My new year's resolution ..."Out with the old and in with the old." Getting potted with the old buoys!

Last week was a tough week, locally, nationally and internationally. An awful lot going on, much of it sad, heavy stuff.

Recently, during a calendar delivery to Matt Parkhurst, we got to talking, as older friends are prone to do. I landed in the middle of Captain Parkhurst’s rebuilding of a substantial deck created for, among other things, the stacking and storing of firewood. The deck, as Matt suggested, would be built in the way one would expect a pier on the water might be built.

What a wonderfully inspiring community event! The Southport Town Hall was packed with every variety of islander in support of the first ever Southport Central School’s homegrown feast. The initial lunch crowd trickled in for early grub but then the second wave of guests arrived ready to be served by school students and their band of merry Parent Teacher and community helpers. It was a food fest of unrivaled proportions.

It seems to me that our local cormorant population has packed up and headed elsewhere. Elsewhere, I suspect, is someplace warmer than Maine. Even southern Maine may not be far enough.

Music is wonderful.

No matter where you go in the world, music is part of the journey. It connects culture and supports regional history. Music is as much of a cultural identity as the very people it accompanies.

Our old barn road winds down through some aging spruce, through a wet area, on its way to Southport State Road 27. About 100 feet from the end of the barn road, there is a small jog off to the right which skirts some ledge in a particularly dense and scrubby section of pucker brush. Not an area to hang out in but one which requires some trimming back from time to time so entry onto Southport Route 27 doesn’t result in conflicting interests!

Sometimes the deadline for this column is challenging. I tend not to be good with deadlines, especially ones that are reoccurring. Too many games without a helmet I suspect! But then, it’s probably more realistic to admit that forming habits was never one of my strong suits, possibly encouraged by my significant dose of attention deficit. The number of started projects versus the number of completed ones is considerable. Eventually, things get done but often they take a while. Not a great attribute especially when completion is often associated with paydays in the work-a-day world. I run a deferred payment program very efficiently!

The gink is about to go!

By the time this issue of the newspaper hits the stands, the leaves from our ginkgo will all be on the ground. One day the tree is full with the bright yellow leaves and the next day the branches are empty. The “ginkgo drop” is sort of a family event here now, a standard fall event that generally occurs around Halloween. In fact, last year, the leaves dropped on Halloween. This year, and I don’t know why, the leaves are hanging on a bit longer. I figured, with the drought, that the leaves would drop early, but such is not the case.

One of the most fascinating things about living in our larger community, for me, is the diversity and unusual quality of our population.

You’d think, after 50-plus years in the area, that it would be possible to know a lot about the residents. Yet, to this day, I am often surprised or at least intrigued by how many people I do not know. I do realize that the local population is always changing as new folks arrive and leave, some by choice, others, without permission! Many of the wonderful people I have known since arriving in Maine are gone. Most of the folks I got to know in my early days as a Mainiac have moved on. Those who were in their 70s and 80s in 1975 are no longer with us. They were good friends and great people, and I miss them.