popham beach, on the point of phippsburg that sticks out into the kennebeck river--
way back in the summer of '75, pam and i borrowed our friend cami's car and drove to the coast of maine. somehow, we chose popham beach state park and spent a couple of days. our attempt to sleep on the beach was cut short by mosquitoes, but we remember it fondly.
i went back for an afternoon after a three day timber framing workshop at the shelter institute i took in the early '80s, readying to build our first house. after kids, in 1991, we started going back to popham and have been going every year since, making this year our 28th. the kids don't always make it over, but when they do, we have a grand time--huggermugger© is often involved.
over the years, routines have changed. but one constant has been my early morning beach walks. i gather toys, rope, clothing, driftwood, all sorts of 'lost' stuff to make a yearly sculpture which i leave for the park visitors. sometimes they last for a good long while and i am able to reuse pieces.
last year, i built three playful figures, two of which were still standing when we got there this year. their clothing was a bit faded, "tattered and torn" according to tom, who photographed them over the winter a few times.
it is fun trying to work out what exactly i am going to build, according to what i find in the mornings. this year i had a grand idea of a giant windmill type structure, but didn't have the tools to pull that off. i stashed things under the cabin and will come better prepared next year.
another thing i do some of every year is skim board. i now have two boards that i bring for when kevin and family come over. for those of you who have never done it, you drop a thin 'board' into that little trickle of water when waves wash up on shore, jump on, and skim along.
pam got a nice picture this year with both of the islands in the background, fox in really nice afternoon light.
maybe half the mornings, i am up early enough to see the sun rise. since taking that series up on cardigan last month, i finally remembered the camera on thursday and took a one of the dawn 'fireworks' for the 4th.
while everyday at the beach is a good one, this year, there were five in a row that were spectacularly sunny. the only rain we got was on sunday and i got in a good amount of reading while that lasted. going outside and playing, on the beach, is special...
way back in the summer of '75, pam and i borrowed our friend cami's car and drove to the coast of maine. somehow, we chose popham beach state park and spent a couple of days. our attempt to sleep on the beach was cut short by mosquitoes, but we remember it fondly.
i went back for an afternoon after a three day timber framing workshop at the shelter institute i took in the early '80s, readying to build our first house. after kids, in 1991, we started going back to popham and have been going every year since, making this year our 28th. the kids don't always make it over, but when they do, we have a grand time--huggermugger© is often involved.
over the years, routines have changed. but one constant has been my early morning beach walks. i gather toys, rope, clothing, driftwood, all sorts of 'lost' stuff to make a yearly sculpture which i leave for the park visitors. sometimes they last for a good long while and i am able to reuse pieces.
last year, i built three playful figures, two of which were still standing when we got there this year. their clothing was a bit faded, "tattered and torn" according to tom, who photographed them over the winter a few times.
it is fun trying to work out what exactly i am going to build, according to what i find in the mornings. this year i had a grand idea of a giant windmill type structure, but didn't have the tools to pull that off. i stashed things under the cabin and will come better prepared next year.
another thing i do some of every year is skim board. i now have two boards that i bring for when kevin and family come over. for those of you who have never done it, you drop a thin 'board' into that little trickle of water when waves wash up on shore, jump on, and skim along.
pam got a nice picture this year with both of the islands in the background, fox in really nice afternoon light.
maybe half the mornings, i am up early enough to see the sun rise. since taking that series up on cardigan last month, i finally remembered the camera on thursday and took a one of the dawn 'fireworks' for the 4th.
while everyday at the beach is a good one, this year, there were five in a row that were spectacularly sunny. the only rain we got was on sunday and i got in a good amount of reading while that lasted. going outside and playing, on the beach, is special...
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