Long Island, Maine: Fall & Winter

Fall on an island in Maine is probably one of the most magical experiences in America there could be. Warm during the day; temperate to cool, but not cold at night.

The colors range from still summer green to the fall colors of Maine most seen in the Maple trees, as the coolness breaks down the chlorphyll cells, allowing the yellows, oranges and reds to blazen forth.

It is a time when wood stoves still have a romance, rather than a dire necessity. When candles at night, at least in the country-side and on the islands of Maine, won't ever drown out the night's stars.

The deer snort in the woods. The ravens still call out. The sea pounds a bit more loudly at night, and then quiets out at dawn, when the fishermen head out, and still you can hear their boats putting up and down the bay--not drowned out by the noise of freeways.

Then winter: The snow falls here, as everywhere else, but it is more quiet. More peaceful. The night sky is an historic magic of clarity and stars. Walks down "main" streets are poetically old-world quiet, while the island remains technologically up-to-date.

Experience Maine--the way life WILL be
--Environmentally/ecologically always ahead of its time--along with Oregon/Washington, of the first states to institute ecological statues regarding oil spill hazards.
--Politically and socially astute;
--With vast potential in the country-side, where traditional businesses have been lost, and where land  in a changing ecology will mean much more;
--Were there are mountains, streams, rivers, sea, and an increasingly temperate climate;
--Where having a BA or Ph.D and being a fisherman are not incongruous;
--Where it doesn't rain 3/4 of the time;
--Where people still care about "traditional" people-oriented architecture and fight against huge glass/steel high-rises (though we have some of those);
--Where the food is fantastic and the lawyers are still "your neighbors";
--A culturally very diverse environment reflected in its restaurants and schools;
--An ever increasing bio-awareness around transportation--more buses, and more bicycle and walking paths;
--Long-standing clubs for hiking, bicycling, kayaking, golfing, tennis, running, etc.
--Great new ventures in bio-science and strong businesses in bioscience.

Join us in making Maine, on your East Coast, the ecological fashion statement of the century!

Long Island, Maine Spiders: A Local Study

Last summer I started taking notes about and drawing the spiders I found on our property on Long Island, Casco Bay, Maine. While spiders may spread themselves on the wind, or by having their eggs attached to things that end up elsewhere, they obviously don't fly, so their mobility to other environments is by chance and haphazard.

Sometimes I ended up drawing and or studying other insects/bugs that were right there, in my way, and I just wanted to know about them. One of the most direct ways of knowing anything is to observe, takes notes, draw.

Singing Sands, Long Island, Maine

"Singing Sands Beach, Long Island, Maine". Copyright E.M Burke, JO Burke, AL Burke.

Singing Sands is a beach in Shark Cove, Long Island, Casco Bay, Maine.

South Beach (aka Big Beach, or Sandy Beach) is in Andrew's Cove, Long Island, Maine.

The Burkes own Singing Sands Beach, and the last about 1/3 (toward Singing Sands Beach) of South Beach, of Long Island, Maine. Below is a tax map of the property--Lot 419. The Burkes own to low water... ie as far as the lowest tide at the lowest average tide of the year--in short, "to the Atlantic"

In the image here provided, the easiest way to read this is to follow the yellow line that goes from the top right to the lower left...

Excluded is the "Nubble"... the bud of land, without beach, that exudes from the lower most right hand lower half of the image.