Seagulls. des mouettes.

  I tried something different today. With closed eyes I randomly pointed to one of many old journals on my shelf to see what I would find. 

It was my 2008 book with my pages of seagulls from Port Clyde, Maine!  Serendipity? Psychic event? I had been thinking strongly of these pages when, 2 days ago, I received a most beautiful postcard from my dear French penfriend, M. I had been thinking that I would love to show her those very pages, but had no idea which journal they were in! 5 years ago I had observed one lone gull down at the ferry landing, industriously procuring his breakfast. It was very early morning & it was just we two. How often do I remember to be still & to observe something or someone for an extended period of time? Not often enough! It leaves an impression when I do.

This postcard is called "La chaise bleue et ses sept mouettes." "Seven Seagulls for One Blue Chair", photo by Pierre-Hugues Polacci in the series called "Un autre regard sur la Côte d'Azur". "Another Glance at the Côte d'Azur". 

Two penfriends, deux correspondantes, share two coastlines & two languages.

Sketching at the Lobster Pound

 For people on summer vacation in coastal Maine seem to like To Eat. Even better, to eat local seafood, even better to eat by the water, even better to eat outdoors on a breezy, clear day.

  

Sunday I hung out in my red folding chair & J in his green one under some pine trees at Swan Lake State Park (a peaceful lake that is a bit inland, with few motor boats!) Afterward, I got a hankering for seafood. I'm not big on going out to eat, however, with out of town guests, I do as the vacationers do.

So we headed south to Lincolnville Beach's Lobster Pound Restaurant. From our window table I sketched while waiting for my haddock. This sketch was done directly, but I added color later. The green gizmo in the distance is part of the transfer bridge at the landing for the Islesboro ferry. 

Chippy

During breakfast, there was a repetitive chorus of chip-chip-chip-chip-chip out the front door.

There, again, was my new neighbor, on his favorite rock.

He was distressed about something or someone in the shrubbery below. Chip-chip-chip-chip-chip! 

So I took photos & made an observational style sketch, rather than quick, gestural sketches.

Chippy fears us not, in fact I'm guessing the previous person here used to feed him. 

Oh, about his name... Original, no? Poor guy, one of a million Chippy's in the U.S.

 As far as animal stories & drawings, do you remember E. H. Shepard's drawings in

Grahame's ORIGINAL Wind in the Willows? The Best!

Or his drawings in the ORIGINAL Winnie-the Pooh? 

Charming, enchanting, also the Best! 

(Forget the subsequent versions!)

How about Garth Williams' loveable characters in the ORIGINAL Charlotte's Web?

Yes, the Best, & no one else has come close! 

Were you wondering if I would finally mention Beatrix Potter? She did serious observational studies of

real animals as a foundation for her characters.

There are a gazillion other loveable animal characters in contemporary children's books.

Do you have any favorites?

(Just don't mention the Disney Pooh, OK?)

Concert on the Commons

As I was leaving the library, I noticed a sign for a

free Saturday evening concert on the Commons, 

which is just down the hill.

Off I went with my little red folding chair.

Fire Hydrants in a Coastal Village

As you as you go around exploring,

or doing daily chores, 

you keep seeing them, like friendly little people. 

They call to you,

reminding you that public safety & protection

is part of this healthy town. 

And being so bright & shiny, they seem to tell you

that this is a happy town as well.