Overheard at the Post Office September 26, 2010: "Otherwise, engaged!"

Al: Hey, Jesse, did you hear Chellie Pingree is engaged?

Jesse: Really, who to?

Al: Some rich guy named Sussman. He works at a hedge fund. Say, what is a hedge fund? Does it have to do with landscaping?

Jesse: You are such an idiot, Al. A hedge fund is a company that collects a lot of money from a few people and then invests it. They have been known to make risky investments.

Al: So he’s a gambler, is he?

Jesse: I give up! Anyway, when did they get engaged?

Al: It seems to be right around the time that some blogger starting nosing around into their travel habits. You see, Sussman owns or the hedge fund owns, not sure which, a private airplane. He and Chellie ride it back to Maine then down to Washington so she can go to work on Capitol Hill.

Jesse: What’s wrong with that?

Al: Well, you see, the ethics people in Washington say elected officials can take a ride like that without paying for it but only if the person offering the ride is a relative. So they got engaged right away. Somebody on the radio called it a shotgun engagement!

Jesse: Hmm. I didn’t know she liked to ride on private planes. She’s always complained about other people doing that. She looks like a hypocrite to be taking rides on a private plane. Why wasn’t there more publicity about this engagement?

Al: Well, you see, it was kind of private. In fact, even though she didn’t say anything about the engagement until the hounds started sniffing around about the airplane, she claims they’ve been engaged for a year.

Jesse: Well, I suppose there’s a good explanation for the delay. She’s probably been busy picking out her china pattern and registering at Pottery Barn and so forth. Still, she’s leaving a heck of a carbon footprint riding on a private plane. That isn’t like her. She ought to be doing what the Republicans do and riding on commercial planes instead.

Al: Well, maybe she and Sussman like to be alone. They probably have lots to talk about, making plans for the wedding and all.

Jesse: When’s the big day?

Al: The big day? You mean her wedding day?

Jesse: No, I mean Election Day. I might just have to reconsider my vote. I can understand people who lie because they don’t want to pay their taxes. But there’s very few things I hate more than a hypocrite.

Overheard at the Post Office September 25, 2010: Mixed messages in the mail

Jesse: Hey, Al, did you read the sad letter about Goose Rocks Beach in this week’s free paper?

Al: No, Jesse. What was so sad about it?

Jesse: I had to get my hanky out to finish reading it. It was all about people who have been using the beach since they were kids and are grown up now. It was about walking dogs who are now in heaven. It was from the main SOB. It was a love letter to the beach.

Al: Hmm. I did hear that the Judge wanted the Town and the Plaintiffs to send a letter to these 65 people who own land on the beach but aren’t involved in the lawsuit. I think the Judge wanted people to get legal advice. Did the Judge want a love letter sent, too?

Jesse: This number one SOB, he said he didn’t care if it was in court, he could not sit by and let whatever happens there just happen. He told people not to join the suit.

Al: That was stupid. The Judge said the 65 people have to join one side or the other.

Jesse: I guess he was just so overcome with emotion he couldn’t help himself from giving legal advice. The SOB I mean, not the Judge.

Al: I wonder how the 65 will feel if they follow his advice and lose control of their land. Say, is he only an SOB or is he a TMF?

Jesse: Well, he’s an SOB for sure but I’m not sure if he’s a TMF.

Al: Well, this isn’t the first letter from what I understand. The Plaintiffs sent one. Then the Town sent one, too. But they weren’t love letters. In fact, the Town’s letter made it seem that they are mightily pissed off.

Jesse: Yes, I’ve read those letters. The Town’s letter is not a love letter. It was a mad letter. Then the Town Attorney sent a mad letter to the Judge.

Al: Then there’s supposed to be a letter coming out that’s from both the Plaintiffs and the Town. That one shouldn’t be a love letter or a sad letter or a mad letter but just an informational letter. I’ll have to go back and see what the Judge wrote in that Order in August. There wasn’t any mention of a love letter. Or a mad letter or a sad letter.

Jesse: Look, here in the recycle bin, here’s the free paper. Take a look at the letter and see what I mean.

(Some time passes)

Al: Well it is a sad letter in parts. Thanks for loaning me a hanky. But I would not call it a love letter. There’s too much stuff about fighting. In fact, it sounds threatening. And he does say some pretty mean things about other people. For a love letter writer, he sounds pretty mad. Yes, I’d call it a mad letter.

Jesse: He’s just a guy who cares about the beach. He wants to be able to continue to walk the beach or build a sand castle or hold his wife as they watch a sunset at the beach, even if it is on someone else’s property.

Al: I just hope I don’t run into him on the beach. He sounds mad.

Jesse: Do you think the Judge will read the letter?

Al: I don’t know. But Jesse, if I were that SOB, I know what I would do after sending that letter.

Jesse: What’s that?

Al: I’d take a vacation somewhere far, far away from Goose Rocks Beach. Maybe somewhere in the mountains.

Governor Eliot Cutler?

I got annoyed this week because a Democratic official called Eliot Cutler the Ralph Nader of the gubernatorial race. The comment was annoying because I am registered Democrat, haven’t made up my mind up yet and like having choices. Cutler, Independent candidate for Governor, was urged to drop out of the race so that he would not “spoil” Democrat Elizabeth (“Libby”) Mitchell’s chances of election. The assumption is that anyone who doesn’t vote for Cutler will vote for Mitchell.

Someone needs to text message the Mitchell campaign and let them know they have bigger problems than Cutler. Even Democrats must realize that this is not the year to run on their platform. Mitchell has pledged to create a new state agency to assist residents in cutting through red tape of other state agencies. Can someone give Mitchell a head’s up so she won’t need smelling salts the night of November 2nd? She’s a fine person who has the unfortunate luck of being a career politician in a year when career politicians are in danger of being forced into finding other careers.

Cutler may very well put on a late surge. Do the names Governor James Longley and Governor Angus King ring a bell? Both ran as Independents. Longley’s win in 1974 was particularly shocking to the political establishment.

LePage is already in danger of losing supporters. Some may be squirming about his outburst at the press conference about his wife’s claim for two homestead exemptions. His base won’t abandon him over flaps of this sort. But for the undecided people who are thinking of voting for LePage, some advice: when a candidate starts to make you wonder, it’s time to do your homework. LePage appears to be such a maverick that it is easy to forget he has the Republican nomination. Some Republicans may find themselves unable to cast a vote his way.

Voters who think a career politician can’t win the Blaine House this year – including Democrats - may vote for Cutler out of fear that LePage may be elected.

Cutler stands to attract voters from both major parties who cannot support their standard-bearers this year. The volume of people who abandon their party roots will determine the winner.

So, voters, go ahead and cast your vote for the person you want to see running the State of Maine. Don’t be influenced by the Democrats who are mad at Eliot Cutler and who tell you your vote will be wasted on an Independent. He who polls poorly today may finish first.

The Rockefellers

A recent article in the Sunday New York Times detailed the courtship and marriage between Ariana Rockefeller and Matthew Bucklin, a young man from Northeast Harbor. They were wed outdoors in September in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller garden on the grounds of the family’s former summer home, Eyrie. Abby was the wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and the mother of Nelson, Winthrop, David, John III, Laurence and Abby. She was Ariana’s great grandmother.

This summer I visited this garden after 8 years spending the summer and fall here on Mount Desert Island. The garden is not advertised except through word of mouth.

You make a reservation ahead of time by calling a phone number most likely obtained from someone who has visited before you. You are assigned a date to visit during a 2-hour block of time on the one day a week when the garden is open between July and September. It's free of course.

The flower garden is contained within a Chinese walled garden, with reddish-pink walls. The tiles which decorate the top of the walls (coping tiles) were rescued from the Imperial City when sections of it were torn down.

If you are standing with your back to the lily pond featured in the Times photo of the wedding, you look through the tall trees across the sunken garden to Penobscot Mountain. This deliberate vista, a cutout in a tall bank of trees, catapults this small mountain to great heights. It is simply breathtaking. On a sunny day in the late morning in mid-August, the light was spectacular. The garden was full of butterflies. We spent some time around the reflecting pool. It took a while to distinguish the real frogs from the lily pads they were sitting on or clinging to.

The garden around the interior is devoted to flowering plants and it was designed to be at peak bloom mid-August. The serene, shaded, Asian-inspired landscaping and immense Korean and Chinese sculptures are separated from the boisterous flowers with hedges.

The family’s money is much maligned because of the way John D. Rockefeller, Sr. made his money and the Ludlow Massacre. This was a conflict of mine owners, miners, union organizers and the Colorado National Guard, which lead to the death of eleven women and children who suffocated in a crawl space under a burning tent, according to David Rockefeller's autobiography. Mr. Rockefeller writes that before that incident, in 1915, John D. Sr. planned to give his fortune away, fearing that his son was not capable of handling the responsibility for his huge fortune due to the personal issues in his life. The strength and character John D. Jr. showed or acquired while addressing the underlying issues which caused the discontent of the miners changed his father's mind. Senior began to transfer his immense fortune to his son who not only continued philanthropic projects started by his father but launched new foundations based on his own interests in art and the environment.

John D. Jr. and Abby bought then renovated and expanded their summer house in Seal Harbor. They showed little interest in Bar Harbor society. This couple loved their children, travel, each other, art, their philanthropies and summers in Maine.

The house they built no longer stands. It survived the 1947 fire. After Abby died, John D. Jr. was very lonely and remarried. His second wife made a number of changes to Eyrie. After SHE died, the children restored the home as much as it could be to the way their mother designed it, including returning her furniture to many rooms. The rooms were photographed for posterity. Then the house was torn down.

Today, the Rockefeller land within which this garden still stands, thousands of acres, is operated by a family corporation called Greenrock. This vast expanse of land between the road from Seal Harbor to Northeast Harbor and the Jordan Pond House is open to the public. For free, of course. These lands contain the original carriage roads, part of the 57 miles of carriage roads designed by John D. Jr. and landscape architect Beatrix Farrand.

Many people are unaware that Acadia National Park was not purchased by the federal government but was given to the country by private individuals including George Dorr who spent most of his money on land acquisition, and John D. Rockefeller Jr. They had to beg the feds to take the land. For free of course.

Before and during the Depression, John D. Jr. employed many local men building these bridges – there are 15 of them, each unique - and the miles of carriage roads, closed to motorized vehicles, which are enjoyed by visitors to the Park today. Which isn't free, of course, but worth the price of admission. Many folks thought he was crazy and self indulgent to spend his money that way during those hard times. Except for the men he employed.

Living here on Mount Desert Island I have come to appreciate the philanthropy of this family. Abby's collection was the basis for the Museum of Modern Art and the Folk Art Museum at Williamsburg. John Jr. and Abby poured money into the restoration of Williamsburg. There are other, smaller museums around the country which were graced with Rockefeller money, including the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine. A member of the family invested heavily in the Clivus Multrum, a composting toilet, found in many rural parks. The toilets at the Rockefeller garden are Clivus Multrums.

By the time the trust funds trickled down to John D. Jr.'s grandchildren, if a book about the dynasty is to be believed, conflict erupted about the family business. Some younger family members expressed embarrassment about being trust-funders. Others refused the money. Some hated Nelson for his politics. Some felt burdened by the way Senior made the family fortune but took the trust fund money anyway. Some just lived life and made the most of their opportunities These grand children included Michael Rockefeller, Nelson’s son, who disappeared in New Guinea while pursuing his interest in anthropology and Jay Rockefeller, Senator from West Virginia.

If you are a reader, I highly recommend David Rockefeller's autobiography. I’d also recommend a book about the multiple generations of the family called The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty by Peter Collier. It's a brutally revealing book. A book about the carriage roads, Mr. Rockefeller's Roads, written by John D. Jr.’s granddaughter, Ann Rockefeller Roberts, details the conception and construction of these roads.

This place, Mount Desert Island, owes a great deal to the Rockefeller family. Acadia National Park comprises around 45 percent of the land on MDI, land which will never be developed and will always be open to the public.

David Rockefeller is now in his 90’s. He had a boat built here which was launched this year, specifically to accommodate his limited mobility, so that he can continue to go out on the water. Some may think that is a crazy thing to spend money on in this economy. I doubt that the boat builders who were employed the last 18 or so months working on that multiple hundred thousand dollar boat think that.






NOTE: for the absolutely wonderful story about the courtship of the couple who married in the garden a few weeks ago, see Sunday New York Times, Fashion and Style, September 19, 2010, Vows: Ariana Rockefeller and Matthew Bucklin.

Mornings Downeast with Goldy

Dawn arrives early Downeast in the month of June. Our dog responds to the daylight by getting me up between 4 and 5 AM. This has been her pattern for 3 months. But this week of mid to late June, approaching the longest day of the year, she has started sleeping until 6 AM. There's no explanation for the change but my husband and I are very pleased and grateful.

Goldy is a dog of undetermined age and mysterious circumstances. She was found as a stray on the streets of Boston. The City of Boston Animal Shelter in Roslindale posted her photo and not much other information about her on petfinders.com. Just as many human relationships are started through online dating services today, pet adoptions are facilitated via the internet as well.

We were led to believe that she was 8 to 12 months old. But the day we went to pick her up, the veterinarian confessed that she was actually “much younger than I first thought”, confirming that we were in fact adopting a puppy.

She is of indeterminate origin. A Downeast neighbor looked her over and commented, "She has a pretty face but that tail is way too big. It's a shame she's too old to cut it off." Her tail is one of her communication tools. When she is extremely excited, her tail goes around in a circle. We'd no sooner cut her tail than cut off her tongue.

During the slightly more than 3 months since Goldy has come to live with us, her personality has slowly emerged.

It never occurred to us that Goldy would be less than happy running loose in a fenced yard. Within weeks, she tunneled her way out. It was only by chance that I was standing in the kitchen window and saw her wiggle under the wire. After that incident, Jon installed more wire flat on the ground to prevent her digging under the side fence. A few weeks ago, I discovered that Goldy was working on a tunnel under the wire. In went two big rocks to put an end to that escape route.

She chews thing. We’ve always made sure she has nylabones and squeaky toys to occupy her mouth but she gets bored with her own toys. It didn’t take long for her to figure out how much reaction she could get from destroying favorite flip flops. As she matures now, instead of chewing something she shouldn't, out of our sight, she comes into a room where we might both be reading, drops the heaviest boot she could find in the closet, and looks at me as though to announce her boredom.

On the positive side, she has adapted so well to her training that when she greets people on her lead, she sits and waits to be petted.

During the 6-week obedience class that Goldy and I attended at the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, we practiced how to behave going into an office as would be the case when visiting the vet where other animals would be present. Goldy carried it off like a model dog. While I practiced “checking in” by writing my name and address for the receptionist, I came to the final question on the fake sign-in sheet. It said “My dog makes me__________”. Without hesitation, I wrote “smile”.

Natural Observations

Nothing qualifies me to speak about biology or botany. But as a gardener, a person who spends a great deal of time outdoors, I observe the habits of birds and bugs and amphibious creatures.

My theory about gardening is to leave what grows naturally around the edge of the property and introduce perennial gardens within the lawn. This cuts down on the amount of land which needs to be mowed, adds color and interest through the introduction of plants, and leaves a little natural food and cover for the birds, insects and other creatures.

Our house on MDI contains both perennial gardens and raised beds for vegetables, constructed in areas which were previously lawn. I used to scalp the grass and add compost and dirt to make the gardens. Now I find that it is easer to place layers of newspaper over the grass, add coarse compost material that hasn’t yet broken down, then cover the patch with a mix of compost, loam and peat.

Over the years we’ve added shrubs including native viburnum and high bush blueberry bushes. The front lawn slopes away from the driveway and is bisected by a drainage ditch. It has been my habit for the last 4-5 years to leave a foot-wide swath of whatever wild plants spring up on either side of the ditch.

In the early fall, birds feed on the seeds of curly dock (Rumex crispus), an unattractive plant (see photo). Having observed that feeding pattern, I always leave curly dock in the weed strip. Since Goldfinches love thistle seeds I no longer remove thistle from the yard.

We’ve always had hummingbirds but this year they seem prolific. This week while picking wild blackberries I heard that familiar Brrtt-purr of a hummingbird and watched as it fed off a plant which up until now I’ve always weeded since I considered it a nuisance. I’ve been unable to identify the weed. It can reach 3 to 5 feet tall, has a transparent stalk and a carrot-color small flower (see photo). This plant is very easy to pull out of the ground. Today I realized what an important plant this must be for the hummingbirds at this time of year. There aren’t many flowers blooming this late in the season. This year in particular, perennials have bloomed and gone by at least 2 weeks earlier than normal. Could the presence of hummers be attributable to this weed?

One day this spring, our dog barked incessantly and with some alarm until we came to the deck to see what she had discovered. Sitting under the steps was a creature with which Goldy, a city dog, was completely unfamiliar: a toad. This toad was the size of my fist. It sat with great dignity and patience as Goldy darted first toward and then away from the marooned amphibian. The toad offered no resistance when I gently collected it into my joined hands and carried it to the lower garden, outside the dog’s fenced yard. Within a few days, the same toad or its twin turned up under the stairs. Once more I ferried the toad to the safety of the lower garden near the ditch, hoping that the moisture there would sustain the little creature’s needs.

If you wish to encourage birds and amphibians in your yard, read the book called Noah’s Garden: restoring the ecology of our own back yards by Sara Stein.

The author landscaped her newly-purchased rural property by removing the native shrubs and weeds and replacing them with nursery-raised ornamental shrubs and bushes. Too late, she realized that despite living in the country, there were no birds or animals on her property. Her pond was devoid of life. She came to the realization that the plants and trees found naturally on her property were precisely what the birds, insects and wildlife needed to survive and flourish. She began to reverse her landscape mistakes and restore her property to its natural state.

Birds, insects and amphibians will live in yards if we show some restraint when removing shrubs or weeds which occur naturally. Leave a little wild area along the periphery of the yard or in a location which is easy to mow around. The mystery weeds, goldenrod, wild aster, curly dock and their wild neighbors are natural bird feeders.

Overheard at the Kennebunkport Post Office August 20, 2010

“Order in the Court”


Al: Well Jesse, I’ve been thinking about you since I heard that there was an Order in the Court.

Jesse: Long time no see, Al. You aren’t in trouble again are you?

Al: No, Jesse, nothing to do with me. This is to do with your friends who are asking the Court to make the private land at Goose Rocks public property.

Jesse: Well tell me!

Al: You see, the Judge Ordered that the Interveners don’t have any different stake than the Town. So they got dismissed. The Interveners called themselves the T-M-F’s. Who picks these names? I don’t know which is worse, S-O-B or T-M-F.

Now the Town has to write letters to all the property owners on the beachfront, telling them that if the Town wins its claim to an easement over their land, their private beach won’t be private anymore. Just so the property owners who don’t want to get involved understand what is at stake.

Jesse: You mean the property owners won’t get to decide who uses their beach? We didn’t think about that. I wonder when will be the next S-O-B meeting?

Al: Well you’ll have two meetings to go to now, Al. There’s your S-O-B’s. Then there’s these people called the T-M-F’s. No wonder the Judge got rid of them! You need to hire a marketing firm to come up with some nicer sounding names.

Jesse: I wouldn’t expect you to understand why there are the two different names, Al.

Al: If the private beach has a public easement on it, that means the Town or maybe the State can decide to let people go anywhere at anytime and do whatever they want on the beach.

Jesse: The State? What business does the State of Maine have at Goose Rocks Beach?

Al: Well, they care about the public losing access to beaches whether they are private or not. So they get to do what’s called intervene.

Jesse: Well no one thought about the State getting involved. Aren’t they broke? We just thought this would be a local matter. Hmmm. I wonder what the renters will think about that.

Al: What renters?

Jesse: The folks from away who pay a lot of money to come here to rent houses at the private - uh, I mean the less busy ends of the beach, you know - because those areas are quiet and peaceful.

Al: Well you see Jesse, the meaning of the word “public” means anyone who wants to go there.

Jesse: Did the Judge say anything about the beachfront owners not paying their taxes?

Al: As a matter of fact, he did. He dismissed the Town’s claim that the people don’t own the beach land because they never paid taxes on it. I think that’s what they call a “red herring”.

Jesse: I don’t need any of your fishing terms Al, just give me the facts.

Al: Well, the Judge said that this claim by the Town doesn’t make any sense. Of course people have paid their taxes.

Jesse: Do you mean to tell me that it isn’t true that people on the front row of the beach haven’t paid their taxes?

Al: Well yes, Jesse. I hate to disillusion you. But the fact is rumors are not always true. That’s why they are called rumors and not fact.

Jesse: To think, I called one of the Plaintiffs a tax cheat. Not to his face, of course.

Al: Well, Jesse, how much ground will you gain by calling people names and spreading rumors? It’s one thing to name yourselves something naughty. You take the cake for naughty names. But it’s quite another thing to damage someone else’s reputation. If I were you, with names like S-O-B and T-M-F’s, I’d be extra nice to those beachfront owners.

Jesse: You would? Why is that?

Al: Well, because when the Judge rules that their deeds show that they own the beach, I’d like to be on their good side. That way, things can go back to the way they were before the Town got ideas in its head about having a right to someone’s private property.

Jesse: But that isn’t what this was supposed to be about! It was supposed to be about sand castles and walks with the dog. About watching sunsets and finding star fish with my grandchildren. I’ve been had!

Al: Take heart, Jesse, it isn’t over yet. The Town still has to spend all that money we voted for in June. There’s still plenty of time to get on the good side of the people who own the beach.