Day 3

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=120 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0ec8dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Michael Czarnecki</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|</B><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michael Czarnecki"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 1"><U>Day 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 2"><U>Day 2</U></A>   |   <B>Day 3</B>   |   <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 4"><U>Day 4</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 5"><U>Day 5</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 6"><U>Day 6</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 7"><U>Day 7</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 8"><U>Day 8</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 9"><U>Day 9</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 10"><U>Day 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 11"><U>Day 11</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 12"><U>Day 12</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 13"><U>Day 13</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 14"><U>Day 14</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 15"><U>Day 15</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 16"><U>Day 16</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id93.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 17"><U>Day 17</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id94.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 18"><U>Day 18</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 19"><U>Day 19</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id96.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 20"><U>Day 20</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id97.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 21"><U>Day 21</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id98.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wrap up"><U>Wrap up</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Books Available"><U>Books Available</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>Contact Me</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=360 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0ec8dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>Day 3</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="253f4770.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="375" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A few steps from my campsite in Wells at Ocean View Cottage and Camping. Nice wooded tent sites and friendly people running it. One of the best commercial campgrounds I've stayed in, even better than many public ones.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="254e6f90.jpg" border=0 width="486" height="505" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Snowy Egret near camp.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="256f4770.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="375" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> This is an old sign from Congdon's Doughnuts Family Restaurant.</div> <div> Been around since 1955, a mini-institution on Route 1, Wells.</div> <bR> <div> in line for breakfast</div> <div> summer not even here yet</div> <div> no need to hurry</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> The next pictures are from the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge.</div> <div> Had a great hike there on the interpretive trail.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="258f4770.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="375" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Route 1 traffic hum</div> <div> filters through tall hemlocks, ferns</div> <div> mourning dove's soft coo</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="25af4770.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="375" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> right next to path way</div> <div> fern covered woodland floor</div> <div> lady slippers bloom</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="25cf4770.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="375" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> beneath canopy</div> <div> white pine grow abundantly</div> <div> eventually. . .</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="25ef4770.jpg" border=0 width="500" height="375" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> small flock of waxwings</div> <div> flit from branch to branch to branch</div> <div> I stand still on bridge</div> <bR> <div> And a few other haiku from the walk:</div> <bR> <div> resonant drumming</div> <div> pileated out of sight</div> <div> Abenaki ground</div> <bR> <div> constant companions</div> <div> yellowthroats' witchery call</div> <div> never to be seen</div> <bR> <div> gentle salt marsh grass</div> <div> stream meanders toward ocean</div> <div> whitecaps in distance</div> <bR> <div> resting on trail bench</div> <div> chipmunk scurries close at hand</div> <div> no handout from me</div> <bR> <div> surviving winter</div> <div> partridge berries linger still</div> <div> red drips on dark ground</div> <bR> <div> winding tidal creek</div> <div> rattling kingfisher's call</div> <div> disturbs quiet thoughts</div> <bR> <div> And some journal notes:</div> <bR> <div> Pleasant talk with Bert Chouinard on the trail. Retired Franco-American. Born in Barre, VT. Worked for a granite quarry for a few years then moved to Nashua, NH. Retired awhile ago and now lives half time here in Maine and half in Florida. Doesn't write but has a poetic vision, obvious from how he talks. He mentioned US 20, about how wonderful it was to travel on it for his honeymoon, years ago. “Beautiful, the grain in the farm fields being blown about by the wind,” he said about that trip. Then I told him about my book and he was excited to hear about it. </div> <bR> <div> I'm sitting at a picnic table at RCNWR. Breezy up above, pleasantly warm down here. What a great place to be able to sit and write. Even can connect on-line, so I have everything I need computer-wise, except being able to plug in.</div> <bR> <div> This is only the third day of the journey but it feels like I've already done so much. I can envision the problem I may have in trying to pare this down to a 45 - 60 minute program.</div> <bR> <div> Good talk today also with Karrie, Park Ranger for RCNMR. Always good to talk with people who value the natural world, the environment. I recall years ago thinking about maybe working toward becoming an “official” naturalist, going back to college for a degree in Environmental Sciences. I didn't and am glad I have chosen the path I am on. But if I wasn't a poet and an “unofficial” naturalist, I think it might have been a good alternative if I had followed that other path. Probably would have been better off financially than what this path of poet/publisher has provided. Ah, well.</div> <bR> <div> Spent the last hour of light on the break wall on Drake's Island. I was there last night too. Both evenings there were a lot of people fishing for mackerel. Last night I watched a seal come and go not far from where I sat. Wasn't able to get a picture because just before he showed up my batteries died and I didn't have extra ones with me (a lesson relearned!) I went back tonight with fully charged batteries hoping to get that picture, but I only got two glimpses of him, both distant.</div> <bR> <div> As I wrote the last paragraph I realized I referred to the seal as a “him”. I wonder why I did so? I have no idea whether a he or she, yet the “him” just flowed out of the head. A slight uncomfortability with that, but not sure what the alternative. “It” doesn't work, a seal is not a thing. So, what is the answer to that uncomfortability I felt? How should I have referred to it using a pronoun? Try to alternate my usage between masculine and feminine? A serious inquiry here. Any feedback is welcome. </div> <bR> <div> Ah, there is so much keep questioning, learning, discovering, both outward and inward. I'm still a student - there is so much yet to learn and so little time.</div> <bR> <div> far too long away</div> <div> sitting on shore as sun sets</div> <div> sound of breaking waves</div> <bR> <div> I have already come to realize on this journey that there is not enough of the Maine Coast in my life. And this is just the southern coast, not Acadia. I need to work more time into my life for being at Acadia. There is a fulfillment, a connection, a spiritual bond that I feel with Acadia. I need to make that connection more than I have in the recent past. Who knows how much time will be available for that down the road.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>