Dawn is an hour away, but the birds have already started up their morning chorus. I only recognize a handful by their song and have wished, in that futile way we wish we were thinner or taller, that I’d learned them long ago.

My inspiration was Margaretta Thurlow who knew most birds by their song. She’d been given a little bird book as a child growing up on Fernalds Neck, and carried it around the woods and fields spotting birds and listening to them. Pretty soon she could put a name to the bird she was hearing. One time I found a little nest made of hair and described it to her, saying it looked like our pony’s tail hair.

“That would be a chipping sparrow”, she answered without hesitation. “They always use horses’ hair when they can get it.”

Who today has time for that?

Instead, I have a new app on my phone: Merlin. Set it to “sound” and it begins to record the birds, listing them in turn as they chime in. I just set it up on the open window and here’s who’s singing this morning:

Black-capped Chickadee

Song Sparrow

Pine Warbler

Winter Wren

Eastern Phoebe

White-throated Sparrow

Tufted Titmouse

Common Yellowthroat

Ovenbird

American Crow

Northern Cardinal

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

They’re out there in my woods and field, perched high in trees or hidden in the bushes. Young Margaretta had her little book and all the time in the world to watch and listen, peer into the bushes, to learn about her very narrow, but oh so rich, world.

I have an app on a technological wonder, my iphone, to tell me what I’m hearing. Same result I guess, but hardly the same. [By the way, Merlin is free and easy to download. It does more than record birdsong; I’m only beginning to use it.]

I arrived home this week-end from Boston and the Cape where I’d spent a few days with college friends. We’re four women who met as 18-year-old girls 60 years ago. Away from home and on our own for the first time, those first couple of years of college were, shall I say, intoxicating in all the meanings of that word!

Of course, we recounted our misadventures, the boyfriends, the heartbreaks of the two years we spent together. Our small women’s college near Boston gave us just enough freedom to teeter on the edge of disaster, even as we scurried back for the 10:30 curfew (midnight on week-ends), Certainly no boys in our rooms or drinking in the dorm (rumor had it that one girl was expelled for rinsing her hair with beer – yes, that was a thing back in the day).

The only phone in our dorm was on the first floor, and someone had to holler up the stairs when you got a call. Sunday nights most of us took turns calling home. We got and sent lots of letters which we picked up at the mail room between classes.

So, there we were last week, two of us widows, one with a marriage that has survived the death of their only child, the other still married to the fellow she met soon after those college years. Two of us raised three boys. Three of us have multiple grandchildren in various stages of growing up.

Four women talking about their lives, ricocheting between our silly, daring 18-year-old selves and where we are today. Thankfully, we didn’t start up the Organ Recital, the endless litany of ailments that can hijack any conversation between seniors. That’s just boring and not where we were 60 years ago.

Driving home from such a trip, from any out-of-state trip really, requires resetting your mind. Crossing the bridge into Maine, seeing the Welcome Home sign (The Way Life Should Be) always makes me smile. Leaving behind the suffocating traffic, crowded neighborhoods, the awareness of so many people in the world for morning bird song, for the wave of a driver acknowledging me, for the quiet of small, of forests, of familiar faces – it takes a few days to settle in again.

But it’s not all about “then and now”, “here or there”. Most of us live on multiple levels. We also live in our heads. Politics has crept into our brains whether we recognize it as such or not. We hold beliefs, each of us, and this modern world pushes it at us in ways Margaretta and her generation of Lincolnvillians never had to face.

Hold on. Of course, they did. The Depression years, the World Wars, both I and II. Each generation carries some burden that seems too heavy to bear, and Lincolnville had its share.

Don and I watched a film, free on Prime, the other night: see Legacy’s trailer.

It’s the work of a French photographer and environmentalist, Yann Arthus Bertrand. Much of it shows the earth from above, images either unbelievably beautiful or horrible, views neither of us can unsee.

I wish everyone would watch this and then think about what it means for you if you’re young (which is 70 and under to this almost 80-year-old) or if you will be leaving behind children and grandchildren to live in the world to come.

A trip to Home Depot yesterday was a revelation as we looked at all the stuff with new eyes, the ones that kept seeing those awful images of what we’re doing to our earth. Why, for instance, is everything packaged in plastic? Why do we need leaf blowers, power washers, eighteen kinds of power drills, all battery powered?  Fancy fire pits, an endless array of barbecue grills, upholstered outdoor furniture?

It’s Beach cleaning season for Tracee and me,, emptying the five trash barrels and picking up litter on Lincolnville Beach and parking lot – butts, plastic wrappers, dog poop, whatever people choose to leave behind. Look again at the photo posted with this article. I first saw it the other night on Legacy, but apparently there are many such images circulating. I’m wondering how many bits of plastic I’ve missed over the years, how many bits ended up in the gut of a seagull or a loon or a heron.

Destruction of our earth, Ukraine brutally invaded, violence in shopping malls and churches, ineffectual and/or corrupt politicians, elections rigged to give a particular result, a Supreme Court that overturns what we thought we’d won long ago. Covid on the rampage again. It’s no wonder people are testy, can’t sleep at night, feel depressed and isolated.

Yet, we still fall in love, birth babies, watch our children grow up. We start seeds, plant gardens, read books, enjoy our neighbors at the Pub – Whales Tooth or General Store. We gather the strength to make monumental changes: going through a divorce perhaps, changing jobs, or moving from a beloved home to a place where we can get the help we need.

We’re not unique in comparison with Margaretta’s or any other era’s generation in all of this.

We have dreams too, even we septau-octogenarians have dreams. We dream of trips we might take, watch our grandkids grow up, plan a project to build or to knit. And we hold our memories dear, even as we forget names and lose words. We remember our spouses, our siblings, parents and friends. We even remember the night we snuck out after curfew to meet a boyfriend and to dance on a bar.

A Covid Heads-up

Just in case you’ve been feeling safe again vis a vis Covid , there were 19 positive cases reported at LCS last week according to the Lynx newsletter. Seems as though every day I hear of another friend/neighbor/acquaintance who has it. Maybe eventually we really will all get it. Take care!

Town

The proposed moratorium on private piers will be discussed at Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting, 6 p.m. at the Town Office. As John Pincince, organizer of the moratorium says, “We get the government we deserve only if we take part in it.”

School

After two years of silence on the Walsh Common stage, performances are back! Last week’s middle school band and chorus presented their program and  a middle school play on The Princess and the Pea was a big success. The 5^th grade band will perform Thursday May 19 at 6:30 p.m., K-2 on May 23 and grades 3-4 on May 26 both at 2 p.m.

Eighth grade graduation is at 5:30 p.m. on June 21 with the last day of school, including Field Day, will be June 22.

Again, check out the Lynx for more on LCS doings.

The meeting and vote on the 22-23 School Budget will be held in Walsh Common, May 25 at 6 p.m. All townspeople are invited.

Library’s Plant Sale

The Lincolnville Community Library’s annual plant sale will be held on Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 208 Main Street. 

Available are a wide variety of hardy perennials raised in the library gardens, including bachelor buttons, bearded iris, lilacs, bush honeysuckle, beebalm, garden phlox, evening primrose, and more. Most of these plants are native, chosen for their adaptability to the local climate and reduced requirements for water, pesticides and fertilizer. Native plants can also support a variety of pollinators by providing shelter and foods such as nectar, pollen, seeds and insects. 

The sale will also include more than one hundred daylilies, in a variety of colors, originally from Barth’s Lily Farm and grown for many years in a local home garden, as well as annual flowers and vegetable seedlings.  

All proceeds from this sale will benefit the library. For more information, email or call 706-3896.

Indoor Flea Market

Mary Schulein writes:

“The Lincolnville Center Indoor Flea Market will begin its ninth season on Saturday, May 21, and will take place on the third Saturday of each month through October.  The market runs from 8:00 a,m, to noon and is held in the Community Building located at 18 Searsmont Road, Rte. 173, in Lincolnville Center.  The event is sponsored by the United Christian Church (UCC).

 “This is a real sellers' and finders' emporium offering an abundance of unusual treasures including antiques and vintage items, hand crafts, and a myriad of marvelous miscellanea.  UCC members will be selling baked goods, breakfast casseroles, quiche, and muffins all packed for takeout.

“The Lincolnville Center Indoor Flea Market is not an ordinary market. Come and see for yourself.  Covid safety protocol will be followed.  Face masks are required.  For more information contact Mary Schulien, market coordinator at 785-3521.”

It Must Be Spring!

Jane Hardy writes:

“The first Lincolnville Improvement Association (LIA) meeting of the 2022 season will be held at Tranquility Grange on Thursday, May 26 at 5:30 pm. This will follow the usual format of a potluck supper followed by a very interesting speaker. We are excited to have Corelyn Senn talking about the wharves and breakwater of Frohock Brook. 

“Come learn more about Lincolnville's history and enjoy meeting up with friends, neighbors and Lincolnville visitors. Please bring something to share for the potluck. Drinks will be provided. Tranquility Grange is located on Route 52 on the way toward Belfast. It is a historic Grange Hall, built in 1908 and has been a social and civic center for the community since its construction. The LIA is delighted to be able to use this building for our May meeting while the Beach Schoolhouse is being restored.”