... at the agreed upon 4:30pm i walked out the door and stepped right into john's suburu which without even bothering to park he'd pulled to a stop in the middle of main street ... talk about timing ... in bangor we said hi to the "cool gang," then packed into chad's van for the ride to schoodic point ...
... our first vista was raven's nest ... its hidden location only a few paces off the park road is not marked with signs, probably an effort to limit the number of casual visitors since several people have fallen to their death from the treacherous cliffs ...
... me, of course, i worry little about such calamities, and felt quite comfortable enjoying my subway sandwich supper while sitting at the edge of one of the dramatic precipices ... it seems john thought to record the event ...
... the skies cleared, as had chad promised, and the sun setting behind the mainland was extraordinarily beautiful ...
... as it descended below the horizon i allowed it a little dance with this tree ...
... after the sun set there was almost an hour during which the rugged headlands were painted in gradually darkening muted earth hues ...
... when i made this 45 second exposure it was so dark that i could see nothing of the scene in front of me ... i had to focus the camera by shining a flashlight beam onto one of the tree branches in the foreground ...
... i'm still not very impressed with the results of my milky way photography, but i am learning from two who seem to have mastered it ... the little white light showing in the lower right corner of this photograph is john and chad perched upon the rocky prominence behind the trees ...
... later in the evening we left raven's nest and drove over to schoodic point ... it was warm, very humid, and the concussive sounds of the waves breaking against the ancient rocks and lava flows were to me so soothing that at one point i removed my jacket and began to nod off ... in this picture i used my headlamp to "paint" the surf line with light ...
... when it was time to leave john was across the parking lot taking pictures using the tree line as foreground, and he suggested that we stand still as he snapped a photograph of the three of us ... he ran over while his shutter was open, chad then painted the foreground with his flashlight ...
Silent with star-dust, yonder it lies —
The Winter Street, so fair and so white;
Winding along through the boundless skies,
Down Heavenly vale, up heavenly height.
Faintly it gleams, like a summer road
When the light in the west is sinking low,
Silent with star-dust! By whose abode
Does the Winter Street in its windings go?
And who are they, all unheard and unseen —
O, who are they, whose blessed feet
Pass over that highway smooth and sheen?
What pilgrims travel the Winter Street?
Are they not those whom here we miss,
In the ways and the days that are vacant below?
As the dust of that Street their footfalls kiss
Does it not brighter and brighter grow?
Steps of the children there may stray
Where the broad day shines though dark earth sleeps.
And there at peace in the light they play,
While some one below wakes and weeps.
—MISS EDITH M. THOMAS
... i'm always thinking how lucky i am, but looking at this picture of the three of us admiring the cosmos i'm reminded as to infinite nature of my good fortune ...