Summer has arrived, but there have been far fewer visitors to our “Vacationland” this year due to the Covid 19 plague. Perhaps these Postcards will be able to give a few who couldn’t make the trip a virtual vacation.
June here was a month of many clear, summery days, showing to advantage our sun-spotted Acadia National Park across Blue Hill Bay; brightly-flowered window boxes; broken-windowed barn shells, seemingly standing by sheer determination; fields of perky wildflowers; winding country roads into the unknown; friendly streams, and secret granite-ledged inlets on the islands.
But, June was not a month of only clear skies. We had a significant number of foggy days that would transform one visual beauty into another.
Sailboat, motorboat, and even kayak traffic was diminished significantly this June compared to last year. But, many fishing vessels, including much of the Stonington fleet, worked through the winter and others returned to the water in June to set their lobster traps.
There’s a different watery view in the June bogs and marshlands where exotic plants hide among innumerable hues of green: Lady’s Slippers and Jack-in-the-Pulpits emerge within shadows; Water Lilies begin to bloom; Skunk Cabbage spreads its lettuce-like leaves, and Arrow Arum rises high out of the still ponds, soon to bend gracefully and dip its arrows into the water.
In terms of wildlife, June is a time when many animals give birth. We saw White-Tailed Deer does that froze and didn’t flee, indicating that their fawn was nesting nearby; Tree Swallows that dove endlessly for the thousands of insects that their little ones needed, and our yearly resident Ospreys did it again and produced two fine nestlings in June.
As the wildlife young grew fast in June, so did our trees, especially the Pine and Horse Chestnut trees.
But, it’s the flowers of June that get most attention after our cold winter and virtually nonexistent spring. Early in the month, the wild flowers in the fields were dominated by millions of Buttercups and Daisies, with Orange and Yellow Hawkweed and Wild (Blue Flag) Iris hidden within.
By mid-month, Maine’s iconic wild Lupines were grabbing the attention with their glowing purple, pink and white pyramids of pea pods; by end of June, the Lupines were beginning to lose their color and go into their “velvet” phase.
It’s not just the wild flowers that showed off in June. Lilacs came early to Maine gardens; then, Peonies of many different varieties began to open, as did Roses, Clematis, Iris, Poppies, Allium, and many more domestic flowers.
But, of course, we could not escape all of the pain of the plague and unrest that pervaded our Nation’s June. It was reflected in the Brooklin Inn’s cry of support for Black lives and nearby Leaf & Anna Gift Shop’s imaginative open air display with no shoppers browsing.
Nonetheless, we end with this sign of optimism: the Quarter Moon that rose here on the afternoon of June 28 signaled the coming of a Full Moon on July 5.
(All images here were taken in Down East Maine during June 2020.)