{I am endeavouring to link up the blogs….if you made it here from Philly Misadventures, I thank you and welcome!}

Being that I have rented an apartment in this tiny, tiny coastal town, and that I am leaving town for a month tomorrow, I thought I would walk around and get to know my new village. Last year, I was living in Philadelphia, a city of 1.536,471 people. I am now a resident of Northeast Harbor, a village in the Town of Mt Desert. Northeast Harbor’s population, I am guessing, is several hundred while the whole of Mt Desert (Otter Creek, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Somesville, Hall Quarry and Pretty Marsh) boasts a population of 2,100 people.

The deer watched me take their photo.

A driveway to a very beautiful house — caught in the fading sunshine of a summer afternoon

What a dream of a house! Check out all of those windows! I have a dream of sitting on these people’s porches this winter when there is no one inside.

The sun was covered with fast-moving clouds. Eerie autumn sky.

I am fairly certain this chestnut tree was the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s Whomping Willow. I am also fairly certain this tree will be one I visit periodically as the seasons change.

Staring out and down the chestnut tree’s limbs, you can see the lawn stretch out toward the ocean.

Look up! Look up! is a message I keep hearing whilst taking photographs

Flowers consistently surprise me with their beauty and brightness, even if they sit at the side of a road.

These weeds grow at the edge of the road near the Northeast Harbor Fleet, and overlook a small cove.

The largest shelf mushroom you ever did see!!!

These trees called out to be photographed…

35 years ago, Voyager 1 was sent out into space with golden records that held the musings, music, and images of humanity. Designed as a perpetual repository of the human experience as well as a comprehensible tool to communicate with others like ourselves, the Golden Records, to me, are one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Here you can read more about the records, as well as find a link to the book that publishes the 100 images that were sent up on that fateful flight.

“Inspired by cave paintings, Sagan’s Golden Record, and nuclear waste warning signs, MIT artist-in-residence Trevor Paglen set out to create a collection of 100 images, commissioned by public art organization Creative Time, to be etched onto an ultra-archival, golden silicon disc and sent into orbit onboard the Echostar XVI satellite this month — at once a time-capsule of the present and a message to the future. The Last Pictures (public library), a fine addition to these essential books on time, gathers the 100 images, alongside four years’ worth of fascinating interviews Paglen conducted with scientists, anthropologists, philosophers, and artists exploring the inherent tensions of our civilization as it brushes up against profound questions about existence, impermanence, and deep time.”

On that note….I am off to explore our country for a little while. Off I go on bus, plane, train….from New York to Philadelphia to New Jersey to Austin to Los Angeles to New Orleans to Montgomery and back home. Wish me luck!