Maine Moments: Nature, Art, & Reading

MAINE’S SUMMER GREENS

White cypress trunks

Inland a bit from its rocky coast, Maine has stretches of woodland with lots of green.  Green trees, conifers of several types, including long-legged cypresses, and also oak and maple trees.  Thick ferns line the roadside and, if you time it just right, you might see the local family of turkeys crossing the road.  The other morning, just after dawn, out the window and from the deck, was the unexpected delight of a mother deer and her fawn enjoying the morning. 

Fawn & doe

WYETHS AND MORE

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland

The Chief Penguin and I made our second visit to the Farnsworth in Rockland with my sister and brother-in-law.  Both interested in art (one creates works in pastels, the other prefers pen and ink), they were keenly focused on the latest exhibit of Andrew Wyeth’s works, some of which had never been publicly exhibited before. 

Untitled, Andrew Wyeth, 1961
Drifting Study, Andrew Wyeth, 1991
Breakfast at Sea, Jamie Wyeth, 1984

I really liked Andrew Wyeth’s house in the snow with the bike and motorcycle outside and his one wall of a house in Chadds Ford. Jamie Wyeth’s couple on their porch is wonderful and serene and almost monochromatic in its golden hues. I also found his iris a bright note of color against that monolithic white lighthouse. A work new to the collection is of a seated woman with a book. Its somewhat Cubist and Art Deco elements appealed to me.

Woman Reading, Ruby Sky Stiler, 2023
Iris at Sea, Study #2, Jamie Wyeth, 1993

SUMMER READING FROM MY LIST: WWII SECRET AGENTS

The Librarians of Lisbon by Suzanne Nelson

College graduates, Bea Sullivan and Selene Dumont, a pair of smart young women, meet at work at the Boston Public Library. Each has her reasons for wanting to escape, and when recruited by U. S. Intelligence, they take up the offer to work in Lisbon gathering banned books and articles to share with the Allies.  

Bea is quick with a photographic memory, and she soon gets tapped to work undercover as an informant with a Gable, a notorious spy.  Glamorous Selene haunts the casinos and clubs on assignment from her handler, Marguerite, but ends up in games of deception with Luca Caldeira, a demoted Portuguese baron. Their work is risky and dangerous, spies do die, and the men Bea and Selene are involved with are both very attractive and yet emotionally elusive.  

Inspired by librarians who really did this work, The Librarians of Lisbon, is fast-paced and thrilling.  One might think it too neat that both women fall in love with their “colleagues,” but it makes for a very good story overall.  For another novel about WWII librarians, I also highly recommend The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin.  It’s set in Lisbon and Paris and was published in 2022.

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Summer: Women, Butterflies, & Blooms

This week, I comment on a novel about several Irish women who’d like more in their lives and on a TV series about the infamous English sisters who thought nothing of ignoring and defying the accepted standards of society. Plus I offer up a few photos taken at the local botanical garden.

RECENT READING: VILLAGE LIFE IN IRELAND

The Coast Road by Alan Murrin

Set in 1994 in Ireland, Alan Murrin’s novel, The Coast Road, highlights the constricted role of women in a small village where everyone knows everyone else’s business.  Izzy Keaveney is the wife of local councilman James and a mother.  At one time, she had a small flower shop, but no more; now she aspires to again do something purposeful in her life.  

Colette Crowley, a poet, left her rich husband Shaun and went to Dublin to stay with her lover.  When she returns, she is shunned by her neighbors, and her husband prevents her from seeing her sons. She and Izzy become friendly in a writing workshop Colette leads, while each woman struggles to find contentment and satisfaction.  

There are several interwoven strands in this novel, and the reader is kept wondering how these situations will resolve, or if they will.  For more about this book, you can read an interview with Murrin in nb magazine. Recommended for fans of Claire Keegan.  (~JWFarrington)

OF BUTTERFLIES AND BLOOMS

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Boothbay)

On our most recent visit to the gardens, I was struck by striking beds of bright flowers, colorful foliage against stone, and a pair of peaceful frogs.

Coleus and other
Frogs in the sun
Yellow dahlias

In addition, I very much enjoyed exploring the butterfly house with my sister Ann, who knows her butterflies, but is also a fount of information about plants and nature in general.

Mourning cloak butterfly
Common buckeye butterfly
Monarch butterfly

VIEWING: NOTORIOUS MITFORD FAMILY

Outrageous (BritBox and other services)

Diana & Nancy (dailyexpress.co.uk)

The Mitford family, parents and their seven children, were a wild bunch.  Aristocrats and well off, until they weren’t, the six sisters were unconventional, passionate, and lived by their own rules.  The eldest, Nancy was a novelist and the family mediator.  Diana left her well-situated husband and child and took up with Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Fascists.  Unity was attracted to the Nazis, went to Munich, and was enamored of Hitler.  Sister Jessica was a staunch communist and disdainful of the family’s comfortable lifestyle.  Parents Muv and Farve are largely ineffectual in attempting to manage their wayward offspring.

The 6-part series is set in the 1930’s and presents in bursts the unbelievable actions of these sisters. The subject matter is serious, but the style of the episodes is rollicking and sometimes playful, as if it were all a farce.  Of course, it wasn’t a farce, and there were consequences.  The sisters have odd nicknames for each other which don’t always relate to their real names, making it sometimes difficult to know which sister is being addressed.

Nancy is the narrator and provides commentary in each episode.  Played by Bessie Carter, she is elegant and forthright, even when describing her own challenging marriage.  Seeing Carter in this role, it’s hard to believe she played the overdone Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton.  The Chief Penguin and I thoroughly enjoyed the series. Recommended!

Note: All garden photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Moments: Berries & Jewels, Page & Screen

SUMMER READING: SHARING IN NATURE

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Author Kimmerer (uwalumni.com)

In this small volume, Native American plant ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer uses the serviceberry bush as a way to riff on the concept of a gift economy.  Also known as Juneberry, Saskatoon, or Shadbush, the serviceberry has small white flowers and reddish berries, which often ripen in June.

A gift economy, as opposed to our more familiar market economy, frequently operates in small Indigenous communities.  In nature, the serviceberry bush receives sunlight and rain to grow, and its berries provide food for birds.  The birds eat the ripe berries, and the seeds then get dispersed allowing the serviceberry to continue to propagate.  Kimmerer opines on how the abundance of nature is freely shared to the benefit of the plants and creatures in nature as well as humans.  

Her book gives testament to the need to be respectful of nature and to reflect on how this approach in the natural world might be more applied to human society. One small example is a book that is passed on from one reader to another to read, and then placed in a Little Free Library box for yet others to take and enjoy. The book is a gift that has served multiple individuals.

 I had never heard of serviceberries until recently, when I noticed one of the plants in a nearby garden was labeled serviceberry.  I recalled that serviceberry bush again when my friend Martha recommended this book.  A short read, but a worthwhile one.

VIEWING: INDULGENT WEALTH

The Gilded Age Season 3 (HBO Max)

Mrs. Scott & daughter Peggy (hollywoodreporter.com)

Although some critics have been less kind to Season 3 of The Gilded Age, I’m hooked.  I like the elaborate costumes, the grasping for more wealth and greater social status, the inclusion of pertinent issues of the day, and the stellar cast.  Will any of these individuals find love and true happiness?

Bertha Russell is determined that her daughter Gladys shall become a duchess; Marian Brook hopes to find love this time around after two failed engagements; and George Russell has grand ambitions to build a linked cross-country railroad.  Meanwhile, Miss Scott (Peggy) continues her career as a writer, has a new admirer, and is a supporter of women’s suffrage.   Ada and Agnes, Marian’s aunts, bicker as they adapt to new roles, while Ada is seduced by a séance and takes up the temperance cause with diehard determination. 

There are 8 episodes in this season.  They are being released weekly, with episodes one through six now available.  Due to its popularity, there will be a Season 4 of the Gilded Age.

Pink dahlias

Note: Header photo of black-eyed Susans and dahlia photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Moments: TV, Movie, Novel

It’s just the two of us here, so the Chief Penguin and I have time to binge watch a TV series, go to the movies, and spend time reading, be it a novel or the latest political news. And in a slightly unusual twist for me, all the activities here focused on or were written by men.

TV VIEWING: DOUBLE LIFE

Mr. Loverman (BritBox)

Barry and Morris (theguardian.com)

Mr. Loverman is a British series about a middle-class Black family set in London’s Caribbean community.  It’s based on a novel of the same name by noted author Bernadine Evaristo.  The parents, Barry and Carmela Walker, are from Antigua, and they have two grown daughters and several grandchildren.  The marriage is a contentious one. Carmela never feels he is supportive enough and their daughters usually take her side.  Hidden, under the veneer of lively family life, Barry and his good friend, Morris (aka “Uncle Morris” to his kids) have been closeted lovers for years.  When Morris demands more of him, Barry is torn between Morris and his loyalty to his family.

The opening scenes are noisy with family dramatics on full display.  I wondered how it would all proceed but quickly became engaged.  Carmela’s father in Antigua dies, she goes back to attend, and Barry must face the challenge and the opportunity in his life.  The entire series is riveting, especially the episode when teenage grandson Donny stays with his grandfather. 

The acting is very good, and Barry is exceptional. Episodes are short (about 30 minutes each) and there are eight total.  Highly recommended for mature viewers!

ON THE SCREEN:  A PROFESSOR HOLDS FORTH

Last Class (in some theaters)

Robert Reich (politico.com)

The Chief Penguin and I both get Robert Reich’s daily e-newsletter about politics and the state of the country. Reich is probably best known as former secretary of labor under President Clinton, advisor to other presidents, and TV commentator.  What you may not know is that he has been an economics professor for more than 40 years, and for the past 17 years at UC Berkeley.   

Last Class is a documentary about Reich’s last semester teaching his undergraduate course, Wealth and Poverty, before he retires.  You might expect that the film will be just him delivering his lecture before a massive hall of students.  Instead, it’s a marvelous back and forth of scenes of Reich addressing the class and then him talking to the camera about his philosophy of teaching, why he loves his students, and what he hopes they will take away from the class.   At 79, Robert Reich is sad about his decision to retire, but feels it is time. For those of us who admire him and respect his views, his daily missive is a way to stay connected.

The film is in limited release and is selling out in many cities.  We traveled an hour north to see it in the Strand, a small theater in Rockland, and the only place in Maine it is being shown.  I left feeling hopeful about Reich’s students’ futures and glad that he was a spur encouraging them to think.

SUMMER READING: COMPLEX STRANDS

Twist by Colum McCann

Colum McCann (raintaxi.com)

Colum McCann may be familiar to many as the author of National Book Award winning novel, Let the Great World Spin, set in 1974 in New York City. His new book, Twist, is equally adventurous and tangled.  Anthony, a novelist and playwright, seldom called by name here, signs on to write about the business of repairing underwater cables.  He will be cruising with John Conway on a special boat equipped with the necessary tools and a crew trained to repair cable breaks.  These cables handle data transmitted over the internet, and the first break is a long way off the coast of Africa. 

As much as it is about the twists and turns involved in dealing with physical cables and ephemeral data, the novel is about the delicate strands of connection between individuals, of love and loyalty and vulnerability.  It is Conway’s story as Anthony interprets it.  Anthony is at loose ends, out of touch with his son, still too drawn to the bottle, and both puzzled and captivated by Conway.  

A man of few words, driven in his work, Conway is elusive and unto himself.  His partner, Zanele, and their two children, return to London, she to appear in a new play.  Their relationship, which Anthony saw as initially warm, appears later to be splintered. 

Colum’s writing is wonderful. In the opening chapter, it loops around and about, doubling back on itself as Anthony tries to explain why he is telling this story. 

“Maybe I tell this story to get rid of it, or to open up the silence, or to salve my own conscience, or perhaps I tell it because I am scared of what I too have become, steeped in regret and saudade.  I often lie awake wondering what might have been if I had done things just a little differently. The past is retrievable, yes, but it most certainly cannot be changed.”

And with that, some straightforward narration follows.  Anthony boards the repair vessel, the Georges Lecointe, in Cape Town, and begins his intriguing adventure of cables, connections, rupture, repair, and regret.  Simply excellent! (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo of day lilies against a stone wall ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)