others. I never expected to take a trip across our solar system and see all the planets, but I did that just the other day. I was able to drive from Pluto and its moon Charon, all the way to the Sun. At that time Pluto was still a planet, now it is a mini-planet. In spite of the warning that I would have to go to the Sun at night because it is too hot during the day, I was able to go in the afternoon, about 2:45. It was warm, but comfortable. Between the towns of Houlton and Presque Isle the people of the Aroostock County have set up the largest model in the world of our solar system that is on a scale of 1:93,000,000. At this scale one mile is equal to the distance from the earth to the sun or one astronomical unit. The total distance between Pluto and the Sun is forty miles. I have known that our solar system was very large, at least compared to Earth, although very small in the Universe. I have seen pictures that compare the size and locations of the various planets, but this had an impact upon me that was far beyond anything I have ever seen. I wish there was a way for every person to see this model. Every child should have the opportunity to be shown the immensity of the place that we live. The model of the Sun is 598 inches in diameter, and if it were a city water tower it would hold about a half-million gallons of water. There are some city water towers that we have seen that are no larger. The earth is very small in comparison at 5.5 inches, which would hold only .377 gallons of water or slightly more than three cups. At the scale of the model, the speed of light is about 7 miles an hour, so for part of the time I was going 7 times the speed of light.
MODEL OF EARTH AND THE MOON
The model of the earth was only one mile from the Sun; the model of Pluto was forty miles. It was eleven and a half miles between Neptune and Uranus, but only seven tenths of a mile between Earth and Mars. They did not try to put a model of the nearest Sun-sized star, Alpha Centauri, because it would need to be placed on the moon. My biggest regret of the day that I traveled our solar system was the fact that it was threatening to rain while we were going. In the pictures the sky turned out to be on the dark side and the contrast was limited. But even at that it was extremely impressive.
Maine has been very different than any other place we have been. We were here in 1976 and one of our big memories was the number of trees. That has been no surprise. There are thick forests in every direction you care to look. And we have tried to look in every direction. One of the things that has been so different is the tide. Down in Florida and Texas the tides would change by couple of feet, but here in Maine it is not uncommon to have a change of ten foot, and some areas as much as fifty foot. We have seen tidal flats that must have been several miles in width. Up in the Bay of Fundy, where they have the largest tides, the volume of water that changes position is greater than the discharge of all the rivers of the entire world in an entire day. And this exchange of water happens four times a day. There is so much weight difference that the earths mantle actually sinks a bit during high tide. To be sure the amount of depression is very small, but the fact that it happens is amazing.
ONE OF THE NEATEST LIGHTHOUSES WAS MARSHALL POINT
The beaches of Maine are very rocky, mostly without the sand that is usually associated with the beach. To see a sandy beach is the exception and the ones we have seen have been small. Although very different the beauty of the shores is equal to any that we have seen. The number of coves and is literally beyond my comprehension. Of course with all the islands, coves and rocks there is a great need for lighthouses. In 1907 there were eighty-seven lighthouses on the coast of Maine, today there are still over sixty remaining, though a quarter of them no longer have the keepers residence. The lighthouses here seem to be shorter than the ones in the south. Many of the towers in the south are over a hundred foot tall while many of the ones in Maine are less than fifty foot. The most famous of the Maine lighthouses, the Portland Head Lighthouse, has a tower only eighty-foot high. We visited the Rockland Breakwater lighthouse at the end of a hike of seven eights of mile out on a breakwater. That was a hike that required constant attention to keep out of the gaps between the rocks. One misstep and a leg could be badly damaged. One lighthouse that I liked the most is the Marshall Point lighthouse at Port Clyde. The lighthouse tower is only twenty-five foot tall and actually lower than the roof of the keeper’s residence. A walkway to the tower is at a level that would require little climbing for the keeper to attend the light. Many of the lights are on islands and are accessible for viewing only by boat. However we have enjoyed seeing many that are viewable from the highways.
LOBSTER TRAP FLOATS BY A FISHING SHACK
Maine is famous for its lobsters. I don’t think there is any restaurant in Maine, except perhaps McDonalds that does not serve some type of lobster, or lobsta, as the say it here. It seems that there are lobster boats in ever place that a fisherman can throw an anchor. To go more than a few miles and not see a sign of someone that will ship fresh or cooked lobster to “anywhere” is unusual. If you see a body of water that does not have several fishing floats on it you know that it is high tide and when the tide is out it is a tidal flat. I have seen a truckload or boatload of fishing floats with the lobster traps and all the floats are painted the same colors. This is a way of marking the identity of the owner. However in a lagoon where fifty to a hundred floats can be seen, it is often that only two or three may seem to have the same markings. Perhaps there are laws that prevent a fisherman from placing over a certain number of traps in a specific area. In addition to marking the traps of the fishermen, the floats are used as decoration at businesses, homes, street signs and most any other place that they can be attached. One of the most unique uses of them has been to make birdhouses. I suspect that the birdhouses are not actual floats but built to look like floats. There are many places that advertise the floats for three dollars each. These places usually have the round top wooden traps for sale also. I just realized that I have only seen the wooden round top traps being used at decoration. On the lobster boats I have only seen rectangular wire traps so I believe that the wooden ones are being phased out. I think that is unfortunate because the round topped wooden ones are much more picturesque. I have seen a few rectangular wooden traps stacked, near houses that are a ways away from the ocean, but again I have not seen any of them on lobster boats.
At the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory near Bar Harbor we were told that only one in a million lobsters has the genetic defect that makes it blue. They had two of them on display and a place we ate had one. I heard one of the wait staff say that their supplier had several. Perhaps they are becoming more common. At the MDI Bio Lab I saw for the first time the underside of a stingray. I was startled by the resemblance to a child wearing a Halloween costume. The mouth was so similar to the human mouth it was hard to believe.
A SMALL STINGRAY AND A YOUNG SHARK
While we were in Key West, Florida we went downtown to an area called Mallory Square. Every evening a crowd of people would gather there to watch the street buskers and shop the carts that would set up there. It was a beautiful place to watch the sun set. Just as the last rays of the sun would drop below the horizon a lot of the people that had been watching would clap. It was both very funny and a very nice way to share an appreciation of beauty that had just been shared with strangers and friends. About as far straight north from Key West as you can get and stay in the USA is the highest mountain on the East Coast, Cadillac Mountain. Rising over fifteen hundred foot above Bar Harbor, this is the place to see the first rays of sun that fall on the United States. We did not get up early enough to see the sunrise, but we were in the area late one evening. We had read that there was a spectacular 360-degree view from the top of the mountain. To drive to the top was only a short drive, about four miles. So we drove to the top to see the view. What a surprise we got. There were hundreds of cars parked along the roads, filling every parking area, and any place that a person could find the room to squeeze a vehicle. The people were standing on paths, rock outcrops, in some places they were shoulder to shoulder. It was just past the middle of August, but on the top of the mountain it was rather cool. Many people were wearing coats and others had blankets wrapped around them. But they were all waiting for the sun to set. We found a place to park finally. As I got out of the car Erma asked, “Do you think the people will clap?” I didn’t think so, because clapping would be more of a Mallory Square tradition. I was wrong. As the last ray of sunlight disappeared a lot of the people clapped in appreciation of the beauty just observed. I guess that the traditions of people have a tendency to travel with them to wherever they go.
I am aware that fall always brings the change of the color of the leaves. I have gotten used to seeing the leaves change anytime from the middle of September to the middle of October. Here in Maine I have seen a record, at least for me. We were in Houlton, about ten miles from Canada on the east and ninety miles from Canada to the north and we saw lots of fall color on the fifteenth of August. A local paper said that up to thirty percent of the trees had changed. In one swampy area there was a grove of trees that had turned the brightest red that I have ever seen in any trees. We started south after just a few days, only about a hundred and sixty miles, but mostly south with just a little east. I really find it hard to believe that fall is so close to being here again. In just the last two weeks we have seen a lot of color change. I will admit that a lot of the change in color is just a lessening of the intensity of the green and a slight increase of a yellow hue. There are some trees that have entire branches that have turned yellow and red, and in a few places that a whole group of trees have changed color. But still for the most part trees are green. It is just too early for fall to be here.
By the way it is Athens, Georgia, and Paris, Arkansas, and London, Kentucky, and Moscow, Idaho, all in the USA. There are some interesting places to be seen out of the United States, but there is so much to be seen here within the borders. Perhaps some day I will travel where I have to take a long trip on a ship or a long flight on an airplane, but I have no thoughts to planning that yet. I keep thinking that I should visit into Canada a few hundred miles and into Mexico during the winter. I would like to go to Alaska, although I hear that the roads beat a camper up badly from one person, and another will say the roads are good, so who really knows. It is pretty much a given that I will never drive to Hawaii.
Our plans for our travels from here, as usual, are not definite. We will go back through Rochester for a short time and then on to Cincinnati, Ohio to a Tall Stacks Festival. We were at a gathering of steamships a few years ago and enjoyed it very much. I might even take more pictures this time. I can download the pictures every day instead of only when we get back home at the end of the vacation. If you thought of it, yes, we will be home every day. From Ohio we will go by some unknown route to somewhere south, perhaps Texas for the winter.
Till Later This Is Doug Of
PEACE ON THE ROAD
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