Here Too Soon

Summer in Maine is so fleeting! The first of July fell yesterday, and with it came the cold reality that fall is only 8 weeks away. In other regions of the country, summer begins in May and stretches well into October. Here in Mid Coast Maine, Summer appears in mid-June and disappears in mid- September, with only a few precious weeks of hot, sticky weather in between. Once the third week of August hits, the night become cool and the days become shorter, the light begins to fade fast, and the thoughts of another summer gone by are fresh in your mind. While downtown Camden bustled with activity last night, Rockport Harbor was as still as glass, as a certain quiet blanketed the boat strewn inlet. I watched as the sun began to fade from view, and the beautiful blue of dusk covered the sky and illuminated the water. The final minutes of daylight ticked away. A lone sailboat slowly returned to its mooring. A few people strolled in the grass, down by the town dock. Eiders and Terns swooped by, their wings flapping furiously in the late evening air. As I drove home, I pulled my car over to the side of the road , down by the Aldermere Farm. Across the buttercup filled pasture, above the lily pond, the sky turned pink and the clouds slowly drifted by. The farms main inhabitants, the majestic Belted Galloways had all turned in for the night, their giant black and white striped bodies resting comfortably in the swaying grass. The air was warm. It was summer night, that's for sure. July had certainly arrived, but just like the winter winds that blow across the coast, July seemed to have arrived to soon.