return to the whites

I am always on the look out for a heart shaped rock.

The silver dot to the left of center in the above photo is the roof of Zealand hut where we spent the night. Full dinner and breakfast served, entertainment by the croo and interesting fellow hikers to talk to. We really love the hut experience, even without Eliza there to give us VIP treatment.

David and I returned to the mountains of New Hampshire this week. As you may recall, Eliza worked for three summers and a fall up in these mountains for the Appalachian Mountain Club. We visited her at each place she worked. This year we decided to visit one of the huts that we had never been to. It is located right next to Zealand Falls, a roaring waterfall, especially this year after so much rain.

All the huts are off the grid. No wires or roads lead to them, each generates its own power with propane as a back up. Most harness the wind or sun. Water is the main power source for this hut. Zealand has access to more power than it can use. Water is used to pump drinking water from the well. Water to get water.

We hiked a trail that was once a railroad bed out to Thoreau Falls, where I took the above photos. David relaxing. That is pretty amazing. And circular holes in the rock created by the power of water over time.

Lindentree farm CSA

A map of the fields indicate where to pick today.

A list of what's available inside, already picked for us. We have a small share, so we chose amounts from the right side of the list.

Cabbage. Still have the one I got last week. Cole slaw?

Everyone picks strawberries!

These are more delicious than I could ever have imagined.

Thursday is the day we pick up vegetables at the CSA over on Old Concord Road. In a CSA (community supported agriculture), the members share the successes and losses along with the farmer. We pay a fee at the beginning of the season for a weekly share of produce. Members put in four hours of work once during the summer. Some veggies and flowers and fruits are picked by the member (this week I gathered shell peas, strawberries and flowers) and the rest are arranged in baskets in the barn.

This farm is a well oiled machine. Going to a CSA is a social event. There are a lot of children, either playing on the rope swing, kicking balls or dutifully helping their parents pick ("don't eat all the strawberries, some have to go in the basket!") I love seeing people of all ages out there in the fields. Although this farm is in Lincoln, the only people I knew were the farmers. People come from far and wide for the chance to pick fresh produce and to teach their children that food doesn't grow in cellophane packages.

It was hot and muggy. Weather forecasters threatened severe thunderstorms later in the day. The wind began to stir as I left. There was something exhilarating about picking side by side with others, chatting, wondering about how many flowers we were allowed to pick, and bending low to pull leaves aside to find ripe strawberries.

Inside the barn we had casual conversations about what to do with these exotic vegetables. Out of habit, I would surely pass them by in the grocery store. "You can eat them raw or stir fry with garlic and onions...." seemed to be the answer to most questions. I really like figuring out what to do with kale, dakon, garlic scapes and fresh oregano. It's very relaxing to have someone else decide what we will have for dinner tonight.

When I do go to the grocery store for juice, laundry soap and yogurt, I smugly walk by the displays of lettuce, spinach, parsley and basil. "I pick mine fresh from the garden" I say under my breath.

As I head toward the dairy case, I glance back at the well lighted greens.

I'll be back after the first frost.

robin's garden

These pictures are for Robin, who is in England taking care of her step mother. At home in her garden, things are thriving! I picked peas so the plants will continue to produce and snapped off a few leaves of spinach, parsley and rhubarb for my dinner tonight.

Best of all I wandered through the lovely outdoor spaces that she has created finding surprises at every turn. Varieties of flowers I don't know the names of, blueberry bushes laden with berries soon to be ripe, the smell of thyme bursts forth as I walk on it up the stone steps. Birds dart back and forth. I was sure the small blue bird I saw on the railing was an ornament, until it flew away! I encountered a rabbit who was enjoying having full access. He froze when he saw me; ears back, heart beating. He reminded me of Peter in Mr. MacGregor's garden.

Before leaving, I refreshed the water in the chicken coop, said hello to the ladies and gathered a few brown and pale green eggs.

It's a sanctuary missing its creator.

Come home soon, Robin!

thresholds

The O'Neils go on vacation!

When we plan time away, we head for the islands; the Maine islands in Penobscot Bay. We have stayed on Vinalhaven and North Haven over the years but our favorite island has always been Isle au Haut. We have spent a week there for sixteen years.

This early in the season, we decided not to venture to that outer island but stay closer to land on North Haven where we have friends who let us use their house. With a view to the west over Pulpit Harbor and beyond to the Camden Hills, we looked forward to some great sunsets and much needed time to relax.

Getting to an island can be a challenge. Each island has its own rituals. Isle au Haut has a walk on only mailboat called the "Miss Lizzy" that leaves from Stonington twice a day. All gear and food must be put on the boat. The only way for a car to get there is on a barge, consequently, the cars on the island that drive on the one loop road have been repaired again and again. To see such old cars driving around is like going back in time. License plates show the year the car was brought out.

North Haven has a car ferry. We put the car in line fifteen minutes before departure behind a row of battered pick up trucks. Few tourists or summer people are on the island the first week of June. This is the year round hard core crowd; lobstermen, boat builders and retired prep school teachers. Most passengers stay in their vehicles as the ferry makes its hour trip from Rockland to the island. Not us! We all got out and smelled the sea air and felt the wind on our faces. Calley wasn't so sure she liked it. We finally put her in the car where she curled up in the driver's seat (careful to always be in control) with a sigh and slept.

Family vacation for me growing up consisted of traveling to a lake in Canada. None of this ferry stuff. No islands. But there was a threshold to cross that made us feel vacation had really begun. It was an international border. After steaming across New Hampshire and Vermont, we'd pull into Beebe, Quebec, a small border town and report to customs. The Canadian immigration officer wearing a blue uniform would stroll up to the car and ask a few questions. Where are you folks from? Where are you headed? How long will you be there? Do you have anything to declare? (at this point my mother would clutch her small sack of seedlings brought for her summer garden closer to her chest) "No." my father would answer authoritatively and the officer would wave us through. Once we'd crossed the border, everything looked different, in a Canadian kind of way. We started craning our necks to see the first glimpse of the lake.

Even a bridge can be a kind of threshold. As David's grandfather crossed the bridge over the Piscataqua River, the border between New Hampshire and Maine, on the long trip from Boston to Small Point, he would take in a long, deep breath.

"Ah, we're in Maine!" he would exclaim. "I can finally breathe!"

warm

According to many sources, the temperatures around the world are rising. Weather patterns are changing. We are starting to see extreme weather of all kinds around the globe. Friends who travel bring back these reports. There was sun in Ireland in May (the one place you can depend on rain) and flowers blooming longer and wilder than usual in the Utah desert. We have experienced large amounts of rain in New England. At the same time it is getting warmer. There are many theories about why this is so. But there is evidence that it is true.

Plants and wildlife have begun to migrate north. I just didn't realize things would change this quickly. Here is what I saw when I looked out my window a few weeks ago! I am so glad we put a fence around the garden.