February 07        

Below is a piece that I wrote while down in the southern part of Maine for the winter of 07.  I was trying to explain just what a guy out of the woods might think about being in that part of the world, after coming out of the wonderful area where I live.
GT

Feb 1st, 2007

Dear Mother
   It has been a while since I have written, but I am in a strange sort of place, here, in what is still supposed to be Maine!  As you know I am not up to camp full time this winter.  I am spending part of the winter down here in a place that is real different than what I am used to.
   Jed and I have been trying to go fishing in one of the brooks, but who ever is tending the dam down-stream, is not real good at it.  Every 6 or so hours they open the damn dam and drain the brook!  I guess that they cannot make up their mind what to do with the water, cause they keep filling and draining the brook.  The water tastes kind of funny as well, it is quite salty, and I do not even want to think why that might be. 
   We had to go out and purchase special fish poles without any reels on them, just a piece of line to tie the funny rig that has 4 separate hooks hanging off it.  We was told that there were smelts in this brook, but it sure is a different way to try to catch them!  Jed and I usually take a net and go out and dip them during the night at one of the brooks that has a "normal" water flow, so this is taking a toll on us.  All of the guys hang a lantern out when fishing, which up home scares all the smelts away.  These smelts seem to like the light, but it sure does not seem the proper thing to do.  Strange!
   At least the Chickadees in this part of the state are normal.  If I forget to put feed out for them they sure let me know in a hurry.  I am not sure, but some of them seem to know me pretty well, so perhaps they hid in my truck when I came down here the last time.  They speak (or is that chirp) the same language and seem to have the same accent, so maybe they are the same birds.  Who can really tell about them anyway?
   I must say that there are plenty of deer down here.  I have seen them running around out in the big swamp in front of the house here.  (Funny kind of swamp though, there are not any trees in it, just that darn brook that someone keeps opening the dam on)  I did notice that I have not seen any of the big ole bucks like I see up at the pond, but they still look like they are the same species.
   When Maureen and I went out for a walk late one night last month we got very close to one of the deer down here.  I could not see it as it was well after dark.  I could smell it very plain, so I know I was close.  We kind of got turned around in the woods and spent some time finding our way out.  (It was supposed to be a quick hike, but I found something interesting to follow and perhaps that was why we got a mite confused)  When we got back to the house I had to call Maureen right back out to hear the coyotes howling, right from the same area where we had smelled the deer!  I sure was glad that I was back at the house and not still in the woods!  I am not sure I could outrun a coyote, but then I reckon I would only have to outrun Maureen if they was chasing us. (Not sure I could do that either)
   The ravens down here are very strange as well!  They are mostly white and have webbed feet!  I am not sure just what they eat other than french fries at McDonalds.  What ever it is, it appears to affect their vocal cords, cause they sure sound funny.  None of the normal croaking that I hear them make up home, but more of a shrieking noise.
   This pond that I am staying at is so big that I cannot even see the other side.  Maureen says that one of the blinking lights out on it is on an island called "Boone Island".  It must be a pretty big pond though because I saw a canoe out on it that would have taken at least 3 or 4 hundred people to row against the wind!  I have a picture of it I will put at the end of this letter, you let me know if you have ever seen such a funny looking canoe.  I seem to remember you telling me something, or reading to me about this Boone Island years ago, and I am not sure it was all good. I do not think I will paddle out there to check it out, at least not right away.
   There is a place not far from here that has 3 bridges, all right in sight of each other!  I never seen so many tourists in my life as when I drive across them bridges.  (They do seem to be mostly from some state that says something about living and dying on the number plate) I don't know what the attraction is that gets that many folks to go to one spot unless it is them 3 bridges.  If I thought it would attract that many tourists up to camp I would seriously consider building 2 or 3 of em up there!  Heck, I could retire in a few years with that many tourists staying at camp!
  The last time I was up home it was much colder that down here.  I woke up to a -8 degrees in the morning and I have not seen it that cold down here all winter.  I reckon this must be pretty much what Florida is like.  Not much snow and temperatures that stay above zero.  I can see why folks would travel all that far if it was going to be this warm all the time.  Makes it kind of hard to ice fish though.  The pond out here doesn't seem to want to freeze over so I am not sure I will get out fishing on it this winter.  I would have to use my GPS to find my way back to the house anyway or to even find my fish traps.  Really Mother, it has to be one of the biggest ponds I have ever seen!  It is even bigger than Nicatous or West Lake, where we used to go when I was little.
   This pond has to have the biggest crayfish that I have ever seen.  I tell you, some of them have to be 3 or 4 pounds.  I reckon I would not go swimming in the pond with crayfish that big in it, but it is winter time, more or less, so I do not have any desire to go swimming anyway.  (Then there is the fact that the water has that darn salty taste and that still makes me nervous)
   There are a couple of Bullfrogs or something living in the pond as well.  I usually only hear them when it is windy or foggy.  The do not sound the same as the frogs up home, and they never seem to move, I always hear them in the same location.  I do not know that that are trying to talk to each other because sometimes I only will hear one of them.  Perhaps the other one is sleeping, I don't know.
   The Robins are here this winter, although like most other things I have discovered in this part of the world they are different.  They are red all over rather than just having a red breast.  They do not seem to eat the same food either, mostly seeds at the feeder.  The robins up home never seem to eat at the feeder, unless there are worms and bugs under it.  The ground is frozen a bit so maybe that is why these Robins are not eating worms.  I will put a picture of these strange Robins at the bottom of this letter for you to check out.  Let me know what you think about them.
  Now when I was up home last, I had to go into camp by snowmobile.  There was not much snow, but enough to get stuck in if I had tried to drive in across Ripogenus Dam.  (At least with this dam they tend to not drain the water every 6 or so hours and then spend the next 6 or so hours refilling it!)
   There was not much ice early in the year up there, and there was no way that I would even consider going out on it.  Now that there have been many nights that were -15 and never warming up above zero during the day, it is pretty safe to go out ice fishing.  I would want to be careful still, but then that goes without saying anyway.  The coldest it has been up home so far was -21.5.  Don't worry, I still put on a coat when it gets below a -10 and will zip it up once it reaches -25 or lower.  I am not looking to catch my death from a cold, so I still pay attention to what you taught me.
   Another strange thing I have noticed down here is the Red Squirrels.  They sure do grow big down here, but they are a real gray color.  I figure that they must be real old to get that gray.  Maybe they keep growing their entire life, and live a long time, but I have not seen any young red ones at all, so I am not sure that they reproduce.  It might have something to do with the food as well.  I know that up home they eat the seeds from the spruce trees.  I have not seen too many spruce down here, but there sure is lots of oak trees.  I see the squirrels eating them all the time.  Do you know if the tannic acid in the acorns could cause the squirrels to turn gray?  I will have to research it some more and let you know what I find out.
  Well Mother, I will have to say good bye for now.  I will keep you posted on other strange things I see them.  I still need to figure out where the water is all going.  It is just a little trickle coming in to the brook, but it sure does fill up fast.  They must use a lot of it someplace!
 Here are a couple of pictures for you to check out.  The one on the far left is that funny, big canoe, the next one is that strange looking Robin, the next one is one of the cabins after a light snow and the last one is Jed doing one of the many things he enjoys doing in the winter.

Love your son
GT