Abrams Pond 2015

Once again, the Lord blessed us, allowing us to be able to get to our favorite vacation spot for the fifth year in a row. Another week at Abrams Pond in Eastbrook, Maine. Often I sit and think just how fortunate I am. God has blessed my family and I so many more times than I could count, or even begin to fathom how or why we deserve life’s rewards. So, with humility, I share the pictures that tell the stores of our week in Maine.

You may be standing right next to me as I notice something flying in the sky half a mile away. I am constantly looking to the skies, to the depths of the waters, to the shadows between the trees, or along the sides of the beaten paths. And sometimes, I am fortunate enough to see the life of the wild that is around me.

Wildlife

 

A juvenile eagle welcomes us to Abrams Pond

 

Great Blue and the greys

 

The ducks are a constant around the dock

 

Our Bald Eagle friend made several appearances during the week

 

Of course, we travel as a family. It’s a family vacation. One of the things that we love so much about this place, is the speed of life, or the lack thereof. The kids love the yard, the house, and of course the lake. As the kids grow, so does their enjoyment, and therefore our pleasure. I look at these and I smile. Sometimes, all I can do is trail behind and just try to keep up.

Kids

 

I want to look at the camera but my eyes are on the prize

 

Check out this catch

 

The sun is down, but that doesn’t stop the kids’ fun on the water

 

Is there pride in those eyes of our little fisherman

 

All smiles with a handful of fish

 

This twin team is proud of their fish

 

Different day, probably the same fish

 

The lonely fisherman and his can of Pringles

 

We love it here, because all ages have time and space to relax

 

Looking for crabs at Acadia – Schoodic Point

 

Lonely swimmer blues – Lamoine Beach

 

Then there are the scenes we have become accustomed to around Abrams Pond. There are many, and a few of them are captured here. Some might be repetitive from previous years, but we never tire of them.

Scenes

 

A favorite spot of my wife, day or night

 

The calm reflection of another perfect evening

 

We do love our fires, at home or in Maine

 

The incoming tide creates a river from one basin down to another – Acadia Schoodic Point

 

The moon rises in peace

 

Over the hundreds of posts I have published here, I have used thousands and thousands of words to tell stories or share pieces of my life. But then, there’s the sky. The sky that makes the rest look so small. The sky that changes by the second. The sky that can hold my attention for hours at a time. The sky that only God put in its’ place. Graphics nowadays are tremendous on games and screens, but nothing beats the sky in all of its’ grandeur.

Sky

 

Afternoon on a splendid day at Abrams Pond 2015

 

The silhouettes fish under this gorgeous evening sky at Abrams Pond 2015

 

Imagine the senses engaged by welcoming each and every second of the changing evening sky

 

How many times is God’s canvas wiped clean only to be replaced by a picture more beautiful than the one before

 

The lake and its’ 400+ acres just seem smaller on some days

 

The sky was already beautiful and then the moon was revealed

 

The eve of Super Moon 2015

 

The air is warm, the breeze just right, the day empty of to do’s, what else could I need

 

All I can say is that, we are hopeful to return to this favorite place in 2016. I thank God for the blessings that allow this trip to come together for five years running. I thank my family, all around, for making this place come to life each summer; I am the beneficiary indeed. Thank you J for all you do to make this place what it is. I, we, enjoy the correspondence we share. And J, I also enjoy sharing my love of this place and the love of baseball with you. Abrams Pond 2015, was completely our pleasure. Thank you.

Advertisement

Getting Outside This Spring

 

Male cardinal getting some sun out back

 

A pair of moose checking out Route 3 in Pittsburg, and a nice couple from Pennsylvania up in NH to see some moose

 

Mom always said to look both ways before crossing

 

This moose in behind some trees made sure I wasn’t any threat and then continued snacking

 

A good looking moose comes up out of the water hole

 

A close up catches the drops of water around the mouth of the moose

 

This moose was in the northern portion of Errol, between Bear Brook and Long Pond

 

This little rabbit kept hopping in and out of the brush while I was nearby, but it always came back out to be seen

 

In the Pontook Reservoir, this loon swam close to where I sat before diving and swimming off to parts unknown

 

These birches stand at the edge of a water hole famous for moose sightings each spring

 

Bear Brook leading in to the Pontook Reservoir in Dummer, NH

 

While walking out in the woods on an old logging road, I came across this scene

 

This bull would cross the road every time trucks passed through then would come back across to continue his snacking

 

These massive animals get through tight spots with ease, power, and speed

 

This big guy doesn’t appear to be afraid of anything

 

First Connecticut Lake as the sun sets behind me

 

Colebrook Cabin Trip

Once in a while I am fortunate enough to “get away from it all” and escape to the north woods of NH. This weekend was one such time. For 30 or so hours I had a place to stay, no agenda, and the entire North Country to play in. It did rain and/or snow for the entire time I was up there but I tried to make the best use of this gifted time, which meant getting into the woods, even in the rain and snow.

I encountered more animals than I could get pictures of, including Deer, Turkeys, Ruffed Grouse, Canadian Geese, various Ducks, Bald Eagles, Hawks, Rabbits, and a Bobcat.

In my treks through the woods I only was on one trail and that was the Magalloway River Trail. The rest of the time I made my own trail through very thick brush and forest. It rained, it snowed, and everything in the forest was wet, including me. I also found myself knee-deep in snow several times, and on a couple of occasions I was in snow up to my belt buckle. Needless to say, I was soaked on both days I hiked.

Finally, after years of owning my camera, I finally tried out the timer function. I took some pictures of myself for the time, along Coon Brook in Pittsburg. I stacked several rocks in a pile, using the flat rocks on top to make my own camera stand. It seemed to work just fine.

A loon enjoys some of the open water on the Magalloway River

Woods along the Magalloway River Trail

A Common Merganser takes flight over a still frozen section of the Magalloway River

Winter still holds on here, even in the last week of April

The Mohawk River just west of where the West and East branches of the river meet, just below the Colebrook Cabin

An early morning panorama of Lake Francis in Pittsburg

Another look at Lake Francis in Pittsburg

Fresh snowfall is apparent while looking north on Route. 3 in Pittsburg

Third Connecticut Lake, 4-27-14

This wintry scene looks more like December than late April

Even staring right at me, it’s sometimes hard to find the moose in a picture

Moose close up, kind of

A remote section of Coon Brook which feeds into First Connecticut Lake

One of the widest, open sections I found along Coon Brook

There were several areas of knee-high to waist-high snow that I encountered while following Coon Brook

Yours truly, soaked and figuring out the timer on my camera, while a Ruffed Grouse making a minor disturbance grabbed my attention

Another moose along Moose Alley in Pittsburg

My moose friend comes in for a closer look

I thoroughly enjoyed my hike along Cascade Brook in Dixville Notch

More of Cascade Brook which cuts through some very rugged, untamed country

Some of the walls climb straight up 50 or more feet from Cascade Brook

Flume Brook meets Cascade Brook, which then makes Clear Stream I believe

This is me sitting on a fallen tree that spans Coon Brook in Pittsburg, NH

The heron, an eagle, loons, and me

It was the middle of the day when I climbed in

A two seat canoe, a paddle, and me, I did begin

 

The water was calm and close to crystal clear

Moving through water, and birds, all I could hear

 

Not a cloud to be found among the blue sky

The sun warmed everything from up on high

 

I imagined this place in a time centuries before

Wishing it were then, and how I’d still explore

 

I moved slowly, and quietly, letting my senses record

The smells, the sounds, the sights, while aboard

 

A faint noise from above sparked my heightened sense

I moved toward the cattails and reeds oh so dense

 

I squinted and searched for the origin of the sound

And soon, a great blue heron in a spruce, I found

 

Moving away to allow it some space, another sound

I heard from across the cove and closer to the ground

 

It was another heron calling, or at least to be heard

When above my head appeared, yet another bird

 

Passing the spruce and gliding in, a bald eagle did rise

The majestic bird landed with grace before my eyes

 

Once in his perch, silence ensued, nothing dared move

Or so it seemed, but for me, my site to improve

 

All at once a splash from behind, and I turned to see

But nothing was there but ripples left for me

 

Resuming my gaze the calm pierced masked in black

The loon appeared from below, after a snack

 

My masked playmate called another yards away

The eagle, or not, the loons wanted to play

 

Time stalled and rested with me there in the sun

Sitting still in nature, watching, I was having fun

 

My mind raced to the eras past, land minus flaw

And I wondered what I missed among all I saw

 

As self-imposed limits do, measurement moved me

I paddled in, slowly, so as to stretch time, there to be

 

The loons called across the water while the heron hid

The eagle cleaned his wings, and I smiled like a big kid

 

I left, wanting freedom for always, to just be

The heron, an eagle, a pair of loons, and me