My Life in a Maine Campground…on the Ocean

Susan White is a Belfast based painter whose work makes my heart sing.  I’ve admired the windows of her gallery for years but always been too intimidated to actually walk in and talk with her…I mean, she’s wicked talented…her paintings are collected around the world and people drop her name into conversations with reverence.  When I did a bit of research, I found that she’s praised highly for her use of color and form…well, I’ve stolen these pictures from her website to show you.

As you may have guessed, I should have introduced myself years ago because she’s bubbly, outgoing and friendly…not an intimidating bone in her body.  Lesson learned.  I’m proud to share that Susan has agreed to be our Artist in Residence from July 22-28th.

During the week that she’s here, she’ll teach campers and outside artists alike and invites those who have been painting for years…and welcomes those who haven’t done more than scribble a stick figure. Some of the time will be spent in the studio, some in the gardens and with the goats, of course there will be time on the beach…and sometimes you’ll just be sent to scout out your favorite corner of the campground and report back at a given hour.

We are working on the details now.  In a nutshell, there will be an informal gathering with Susan each day of the week.  There is no charge for this session and sometimes you’ll be using paper and a drawing tool other times you’ll be learning to see the world around us through an artist’s eyes.

There will also be the opportunity to sign up in advance for complete sessions with Susan.  You can register for these classes on her website soon…or jump in if a space is available when you settle into the campground…more on this later…

The sun's low at two in the afternoon

It’s the kind of cold that makes the snow crunchy under your feet and the seaweed crackles as the tide water moves in…I always cringe a bit when I see the ducks and gulls settle into the water as the sea smoke drifts over them…hard to believe that they have that much insulation.

Me, I’m wearing two sweaters, two pairs of socks and insulated mittens…this is when I’m really glad that I like to knit and weave.

Rather than fill this post with words…here are pictures from this week in Searsport.

I started working on this rug in October. First washing the wool, then dyed it the color of ripe wheat, blackberries and currants, created fluffy batts and spun the yarn for this 3x5 rug. The wool is from French Hill Farm in Solon Maine.

Recognize Jim from our lobster bakes? Wearing a different hat, we met with the Fiber College planning committee last week and set Fiber College 2012 into motion

On Saturday a group of community activists met with National Grassroots Advocates to organize our efforts to preserve our local environment for generations to come (yes, we met in the art studio). Steve has decided to run for a town selectmen spot...March 6th are the elections.

Were you here last year when the artist in residence was a print maker? This week we're beginning the interview process to line up a fantastic summer of artists to work in the campground. FMI

Sunday we spent an hour at the Penobscot Marine Museum looking through a Big Top Exhibit

By 3:30 it's time to snuggle in and make a pot of warm soup...maybe a nip of brandy

Breakwater on Sears Island

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls crying.

John Edward Masefield, from Sea Fever

One of the perks and curses of having our own little business is that we all do our own marketing.  Steven is the Webmaster for campocean.com and I’m his chief consultant.  I’m the author of this blog and Steven gets to comment on most things I write before I hit the publish button…(I think of him as the tempered voice from the other office cubby, but I never say that out loud).  When it comes to print design, I do the first layout work in Adobe Photoshop and Steven tweaks the edges and polishes it to a more professional look.  In 19 years we’ve gotten it down to a pretty good system where we sense when feelings are getting bruised and come back to the project after a bit of breathing space and maybe a glass of wine (is that sharing too much information?)

In everything we do, we try to capture the feeling we have about the campground…so there’s some obligatory bias but we temper it by using the photos and words that guests leave with us…that way you see things through the eyes of someone who’s visiting and looking for the same sorts of atmosphere/amenities that you are.

Anyway, today we sent the new rack cards to the printers…what do you think?  You may recognize Jack Chisholm dancing with his granddaughter and there’s a special thanks out there to Jackson for the beautiful pictures he took.  Jackson’s been camping here since he was shorter than me and now he’s a handsome young man with a world of talent at his fingertips…go Jackson!

Rack Card Front

The back side

Snow? No problem if you've grown a cashmere or an angora sweater

Sitting at the sewing machine...in the art studio

The honeybees are all wrapped up for the winter

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Look at the weathervane

Wonder who lives here

Steve’s home now and doing well, but the hospital discharge process seemed to take forever…so I took JJ the hound and walked around Belfast while Steve napped…it was a warm, gray day so the colors were muted, making the sharp lines of the architecture jump off the streets…contrast the angles with the curlicues of the ironwork.

Did you see the movie Peyton Place?

The Christmas Decorations are on the shelves at Chases Daily

Lots going on around here…ConocoPhillips has us (Searsport) in their sights.  They want to build a big propane transfer station on Route 1…we, small business owners and concerned citizens of Searsport think it’s an insane notion.  So we formed a coalition, “Thanks but no Tank” and fill our time with lawyers and “experts” while we try to figure out how a small community can hold off a company that made $11.4 BILLION in profit and $260,000/Hour in US tax subsidies in 2010.  ConocoPhillips makes more in subsidies in one night than our entire town spends in a whole year.

The plus side of this battle is that we’ve been renewing friendships and gathering as a community again…we’ve hosted potluck suppers or brunches every week.  We don’t all agree on everything but we are unified in our quest for balance…jobs and prosperity, clean air and water, and a chance for everyone to thrive, whether they’ve lived here all their lives or wanted to celebrate their retirement years on Penobscot Bay.  It’s energizing to be at the table with so many friends discussing strategy, research, outreach and the best apples for apple pan dowdie. 

To spread the message of balance, we’re writing letters and engaging in the media…sharing what we’ve learned with our neighbors and trying to look at the issue from all sides.  Some of the concerned are pretty vocal and the call for rallies and protests are reaching far and wide…others of us would rather work quietly with the town officials and believe that logic and conversations are the best approach…me, I want to be a part of it all.  It’s at a cost though, I’ve been spending more time learning about the propane industry than walking the beach and playing with wool, but you know what they say: ”if you want to make the Gods laugh, tell them your plans…”

On a more personal note, Steven is in the Waldo County Hospital recovering from a hip replacement.  So far everything about the surgery has been textbook perfect and I hope to have him home by the weekend.  If you’ve been to our little town of Belfast, you’ll know why I marvel that such a big operation can be done so close to home…the whole experience does more to underline the community message…the people who camp with us are the same people who are now nursing Steve back on his feet…how cool is that?

September 10- Learning Irish Crochet at Fiber College

I’m sitting in the sun here on the art studio deck wondering how in the world it came to be November 1st…things have been busy since that last September post…Fiber College was a wild success, we had a busy fall season, lots of late vegetables from the garden to put away and I’m not certain how I accumulated so much wool that needed to be washed and is still waiting to be dyed.  Long story short, we’ve been busy and happy and I fell off the blogging horse for a while.

Actually, truth be told, I didn’t fall off…I think I was pushed a bit.  Remember that little satirical video Steve and I did about that hurricane before Labor Day…well, we thought/think it was a good parody on our national obsession with weather but I got a few REALLY nasty responses concerning my lack of compassion for humanity and very personal attacks on our humor (including some bad reviews on campground review sites)…so I’ve licked my wounds long enough and I’m back…thanks for waiting.

Oh, and then ConocoPhillips got serious about wanting to put 22.7 millions of LPG storage at Mack Point…so about a month ago we started an intensive learning session with a few of our neighbors about an industrial project of this scale in the middle of our little town and my computer time has been spent putting a power point presentation together that I’ll be showing Wednesday Nov 3 in Searsport and Thursday Nov 4 in Belfast…for more information, give me a call at the campground…207-548-6059

That said, I have been writing the blog in my mind all of these weeks…here are a few of the pictures that I snapped while I was telepathically talking with you:

September 18...Amaranth for dying wool

September 20- Hike to Mt. Battie with Steve's sister Shari

September 23- We studied wood-fired bread ovens at the Common Ground Fair...watch for ours...

September 23- Common Ground Fair

September 24- Pumpkin still defying gravity

September 26- Last lunch of the Season with Dad...Thai in Belfast

October 16- New Bunkhouse under construction...across from the Frog & Faerie Cabin

I think that September and October are the prettiest months on the coast.  The colors are inviting, the weather can be spectacular and there’s a sizzle in the air…maybe it’s the “going back to school” excitement that’s built into our modern DNA or maybe it’s the chattering of the birds and the escapades of the squirrels as they prepare for winter…in any event, this is my favorite time of the year.

Sunrise from the back bedroom of the trailer

In the campground things are quieter and we get to know our guests over coffee and in front of the fireplace.  Things become a bit more self-serve it we feel more like an extended family than a public business.  Now that there are fewer guests, there’s less of an urgency to “stay on task”…so all of us tend to “wait until it warms up a bit” before we get started with the day.

Amaranth dye...we're keeping our fingers crossed that the results are as yummy as the pot promises

I’ve got time to cook flowers to extract their dyes and there’s nothing better than having a group around a simmering dye pot as we add handfuls of wool just to see what color will come out…yesterday it was the magenta of amaranth and today I’m hoping to start the indigo for blues and purples.

The begonias are the next inspiration...wouldn't that color combination make the most romantic cashmere sweater? And I still have this year's cashmere from Brambles

The gardens are filled with tones of orange and purple this time of the year.  We’re harvesting the carrots and celery for winter and Norma’s been busy tying up the garlic and shelling the beans…the goats are gorging on all the pulled vines and heaps of apples we’re picking up from the campsites.

Pat and her husband Ron came for Fiber College and extend their stay in one of our rentals on site 33 to be here for a couple of weeks…In the afternoon Pat spends lazy hours weaving and spinning while Ron reads and keeps the fire burning in the rec hall…she’s been snapping pictures and graciously allowed me to download her camera…this is what she’s seen while she’s been walking around…

Afternoon entertainment