the landing

At the intersection of two country roads 

at the place where Bunganuc stream flows into Maquoit Bay

(just about where Freeport and Brunswick touch borders),

you can see this lovely setting below as you drive around a curve

and cross a small bridge. 

An old friend lives in a house just to the right, out of the picture.

I called her the other day to ask her for permission

to wade through crusty snow in her back yard

to get a photo of this evocative scene.

She offered me something better--

the name and phone number of the owner of this property.

She was pretty sure I could get permission 

to go down the path to the shore 

and see it all up close.

I love small towns!  If you live in a small town long enough,

doors open to you just by association.

I called the owner, mentioned my friend, and she said, "Of course you may!"

(I don't like tramping around on private property without permission.)

I spent a delightful time there looking at things

from every perspective.

It was nice to get up close for the first time.

See the open water on the bay in the background?

Although there was ice on the stream,

the sound of running water through the culvert 

was very soothing.

Those blocks of ice are the result of ice forming on the stream and on the bay,

and then breaking up and moving as the tide

goes in and out.

The higher the tide, the farther up the stream they travel.

When the water retreats, the blocks are left on the shoreline.

There are only two high tides a month

that might reach the blocks of ice

heaved to the shore during the previous high tide.

The resulting irregular chunks

are part of the winter scenery on tidal rivers and streams

that in the summer are sanctuaries of gently moving water.

Want to know something interesting about this place?

Harriet Beecher Stowe,

author of Uncle Tom's Cabin,

first set foot on Maine soil at this very spot.

She came here around 1850 by boat,

because her husband acquired a job teaching at Bowdoin College.

Uncle Tom's Cabin was written in Brunswick

during the years that immediately followed.

As she was begining her novel, she wrote this to an editor friend:

"I feel now that the time is come 

when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity 

is bound to speak... 

I hope every woman who can write will not be silent."

Good advice for all time.