I tend to think of February as a gray month, even though I know, historically, it has been a one of the most variable of our months in terms of weather – sun, cloud, rain, snow, ice, killer colds, sweaty thaws, fog, sea fog, sea ice, and combinations of these.
As with the weather, this iconic scene shown here never stays the same; there’s always something to ponder. The tide is rising fast, yet Fishing Vessel Tarrfish is slack at her mooring; the main windows in the house on Harbor Island are shuttered tightly, yet the attic Gothic window isn’t; Tarrfish’s scallop-dredging mast and boom are in place, yet I don’t see her “drag” (a form of New Bedford bottom dredge) on deck.
Perhaps the solution to one of those minor mysteries can be found on the nearby dock: a scallop drag lies there, rolled up in its own weighty chain and mesh “bag.” Apparently, it has been repaired or is in need of repair.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 10 [house and boat] and 13 [dock and drag], 2023.)