View Full Version : The Wild North, 40 years ago and now
Efforts to control sprawl in the Maine woods continuing to ramp up.
Story (http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5248249.html) about how the woods have changed over the last 40 years and how some people are watching closely to prevent development of the wilds.
Son of a former Governor, Horace Hildreth takes on big business and is awarded a Distinguished Contribution Award by Maine Audubon Society.:cool:
Thought this might fit in here if nobody minds. I wrote it today for my grandfather who passed away 30 years ago, but I would imagine there were plenty of men next door in Maine much like him. I think he had some second cousins from there.
Mahogany
The old man kept whittling. Perhaps he would fashion her another animal from the woods, like the bear, or the deer, or the little family of squirrels now left playing on her window sill. Of course she really wanted a new game for her NintendoDS, but she had lost the pen anyway, and her angry father would not buy her a new one for a whole week. The old man did not seem to care much about such things. The old man kept whittling.
This wood was hard, and straight. Just some old native species, but what a wonderful tree is must have made. What a wonderful bow or arrow it might have been. Perhaps it was from the very tip, or near the root. It did not seem to have any compression grain. The old man reached down and grabbed a handful of shavings. They smelled like her hair, and one or two had left his work and landed there, amongst the curls. They reminded him of his wife who died so young, and long forgotten ways, how the wind blew her hair as they both got swept up those stairs at the train station in Edinburgh, and of Passchendaele.
The old man kept whittling. She sat patiently by his feet watching her Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang, or one of her favourite DVDs she wasn't supposed to watch until she was a wee bit older. What a great trunk his legs made those rainy days. They seldom stirred.
When he was done he reached down his great old hand and offered her what looked like nothing more than a giant toothpick. She looked up, absolutely hurt and horrified. What cruel joke was this? Then at once she saw his eyes and understood. She jumped up suddenly and stood upon her toes and kissed his cheek, like it was Mahogany.
cowboy nichols
07-20-2008, 09:51
Tears !!!!!!!!
Thought this might fit in here if nobody minds. I wrote it today for my grandfather who passed away 30 years ago, but I would imagine there were plenty of men next door in Maine much like him. I think he had some second cousins from there.
Mahogany
The old man kept whittling. Perhaps he would fashion her another animal from the woods, like the bear, or the deer, or the little family of squirrels now left playing on her window sill. Of course she really wanted a new game for her NintendoDS, but she had lost the pen anyway, and her angry father would not buy her a new one for a whole week. The old man did not seem to care much about such things. The old man kept whittling.
This wood was hard, and straight. Just some old native species, but what a wonderful tree is must have made. What a wonderful bow or arrow it might have been. Perhaps it was from the very tip, or near the root. It did not seem to have any compression grain. The old man reached down and grabbed a handful of shavings. They smelled like her hair, and one or two had left his work and landed there, amongst the curls. They reminded him of his wife who died so young, and long forgotten ways, how the wind blew her hair as they both got swept up those stairs at the train station in Edinburgh, and of Passchendaele.
The old man kept whittling. She sat patiently by his feet watching her Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang, or one of her favourite DVDs she wasn't supposed to watch until she was a wee bit older. What a great trunk his legs made those rainy days. They seldom stirred.
When he was done he reached down his great old hand and offered her what looked like nothing more than a giant toothpick. She looked up, absolutely hurt and horrified. What cruel joke was this? Then at once she saw his eyes and understood. She jumped up suddenly and stood upon her toes and kissed his cheek, like it was Mahogany.
Grandfathers can always find a simple way to make a hurt better.
Great story.:)
Thanks. Didn't mean to hijack the thread.
Hope all goes well in Maine, because it is a beautiful state, and we are next.
Cookerhiker
07-20-2008, 11:21
Thanks for posting this story Woodsy. This illustrates that we can never take the AT experience for granted; the 1,000' corridor is meaningless if surrounded by trophy homes and attendant sprawl. It's important to support organizations like the Maine Appalachian Trail trust (http://www.matlt.org/), the AMC, and other conservancies in the land protection business. And if necessary, strengthened state management of Maine's "wildlands."
Thanks for the thoughtful reply Cookerhiker.
One advantage to the downturn of the economy is that it may temporarily suppress Vacationland development in the outback regions while conservation groups and govt. agencies gather strength.
Not only mortgage issues but also gas prices could put a damper on development here. Haven't seen the backsides of many RVs here this summer!
Every cloud has a silver lining eh. I witnessed the other day that the new concrete and steel vehicle bridge across the Big Salmon River is just about completed, and so the Fundy Trail Parkway will soon be open to motor vehicles right through to Sussex. What it will bring with it in the future is anyones guess. Ironically, they advertise the region as the last coastal wilderness between the Florida Keys and Newfoundland, as they push through to develop it for tourism. Perhaps the coming green recession will put a stop to it, and the wilderness will reclaim all this development once again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LQioQ75408
Every cloud has a silver lining eh. I witnessed the other day that the new concrete and steel vehicle bridge across the Big Salmon River is just about completed, and so the Fundy Trail Parkway will soon be open to motor vehicles right through to Sussex. What it will bring with it in the future is anyones guess. Ironically, they advertise the region as the last coastal wilderness between the Florida Keys and Newfoundland, as they push through to develop it for tourism. Perhaps the coming green recession will put a stop to it, and the wilderness will reclaim all this development once again.
Speaking of development, can you imagine what a footbridge across the Kennebec River in Carratunk on the AT would do to the isolation of the trail there?
Tourists would be lining the bridge and trail for miles going both ways , toward Pierce Pond in particular.:eek:
That would really ruin the trail experience IMO.
How would you like to be greeted by hundreds of tourists in this remote location as you passed through on your wilderness journey?:-?
location as you passed through on your wilderness journey?:-?
Would it be any worse than Bear Mountain on a summer weekend? Or how about a Jazz festival on the trail in Delaware Water Gap? (That was kinda fun, actually.)
Would it be any worse than Bear Mountain on a summer weekend? Or how about a Jazz festival on the trail in Delaware Water Gap? (That was kinda fun, actually.)
Maybe it's just me but I go to the woods and mountains to escape humanity as much as possible, and enjoy the natural world and the creatures that live in it.
If I want crowds of people, i'll go to town.
Maybe it's just me but I go to the woods and mountains to escape humanity as much as possible, and enjoy the natural world and the creatures that live in it.
If I want crowds of people, i'll go to town.
Can I get an Amen!
There I was,
listening to a brook. Some whackjob starts playing a recorder. Mother Nature's symphony, and I get Auld Lang Syne, poorly. I spoke up.
I here you. Live music and song does have its time and place in the woods, but you did well to put it in its proper place. Better than a boom box though, I suppose.
Maybe it's just me but I go to the woods and mountains to escape humanity as much as possible, and enjoy the natural world and the creatures that live in it.
If I want crowds of people, i'll go to town.
I kinda like a balance, myself. After three or four or five days in the woods, being quite alone 99.9% of the time, a town stop is a good thing.