... for my birthday present john took my on a little wander through the northern woods to grand falls, thirteen miles off the paved roads west of the forks ...
... here is british military engineer john montresor's 1760-61 map of the area, used by benedict arnold to navigate his way through the then relatively unknown region ... while the map is in general a good depiction, arnold did not know that it contained many inaccuracies, most noticeably the omission of much of the swamp and bogland ... this was one of the reasons arnold's dramatic expedition to capture quebec so abjectly failed ...
... after parking in the clearing that can sometimes be filled with the cars of people who have brought their canoes and kayaks to run the river, we hiked a short distance to the falls ... the trail is well maintained, with marvelous sets of stone steps set into the steep places ...
... i found a tree in the process of being returned to the soil ...
... and a leaf, rusting away towards autumn ...
... an indicator, perhaps, that this'll be a year of yellows in the foliage ...
... with a bright noontime sun and much haze i found it difficult to find a good picture of the falls ... then this very pretty, very articulate, very charming woman showed up ... after a conversation in which i learned we had much in common, she consented to serve as a most graceful subject in my landscape effort ... [and, my "enquiring minds want to know" family and friends, she was also very, very married ... no matter, still is always good to meet a nice person] ...
... we missed thompsons in bingham by ten minutes, so we went into skowhegan for my birthday supper ... the former "empire grill," of paul neuman's movie-of-the-same-name fame, i think it's even better as a thai restaurant ... silk flowers, lovely ...
