Lynn Amber - Travel & Photography
sharing my thoughts through words and images
Baltic Mill in Enfield
This writing is a follow-up to an earlier post I composed about the Northern Rail Trail. I included another photo of this building on that post with a notation that I would do some more research and find out what it’s function was when operational.
I was correct in my original guess that this was a textile mill. This building was called the Baltic Mills. Originally established in 1886, it went through several ownerships. The last owner to operate the mill was the American Woolen Company. According to a book that details the history of the mills owned by the American Woolen Company, the chief products were “principally men’s overcoating stock, and friezes, chinchillas, and cheviots.” In addition, the mill generated its own electricity and also helped to power part of the town! The book states that the company “in addition to lighting its mills, furnishes light for the streets of the town and for use in dwellings and stores, from its 6oo-light alternating dynamos.” Cool! The operation also supported over three hundred mill workers at the time.
For additional reading on the history of the mills owned by American Woolen Company, here is a link to the Google book.
Beaver Moon
The November full moon is often referred to as the Beaver moon as it was observed that beavers were most active during this time of the year preparing their lodges for the long winter ahead. The moon has appeared full for several nights now. We took a walk up the road last evening as the moon was rising and it was magical the way it was shining through the forest – casting long tree trunk shadows across the landscape.
I caught the full moon coming up tonight framed by our garden shed and the oak tree in the front yard. If you have the energy to get up early, there will be a lunar eclipse happening at around 4:30 am Monday morning! The eclipse will begin around 2:30 and end around 6:30 – from what I’ve read.
Old Factory
We are having a quiet Thanksgiving holiday as we do our part to help suppress the spread of the Covid-19 virus. We would normally get together with family here in Vermont. But this season, our extended family is celebrating in their own households, as we are. We do have just one guest – my son who is visiting on his own from our neighboring state of NH. We’ll just be hanging out here at home and it has been a nice time catching up with him. I am grateful to have this time with him.
Our topics of conversation vary – covering everything from politics to recent home projects – often revolving around what we have been doing recently for fun. In talking to him about a recent bike trip on the Northern Rail Trail, my husband was mentioning this old factory that sits along the bike trail. We had stopped along the trail to admire the old crumbling architecture of the building and survey the dam that obviously was used to generate power for whatever operation took place here. As an engineer whose specialty is “power”, my son is always interested in these old technologies.
I looked through my photo files and found the picture I took of the building and dam – so I could give my son a “visual” of the place. What an interesting collage of colors and textures! At some point, I will follow up researching what this building was – a textile mill, perhaps?
Artists in the Parks
I received a couple of comments about my previous post highlighting the carved log which honors the nature poet Seamus Heaney. My own curiosity about how these logs came to be transplanted into the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park landscape led me to do some “Google” research. 🙂
Throughout the national park service, there is a quiet movement underway that brings art, artists and our national parks together. The result is a robust Artist-in-Residence program that exists in many of our national parks nationwide. Most people visiting our national parks are totally unaware of these collaborations or the impact they have on both the park and the public. I became aware of this marriage between artists and parks during my two-year tenure at Acadia National Park as a park ranger. Through staff email alerts and exploring our park website, I familiarized myself with the artist-in-residence program there and learned about current and past projects.
During my second season at Acadia, I had the opportunity to participate in a night photography workshop led by the local Mount Desert Island artist and photographer, Howie Motenko. During the course of the evening workshop, he shared his most recent enterprise with us. He had just completed a 2-year photographic study within Acadia National Park. Over a 24 month period of time, he photographed landscape scenes in Acadia National Park using the light of the full moon. At the conclusion of our evening workshop, he shared his best large format prints with us. An exhibition of these photographs would be held during the month of November (2019) at the Northeast Harbor Library. The prints were stunning. Howie Motenko had been a former artist-in-residence in Acadia. I left Mount Desert Island at the end of October so I did not get to see the exhibit. But, I appreciated that he had given us a sneak preview!
In wondering about the carved poetry logs throughout Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park, it had not occurred to me that these pieces represented the work of an artist-in-residence. I should have probably suspected that given my experience in Acadia! Well, it turns out that there is an artist-in-residence program at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP. The carved poetry logs are the work of New York-based environmental artist Alastair Noble . He was an artist-in-residence at the park during 2013-2014. According to the Park Facebook page: “Each log was carved by Noble with a line from poems highlighting the wonders of nature. Some are from poets like T.S. Eliot, Seamus Heaney, and Edgar Allen Poe. These logs were scattered throughout the park with the idea that visitors will “discover” them when they least expect it. As of 2020, the logs are more difficult to read as they are slowly decomposing, just as Noble intended.” Apparently there are at least 10 logs in existence. I cannot wait to get back there and find the remaining 8 poetry logs!! 🙂
So, before you head out to your next national park – do some research and find out if they support an artist-in-residence program! The National Park Service has an overview of the program here. To learn more about the program at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP, visit their Artist in Residence home page. You just never know what you might discover!
Poetry in Nature
During our last hike at Marsh-Billings- Rockefeller National Historic Park, I came upon another interesting wood carving along the shores of The Pogue. Someone here at the park is obviously a fan of the Irish poet Seamus Heaney! This line is taken from his poem “Relic of Memory.” It is so much fun to find these “relics” hidden in the woods along the carriage paths. I wonder if there are any more? Guess I’ll have to go back and explore so more!
Yet Another stunning sunset
We’ve been experienced some remarkable sunsets recently. Heading up my gravel road after work today, the sun was just starting to dip below the horizon. As I’ve said before, this is one of my favorite times to be out walking – so peaceful and still. A great way to start the weekend! 🙂
Vermont’s Stone Walls
Walking the backroads, hillsides and forests of Vermont, it is inevitable that you will have an encounter with a stone wall! I’ve heard estimates claiming there are over 200,000 miles of stone walls in New England. Many of these stone fences were built in the 1800’s during a time when “sheep fever” was taking hold in the northeast. With tariffs being levied on woolen goods from England at that time, people began raising sheep so we could produce our own wool.
Much of Vermont’s forests were cut down during the 1800’s for agricultural endeavors including clearing land for grazing sheep. An abundance of stone led to the use of this material as fencing for containment of the sheep and other agricultural animals. Between 1824 and 1840, Vermont’s sheep population grew from 4,000 head to over 1.5 million. That’s incredible! By the 1850’s, however, things began to change. The tariff’s were lifted driving down the price of wool and competition was growing from the western states. It was a boom industry here for only several decades. But, in its wake, we are left with miles and miles of beautiful, old stone walls! In later years, the stone walls were often used as boundary markers when land was subdivided. One of our property lines is defined by an ancient stone wall.
If you are interested in additional information on the history of the sheep industry of yesteryear, the Vermont Historical Society has an online pamphlet that might interest you. It really is a fascinating story about how early Vermont settlers literally deforested the land and it’s subsequent “comeback” to the Green Mountain state of today. I also stumbled upon this charming article – Sheep Farming – Then + Now – in a modern day blog site that might interest anyone who fancies learning more about the 14th State.
Another really good reference book is the natural history story “Reading the Forested Landscape”, by Tom Wessels. This book sits on my nightstand – and I often just pick it up and read small snippets at a time – about the fascinating art of “reading the landscape.”
Bird Sanctuary ART
The Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary inhabits several city blocks – sandwiched between 2nd and 3rd Avenues and running from 111th Street to 117th Street. The small building in the photo above sits at one of the trailheads and had the coolest, folk-artsy door painting! I just had to capture it!
I spent some time one morning walking around the sanctuary trails. Some trails were closed due to Covid but I still enjoyed the stopover. If you are visiting the area, check out their website for information on trails and events.
While I actually did not see any birds, I did enjoy the native plants and some late summer blooming perennials.
A Shore Thing
One thing is for “shore” – there’s no shortage of sand, grassy dunes and wide-open sky along the Jersey coast. Everyone who lives in the mid-Atlantic states knows that when talking about the coastal vacation hot spots you are either a Jersey Shore aficionado or you frequent the Delaware Beaches. I don’t know why “shore” has been used to describe the coastline of New Jersey and the term beach is used for the Delaware coast. But, I assure you there is a difference and most people in the mid-Atlantic region definitely prefer one over the other.
We’ve always been a “shore” family. My grandparents on my mother’s side of the family vacationed in Ocean City, New Jersey. We shared a house with them for two weeks each summer. They had family who lived in Ocean City year-round and vacationing there allowed them to visit with that extended family. It was (and still is) a dry city – there are no alcoholic beverages sold within the city limits. The city was founded by a group of Methodists and has maintained its blues laws to this day. This directive has given Ocean City a reputation as a very family-oriented seaside town. Given that my grandfather was a teetotaler, it’s not surprising that this town was his choice for family vacations!
Ocean City was magical as a child. Nowadays, it is far too crowded and “city-like” for my tastes. But, as a kid, I looked forward to the vibrant, festive ambience of the city and the busy boardwalk. We would be allowed a very limited number of nights on the boardwalk during our two-week stay. Gillian’s Wonderland Pier amusement park was a favorite – along with miniature golf, salt water taffy, riding bikes on the boardwalk before 10am and sunbathing at the 9th Street beach near the historic Music Pier.
I have not ventured back to Ocean City in many, many years – preferring the more subdued, quiet side of the shore on the Seven Mile Island. Funny how our tastes change over time! 🙂
The Pogue
For our Sunday road trip, we traveled to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. The forecast called for rain and high winds later in the day so we arrived at the park around 11:30 hoping to beat the weather and take a brisk walk. It was a cold morning and we bundled up. But, as we climbed the carriage road that led to The Pogue, we warmed up fast! 🙂
I’ve been meaning to take Jim to the park since my excursion there during the summer. The carriage roads and surrounding trails are well-maintained and not overly crowded. He loved the moderate hike and we agreed that there are enough other trails through the woods to warrant a few more trips to explore. Definitely going to consider snow-shoeing here this winter!
Lynn Amber - Travel & Photography 