Tuesday, August 31, 2010

August has come to a close and my feelings looking to September have turned melancholy.  Chris said he could hear it in my voice.  There’s a work party planned for the weekend and France and I have invited everyone who participates (and a few who won’t) to join us here after five for a sunset cruise barbecue but Earl seems to want to churn up the seas and possibly postpone the events for the next day or the day after that.  We are still feeling the effects of Danielle with rolling swells coming from the east and she’s long gone out to sea.

Captain DeBery’s visitors aboard his Leeward had all they could do to get into and out of the dingy in which Drew brought them to shore and took them back again three hours later.  There were at least four trips with four or five in each trip and needless to say, everyone got wet, especially upon departure in high tide when the sand disappears and all that’s left of the shore is rocks and the seaweed still piled high from the nor’easter a week ago.

One of the board members, Fred Kahrl, has kept a car in Popham for us every Wednesday this summer so that we can run errands and pick up supplies once a week on the mainland.  It seemed silly to rent a car only to drive it once a week and we’re very grateful he came to our rescue.  Two young men who work for him, cousins Zach and Matt, came out today for the first time and saw the lighthouse and hiked the north trail.  I supplied them with cookies for desert to the lunch they’d brought and a large zip lock back in which to carry the blackberries I knew they’d find on the trail.  They are two very nice young men and I’m sure they’ll be back to Seguin, maybe even with Fred.

Ollie J made a new home of the tram car currently parked at the top of the tram, where he is perfectly camouflaged.  Of course now it’s covered in poop but at least France knows where to find him when it’s feeding time.  I was afraid that he had stopped foraging on his own as I used to see him do on the lawn and was therefore glad when France and I saw him at the bottom of the tram on a rock and even down by the water.  While I waited for Ethan to arrive with visitors, I watched him even fly a short distance.  I’ve sure he won’t be migrating to Mexico; his wing is surely broken; but he can fly.  It was a hoot to watch him slide down the smooth face of a rounded rock on his feet just as if he were skiing.  He spread his wings out but didn’t use them because he knew he had it covered.  I guess tomorrow is our last chance to get him off the island.  And now France isn’t sure she wants to because the place we had planned to take him doesn’t in fact return them to the wild, but keeps them in cages for educational purposes.  If they can fix the wing, it would be a shame for him not to be let go.  It may become the responsibility of the September caretakers, should they choose to accept it.

For the first time the FOSI are keeping the island open until Columbus Day and they asked France and me a while ago if we’d be interested.  We had plans we couldn’t get out of:  she’s flying back to France for good and I need to start rehearsing with my chorus again and attend a wedding in Toronto.  I would like to come back in the end of September with my sister who had to cancel her Maine vacation.  Caretakers Lynne and Tim from two years ago are coming and will no doubt be happy to be back and do a fine job of closing the place up and tying a knot on everything we’ve put in place.  Hopefully they’ll let me return for a week or so if they don’t have guests of their own to accommodate.

Tomorrow we pick up Geof, out east from Chicago, in Bath and take him back with us to the island together with friend Lucia who is arriving by bus in the afternoon from New York.  She’ll return with us next week and accompany us on the drive back to New York.  Geof is planning to leave on Saturday but Earl may have other designs on the day that won’t allow travel by small water craft.  There are worse places to be stranded.  Let her rip Earl!