Maine Cairns Maine

  If you have one rock cairn on a rocky point along a nature reserve conservancy district do-not-leave-the-trail-no-hunting-no-trash-tread-lightly area then its ART.  If you have five or six you have a local compulsive rock nut tourist on the loose.

  I took down two early cairns.

  We took the road less travelled, or trail at least, off into a wee slice in the underbrush on our beach walk today.  The trails are only for humans of appropriate height and weight.  Basically a slot through the underbrush.  If you had a beachball along, you couldn't wedge it in.  Yesterday we had to butt up in the brush to let some folks through- nice folks, though they didn't understand my perfectly delivered line:  "If we aren't back in 30 minutes, take the rest of the men and report to Col Bowie."  Oh well.

  Small trees inside and much brush and ferns, but delightful (cutesey-wootsey), with the threat of Moose.  I did find a tree felled by the demon saw and counted rings.  One foot in diameter=56-62 years old.  Interpolating, with some error thrown in, that means a two foot diameter tree runs 80-100 years.  Winter here must not be fooling around.  There were a FEW three and four foot diameter trees, left by the loggers a generation ago because they were a twisty mess.  They are still twisty messes, but that's seen as character.  Lucky thing nobody has made massive wind chimes or walking sticks out of them.  Nothing straight up and old.  Lots of new stuff under 6 years.  Also: mushrooms, ferns, grasses.  We've been eating some salty grass found at the top of the tide line that looks like Cedar and tastes like salty romaine.

  

  Gulls working the tide pools (OUT).  I watched one drop a mussel on the rocks to break it and then saw the same behaviour half a dozen times.  Smashed clam is a big seller on the menu.  Went prone by a tide pool to get a nose-up look at the locals.  Hoping for a hermit carb but no luck.