Autumn scenes

Pumpkin happiness


Pumpkin harvest on a New England farm


Fall harvest of apples in New England


Lake Louise fall colors in Georgia


Crisp fall day on a Maine Lake. Yes the colors are naturally that vivid!


Doh! School!

Photos from the archive

I ran a newspaper in the early part of the decade. I took a lot of photos for my work. A LOT. I enjoyed that part of my job and I miss taking photos of people, now. Kids are the biggest hoot to take pictures of. I'd spend time at the soccer fields or playgrounds taking kids' pictures and then I'd ask their parents for permission to put them in the paper. The town was small and the people knew who I was and what I was doing anyway, and they usually said yes or waved and pointed to their kid.

It's capturing the candid moments that I like. Seeing the expression on peoples' faces, their sadness, worry, or excitement. When you're a reporter and there's an issue that people want to get in the paper or a fair or business event they want promoted, they are very accommodating when you raise the camera. If you are not a reporter and you take photos of people at a fair or an event, people are suspicious. And taking photos of kids these days for no reason other than to enjoy the artistic qualities of innocence is not as valid to a parent. The press pass IS a pass, from suspicion to credibility.

That leaves still shots and landscapes photos of grass and trees and flowers...which you have seen a lot of on my blog lately, lol.

So I spent time last night looking through my archive of photos taken when I was stumping around Gray Maine as a reporter, covering ribbon cuttings and fairs and school events and parades...people.

I was struck in this photo of the faces and the gently fluttering ribbon. The man cutting the ribbon opened his furniture store in 1976 and today it is still a family owned and run business. His daughter is the woman in the black dress standing next to him. A two-generation, thirty-year small business is a miracle of fortitude and grit and I admire it. Businesses like these are the backbone of America and all that is right with it.

This store in Gray, Maine had grown from 2000 sf to 40,000 sf. over thirty years' time. I see the pride on the owner's face, and the happiness of his daughter. The smiles of accomplishment of small business in America is what this photo is about, and it is contained on the faces of those people who have vision and persistence.

Time to let them go

Like many towns in the nation and across the globe, Gray Maine is struggling to maintain their historic buildings. Many congregations are struggling to maintain their historic churches. In Ontario Canada, one of the stone spires atop the 18th century roof crashed down as parishioners made their way into mass. Forty-five of the 115 churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa were built in the nineteenth century.

Upgrading churches to meet safety standards is beyond the financial capacity of many congregations, and maintaining historic municipal buildings is beyond the tax revenue of many towns. Below, the church steps were damaged where the spire crashed.

In the town of Gray Maine, there has been an ongoing discussion of what to do with Stimson, Pennell, the old Town Hall (became the old fire station, now it's empty). The key to successful preservation in many places seems to be releasing the buildings to developers who will rehab them and bring them back to their former glory., Such a process benefits everyone, including the developer, who knows that preservation and attractive town centers bring customers.

The town of Gray has utterly failed in its municipal endeavor to preserve these buildings, and the protracted fight has only served allow the buildings to fail further. If the town cannot find a solution, give/sell Pennell and the others to legitimate developers to do what they know best. Below, Pennell Institute's steps deteriorated due to road salt exposure.













It has worked magnificently in so many other places, from
Saskatchewan to

Pennsylvania to

Japan to

Comer GA : Comer is Madison County’s most populous town, and certain areas are designated as an historic district. Comer’s Historic Downtown Area is currently experiencing several restoration and revitalization projects" as described here. Over a million in grant money has been given and construction starts this year.

Sell those albatrosses, Gray, and work with a knowledgeable developer to restore the buildings. Municipalities are not in the business of developing, developers are. And given the heartache and negativity around Pennell for the last 7 years, I say let someone else start anew.

Public Notice: The Town of Gray, Maine
•The Town of Gray is seeking a proposal to list for sale the following municipal properties

1. Former Post Office facility, located at 8 Shaker Road
2. Municipal Office (Town Hall), located at 6 Shaker Road
3. Stimson Hall, located at 4 Shaker Road
4. Dry Mills Fire Station, located at 249 Shaker Road
5. Pennell Institute and Science building, located at 20 Main Street

For more information, please call the Town Office at 657-3339.

DEBORAH CABANA
TOWN MANAGER

This is why I left Maine

Reason 2,043 why I left Maine. The cabin I used to live in, on Crystal Lake

Consider Sunshine

Composer W. R. Williams said in his 1908 song “Ev'rybody's Happy When The Sun Shines.” I know I’m happier when it’s sunny out. I love sunny days, and I love to feel the warmth on my back, see the livening pastures in the morning as the shadows retreat and the sunrays get strong. Sun is a precious commodity where I’m from, Gray, Maine.

My former town’s name, Gray, is depressing to be sure. Coastal Maine is cloudy, with a lack of sunshine and what sun there is isn’t strong. It gets to you after a while.

On average, Portland, Maine has about 101 sunny days a year. Athens, Georgia has about 113. Twelve extra days of sunshine might not seem like much, but that is an addition of one sunny day per month!

“Our appreciation of sunshine is one of the most important advances of the century," remarked an eminent Canadian physician in the opening sentence in the Canadian Medical Association Journal 1927 editorial entitled “The Importance of Sunshine.” The author stated, “This means that for over four months of the year, nature usually so lavish in her distribution of the essentials for life distributes these rays only sparingly to Canada.” And sparingly to nearby Gray, Maine, too.

When I decided to move from Gray to NE Georgia, I eagerly anticipated the sunshine. “It’s sunny and warm there!” I told my parting friends. It was the thing I looked most forward to. I’ve been here for seven months and I’ve enjoyed the fall, winter, and spring. But last week there were a few days that were really hot. Egad, the temps reached nearly ninety! Locals here laughed when I told them that in the north a heat wave is pronounced when the temps rise above 90 degrees for 3 or more consecutive days. They said that that soon I can expect three consecutive months of ninety degree weather. Egad!

Immediately I began to think of the sun as a nemesis instead of the blessing I had previously thought it. I reviewed my wardrobe, now un-content with the clothing I had. I dreaded the sun now because of the heat it would bring.

And then one day while having a long, chastising conversation with myself, I told myself to get over it. I am where I am and every blessing is still a blessing. He sun was a blessing before and it still is. I know that the drought is deep, the sun is hot, and the dryness is dire. But I decided to appreciate the sunshine in good times and bad. During drought or fresh dewy mornings, whether warming the spring flowers or wilting this hot Yankee.

It is the same sun, whether shining on seeds that are scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away; and the seeds that fell onto good ground and bring forth good fruit. It is me that has moved. I decided to stay with my original mid-set and see the sun as a blessing, no matter how hot Comer gets. But I admit I did add one more thing to my growing list of things to be thankful for: air conditioning.

Where I work...now

As my former fellow townsfolk struggle today with the heavy snowfall back in Gray, Maine, this photo was taken by my friend (who is so talented).

It shows the window through which I looked out on from my old office and it the scene that would be greeting me today, had I not moved a few months ago to NE Georgia. Heavy snow fell and late this afternoon a state of emergency was declared by the Governor.



This is what I look out on as I work, now, at one of my part-time jobs. As I leave work this late afternoon, this scene is what greets me. I am lucky, no?

Week's end round up

Yay! I've been accepted as a participant in an upcoming photography show to be held at the library. It'll be my first so I need to get the digital pics I want to submit professionally printed out and then buy some 8X10 frames. Move forward, try new things, yikes, it's nerve wracking to put myself out there with my art and photos but it's exciting too.

I put up a new entry on my agriculture and arts blog, http://madcoga.blogspot.com/ A friend of mine had sent me the photo of the cow with its head stuck in a chair and agreed to let me put it up.

The country life...the other day I went out to get pics of chickens to submit for the weekly I contribute to. I spent a pleasant half hour with some great folks and loved seeing the chicken house. Imagine, 11,000 chickens inside! I'd never seen a rooster! I loved learning about the commercial eggs versus store eggs (store eggs are not fertilized). I was thinking of where I was a year ago, the longest and pretty contentious meeting in Gray's history had just occurred - lasting till midnight with lots of negativity- and I wrote a blog entry entitled "One Tired Editor." A year later, pics of chickens! LOL!

I manned the checkout desk today at the Friends of the Library Book sale. I watched twin boys, about 7 years old, very seriously take their time choosing their books and videos. One was carrying and oversize Pinocchio hardcover that kept falling out of his hands. I offered him a bag and he was so delighted. Those two were so cute I could hardly stand it.

I've been invited to the Women's Club supper tomorrow night. The supper is taking place at 'the clubhouse.' Cool! I can't wait to see it. And I'm looking forward to meeting the women who put it on.