Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Archives

Magic Moments in Maine

August 29, 2021August 29, 2021 JWF Leave a comment

FUN WITH GRANDKIDS

This past week our son and family made their annual visit to Maine, always a high point of the summer. We all visited the botanical gardens where the girls, 9 and 5, love the children’s garden. The small playhouse is their first stop, followed by getting in the rowboat and trying to work the oars. This time they also flexed their muscles to hoist a lobster trap from a small pond. Next is a walk along the shoreline path to spend a few moments at the fairy village and, on the way back, a last chance for the playhouse. On the way into the gardens, we paused to view Roskva, one of the giant trolls, but they weren’t particularly drawn to it; thus, we skipped seeing the other four.

Another favorite attraction is the Railway Village Museum on the outskirts of Boothbay. It was closed last year due to Covid so this was a return after two years. The biggest hit here is riding an old train on a loop around the village property. Dotted with historic Maine buildings from the mid-1800s to early 1900s, the village includes a schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, and a furnished house. The electric washer with a hand wringer proved to be especially fascinating. And old black locomotive and a caboose add to the overall experience as you can clamber aboard. Also appealing to our girls was the extensive model railroad exhibit with numerous trains on multiple tracks midst town and industry scenes. And just to add live interest, the village boasts two goats. Railway Village is a fun place for all ages from toddlers to adults!

None of us, children, parents, and grandparents, ever tire of gazing at the waves crashing on the rocky shore, watching for lobster boats checking their traps, or stooping on the pebbly beach to collect shells and sea glass.

The hardy souls in our family, our son and his older daughter, braved the cold water on the cove side. Everyone told them the ocean water was much warmer this year than last; nonetheless, it’s very cold water. Tim and E went swimming on the last day of their visit even though the air temperature was only 65!

The girls and I also colored the world map tablecloth (a companion to the U.S. one we had last year), played a game of riddles, watched F create a show starring two of her stuffed animals, read books together and separately, and did jigsaw puzzles. F wrote slips with a different riddle on it for each of us to put at our places for dinner one night. I provided the spelling, and she did the writing! They also went miniature golfing one afternoon, walked a nature trail near the local beach, swam in a local pool, and made their annual pilgrimage to Uncle Willy’s Candy Shoppe in Camden, two floors of sugar-laden treats. We all went out to dinner one evening and out to lunch another day to ensure that their mother had ample opportunity for steamed lobster and at least one lobster roll!

CULINARY CORNER

An honored tradition is for me and the girls to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Each year E and F get more adept at measuring, mixing, and pouring the batter. The result is tasty pancakes made with a big dose of love and served with real Maine maple syrup.

Our older granddaughter is a foodie and over the course of this past year has become quite the baker and cook. She has made cupcakes and cakes on her own and is developing a repertoire of chicken dishes and other mealtime fare. She’s also the proud owner of several cookbooks. One of her favorites, exceptionally well put together with helpful details and illustrations, is The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs.

With very little assistance, she tackled breakfast tacos. They were a delicious combination of scrambled eggs, crispy bacon squares, salsa, and grated cheese.

In July, the girls and their parents were on Long Island and learned to love steamed clams. I was happy to turn over the kitchen to our son one evening. He produced a wonderful plate of steamed clams over linguine. The clams were Maine local and very fresh, and the dish was perfect! Certainly, one of the best renditions I’ve ever had. Including my memorable first taste in Trastevere, Rome, on a late summer’s evening thirty years ago!

Time marches on, sometimes fleetingly, and the time we grandparents have with our granddaughters is so very precious. It’s fascinating each visit to observe how they’ve grown and matured, what their latest interests are, and how their views on the world and themselves have shifted. One of the best gifts is sharing just a bit in their lives, thanks to their marvelous parents!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Pond reflections at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Maine Time: Other Lives & Gardens

August 23, 2020August 23, 2020 JWF Leave a comment

READING BIOGRAPHY

When it comes to nonfiction, I read more biography than anything else. I find historical biography often compelling and am regularly drawn into memoirs written by contemporaries. The past few weeks, I’ve been dipping into two works in this genre.

The True History of the First Mrs. Meredith and Other Lesser Lives by Diane Johnson

Novelist Diane Johnson wrote this biography in 1972. New York Review Books re-issued it this year with a new introduction by critic Vivian Gornick. Mrs. Meredith, or Mary Ellen Meredith, was novelist George Meredith’s first wife. She ultimately left Meredith for artist Henry Wallis, with whom she’d been having an affair—a scandalous act for a woman in the 1850’s.

What makes this biography unconventional is Johnson’s attention to other individuals in Mary Ellen’s life, even those to whom she had only the briefest of connections. Mary Ellen’s journals and quotes from poems are included as well as tidbits of history and lore. Johnson was fortunate in her search for material to locate a cache of letters from Mary Ellen to Henry secreted in the former home of their son Felix.

It’s a quirky book and quite delightful, a bit like exploring an old-fashioned desk with pigeonholes filled with seemingly unrelated items. It was also an inspiration for Phyllis Rose. She’s the author of one of my favorite collective biographies entitled, Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages, published in 1983.

The Shadow in the Garden: A Biographer’s Tale by James Atlas

James Atlas was a publisher and biographer whose works include the life stories of novelist Saul Bellow and poet Delmore Schwartz. His Schwartz biography was nominated for the National Book Award. In this work, Atlas talks about his approach to writing a life and, along the way discusses classical biographical works by Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Gaskell and others. He also shares his conversations and encounters with noted critics of the 20^th century such as Elia Kazan, Philip Rahv, and Allen Bloom.

It’s a chatty book, written in an informal style. I quickly found myself warming to this self-effacing man who was persistent when on the hunt for source material. I have yet to finish it (have been happily distracted by my granddaughters) but will enjoy continuing his journey. The book was published in 2017 and, I just learned that Atlas died in 2019 at age 70.

THE MAINE GARDEN

Aluminum sculpture panels by Meg Brown Payson

The website for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is mainegardens.org so it seems appropriate to call it the Maine garden. Despite all the restrictions imposed due to Covid-19, the garden is beautiful and a draw for locals, tourists, and kids. I was concerned that our granddaughters would be disappointed since the playhouse, story barn, and water pump in the Children’s Garden are not available. They loved the Fairy Village, however, and requested a return visit. The village was the highlight, but they were also entranced by a waterfall, intrigued by hunting for and counting frogs, curious about the honeybee exhibit, and happy to traipse along the woodland trail noting the occasional sculpture or rock outcropping.

Gazing at the Sheepscot River — Looking out at Sheepscot River

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Maine Moments

August 17, 2019August 17, 2019 JWF Leave a comment

COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is ten years old, and it keeps getting better each year. We visit on our own and also bring all of our guests. Our granddaughters are especially fond of the play house where there are kitchen appliances, a cupboard, and a small table and chairs where you can serve tea and cupcakes. Also a draw are the two old fashioned water pumps, a laundry tub with a washboard, a rowboat to climb into, the puppet theater, and a sandbox.

For adults, the scent garden is always worth wandering. And there’s also an outdoor art exhibit, “Unearthed,” a series of towering root sculptures by Pennsylvania artist Steve Tobin. The sculptures are made of metal and placed throughout the grounds. Some are realistic colors (brown and black) while others are bright such as a mustard yellow one and a glossy white one. The sculptures will be on view into 2020. A few years ago Lehigh University presented an outdoor exhibit of Tobin’s impressively large “Termite Hills” sculptures.

MAKING MEMORIES

Our son and daughter-in-law and two granddaughters were here for the week. E is a poised seven and F an active three, the age at which most kids form lasting memories. The Chief Penguin and I very much enjoy their annual visits to Maine and know that even when we’re gone, they will have Maine memories.

Memories of making blueberry pancakes with Grandma, of sampling Grandpa’s muffins, of visiting the botanical gardens, of clambering on the rocks at Molly’s Point for sea glass, shells, and smooth stones, of checking out the books and toys at Sherman’s, and memories of riding the narrow gauge train at Railway Village and more.

E is a voracious reader and quickly devours chapter books. F is at the “why?” stage and is a fan of trains and motion. Together the girls and I read umpteen stories, played with Josie and Rosie, their dolls, and colored and created with construction paper using an assortment of pencils, pens, and crayons.

There was no set schedule and the mornings flowed from a leisurely breakfast, to a walk in the yard or games on the deck, followed by an afternoon outing, and then dinner, be it pizza with friends and their grandkids, hot dogs and lobster rolls on the deck at Cozy’s, or comfort food here at Grandma and Grandpa’s. It was about as perfect a week as could be!

RECENT READING

America’s Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr. by Steven Gillon

Much has been written about JFK Jr. and the Kennedys in the twenty years since his tragic death in 1999. One might wonder why we need yet another tome, and this one is a tome. Gillon was the graduate assistant in an undergraduate course Kennedy took at Harvard. Only a few years older than John, he became a friend and the two got together occasionally over the years. John sought out Gillon’s advice and writing suggestions when he was editing George magazine. While John was alive, Gillon respected and protected his privacy; now he feels comfortable sharing his perspective and his knowledge of the challenges John faced as a Kennedy, the standard bearer after his father’s death.

What was most interesting to me was the account of Kennedy’s years founding and creating George and struggling to make it a truly viable proposition. There is new information on his wife Carolyn’s inability to adjust to being trailed by the press, her volatile behavior, and her drug use, all of which made a marriage fraught with tension more tumultuous. It is in this context of daunting issues at work, difficulties at home, and the prolonged dying of his closest friend (his cousin Anthony), that John Jr. takes off on that fateful flight. The book is overly detailed and, sometimes tedious, but I found myself modifying and enlarging my view of this Kennedy. (~JWFarrington)

Maine Moments: Photos & Books

July 29, 2017September 26, 2017 JWF Leave a comment

MAINE DAYS

Although the Chief Penguin and I are retired, the rhythm of our days is different when we’re here. It’s like being on vacation as we take a more leisurely approach to life (if that’s possible, but it is—no medical or other appointments!) Earlier this week, on the most perfect day thus far, we enjoyed a boat cruise with M & J down to Christmas Cove for a lovely lunch on the deck at Coveside in South Bristol. The other morning we got an early start and were at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens just before they opened. Ten years old this year, they are Maine’s #1 attraction according to Trip Advisor! Thanks to generous donors, they have big plans for the future. In between outings, we continue to binge on The Americans (have to get through season 5) and even do some reading.

Here are some photos from our doings.

RECENT READING

I like historical novels. A well written one is a pleasurable way to learn about other times and places. I also assiduously follow the reviews of current fiction. Oprah did a lot to promote reading with her book club and it’s gratifying to see her return highlighting a very accomplished and timely first novel.

If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide

Another historical novel set during WWII written by an American who has lived in London for more than 40 years. As a depiction of what it was like to live and work in London during the Blitz, it’s graphic and well conveys the hardships and the stress on one’s spirits. Wilhide also presents a detailed picture of the challenges facing those tasked with making documentary films and the unusual jobs women took on working with artillery. While the main character, Julia, makes a wrongheaded choice in her affair with Dougie, I felt that the novel was more a vehicle for the history Wilhide wanted to share, than a well-shaped story. I call it a mixed success. (~JW Farrington)

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Oprah is back in the business of recommending books and this is her pick for 2017. Not surprising, it is a very engaging and accessible read. It is also timely given that its topic is the immigrant experience. The novel opens in 2007, and Jende Jonga and his wife Neni are immigrants to the U.S. from Cameroon, full of optimism and hope for all that America will provide.

With the help of his successful lawyer cousin, Winston, Jende gets a job as chauffeur to Clark Edwards, a high level executive with Lehman Brothers. For a while, life is good for the Jongas and their small son Liomi. Neni goes to community college and even does some short term work for Cindy Edwards, thus bringing the families closer together. Everything changes when the financial crisis hits and Jende’s status in the country is challenged. Marriages are threatened and life becomes much harder and more tenuous requiring difficult decisions.

Ms. Mbue, a native of Cameroon and now an American citizen living in New York, knows whereof she writes. Her book is warm and generous and balanced in its portrayal of these two families. Neither family is perfect and each individual has faults, but both families want to provide the best opportunities for their children. Named one of the best books of the year by NPR, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and the San Francisco Chronicle. (~JW Farrington)

Another perspective. I don’t usually link to anyone else’s blog, but I found this woman’s comments about Hillbilly Elegy very thoughtful. Here’s the link.

Tag: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Magic Moments in Maine

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