Deer Isle from Old Quarry July 2005

[bethany]

Look at this beautiful weekend:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84509568@N00/sets/660956/

Regard the strange calm, the gorgeous colors, the otherworldliness. Liz N. and I were so mesmerized we weren't even that motivated, just plain content. We watched a weasel dart out from the edge of an island, snatch a fish out of the water and run back. We watched herons in an old quarry on Crotch Island, we snaked around all the islands and dreamed of living in various houses. Liz cooked up delicious Maine crab and spinach and we camped with an amazing view, nearly on the dock at Old Quarry, where the breeze swept away the bugs.

So strong was that strange magic...at one point the first day I realized I'm not supposed to wear my damascus steel and gold wedding ring in the ocean all the time. It was dead calm so I removed it over a dry bag, carefully put it inside, sealed it up in my day hatch and paddled on. Later it was not in the bag. (yes, not even a year, I'm a loser) It wasn't anywhere. This was the day before I went to a metal smithing program at Haystack for two weeks. The day after I came back I got a phone call asking me to apprentice/assist with the metal smith who makes those damascus rings (and mokume and meteorite -- www.chrisploof.com). . . . c'mon, what are the odds?

--b