The beach unleashes longing and memory—the gone-too-young, the beloved elders. The lost, the remembered, the present.
Are these tenuous connections or the ground beneath my feet?
Why not walk the beach empty-headed?
We travel to the beach by canoe. Tides matter. If we are with them, we are foam and seaweed floating downriver. If we are against the wind, or tide, or both, we may as well be on a Roman galley (sort of).
On an outgoing tide, we watch for rocks and shallow water. On an incoming tide, we have to steer clear of eddies that could capsize us.
We bank the canoe near piping plovers whose chicks fledged earlier in the summer.
Ocean breezes waft through beach grass. Dune vegetation is starting to yellow.
At the end of the day we are hot and salty and sandy. Or cold and wet. It’s a luxury to return with the tide. More often than not, we don’t.
If we hit a certain bend in the tidal river at the right moment, dozens of striped bass rush by the side of the canoe, casting shadows on the sandy bottom, agitating the surface, and leaping sideways out of the water.
We paddle past sea lavender (heather) in the marsh. From time to time, we stir up a great blue heron or snowy egret from the grasses.
A warm shower at home is welcome and wonderful.
When night falls, we are tired in the best way.
My Maine novel.
I have two novels-in-process that I’ve been working on alternately. Over the past year, the novel set in Maine bubbled up and took precedence. I dug into it at the Vashon Artists Residency on the Puget Sound last October-November. The setting was heavenly—salt water, rainy skies, staggering sunrises and sunsets. It was wet and freezing. I loved every minute.
My Maine novel calls. It will get my full attention when I return home.
Maine writer Lily King gave an engaging book talk in these parts last week. She spoke about her latest novel, HEART THE LOVER, which I look forward to reading. King is a fluid, accessible novelist, who writes from the heart.
For those headed back to school, enjoy!
Love,
Martha
P.S. ICYMI, here’s my most recent newsletter/Substack, “Maine and Amanda Case Millis.”
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