In Pursuit Of Maine: January 9, 2015 - Snow Island

Friday, January 9, 2015

January 9, 2015 - Snow Island

It looks like a small tree with a patch of dead grass in a snow-covered field, doesn’t it? But it’s not. This is a small island on zoom lens in the middle of the frozen Androscoggin River. This is one of my favorite little islands. It’s perfect for having a picnic, assuming you could make it out there with all the underwater rocks jutting this way and that, only too happy to ruin a canoe. I wrote about this Island Kingdom back in May. Do you remember?

But now it’s frozen and with snow on the ice, it’s hard to tell how thick the ice is. We have had some severe cold weather, though, and I think it might be thick enough to take a walk out there. I am tempted. Perhaps I will bring a lunch and dine out there as I’ve always wanted to do.

Back in the merry month of May, I wondered if this little island might be one of the last strongholds for the Good Folk. It’s so easy to feel their presence in May; not so easy in January. However, they don’t just disappear. It’s important to remember that if we can walk out there because of the ice, they can come over here. Have you seen any tiny footprints in the snow near your house? Are you sure they’re rabbits? Because I think they might not be.

I know I’ve seen their footprints around my house. Remember what I told you about the snow: There are no lies in the snow. It reveals all. Winter is the time for stark, cold truth.

The island kingdom in the frozen river.

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