We Need Rain: We are in desperate need of rain, and have yet to get any from this storm that has been traveling northeastward. First, it was predicted that we’d have rain all day, now meteorologists are predicting a few hours of rain this afternoon…I’ll believe it when I see it!
Google Earth Photos of Popham Beach…historical photo series: Popham Beach is one of our favorite beaches to visit, but the beach section is highly eroded and had changed drastically over the 10 years we have lived in Maine. This photo was taken on May 17, 2010, and shows how the Morse River channel has changed its path. I put a few arrows in for your reference. (Click photo for larger view).
The beach will hopefully be renewed as the calmer wave action of summer deposits sand over time. It will take quite a few years for the beach to get back to a larger size. Oh, by the way, the Maine Geological Survey states that, “The beach and dune eroded back 525 feet on the western beach from 2004 to 2007. This loss resulted in a net erosion rate of an astounding 130 feet per year!” WOW! you can read more about the Popham Beach erosion here. One more thing… I learned a new geologic term from the Bates magazine article…a tombolo is a sandbar that connects an island to the mainland or to another island.
Now…let’s take a walk back in time to view how the Morse River channel has changed its course. I was able to get historical Google Earth photos from 2007, 2003, and 1997. Very interesting…..Enjoy!
Popham Beach, September 2007: Here is the first historical look in this little series of changes of the Morse River and the effect it has had on Popham Beach. (Click on photo for a larger view)
Popham Beach, December 2003: Here is the second historical photo in the series of the Morse River Channel change. Look how wide the beach is! And, I was most surprised to see the absence of the big sand spit. Even the river itself looks very thin with lots of mud filling in most of the channel’s width. (Click on photo for larger view)
Popham Beach, April 1997: Here is the third historical view of Popham Beach. The beach is at its widest as the river cuts really close to the shore on the western edge. The sand bar to Fox Island is extremely wide as well. I think this photo was probably taken at low tide, but you can see where the beach line is inshore from my arrow. (Click on photo for a larger view)
Morse River Channel Change Slide Show: Here is a slide show that puts all of the photos of the Morse River, and its affect on Popham Beach, in descending order by date.
Photo Published: Jay Burns, editor of the Bates College Magazine, used one of my photos, of erosion on Popham Beach, in the Summer 2010 issue of the magazine. If you are an alumnus and get the magazine, look at the photo on the upper right of page 25! The article, A River Plows Through It, is very well done in describing the change in the Morse River channel as it wends its way out to the ocean, as well as the effects it has had on the shoreline.
You may note that this photo is not exactly one of my most stunning works of art. It didn’t have to be to grab the notice of Bates Magazine. What caught Jay’s attention was that it was informative and fit into an article that was being written. Here is a quote from a note that Jay sent me,
“You can tell also them how your blog — and the ability communicate your passion — helped connect people who had a shared interest in that topic. That’s a big emphasis these days at Bates, ensuring that students are able to communicate their new knowledge in the public sphere.”
So, the point of all this is to follow your passion, communicate your passion, and someone, somewhere may just find your work interesting enough to publish. If you don’t put yourself out in the public eye, no one will know that you have something to share with the world.
We Got Rain!:) We finally got some rain and the plants look so much happier. We probably got at least 0.14 inches of moisture (info. from weather.com)…not much, but better than nothing.
Weather Update: Today was one of those picture-perfect days…we had a light breeze, a high temp. of 73F, and partly cloudy skies…the way Maine should be…Except…we desperately need rain.
Vegetable Garden Update: A quarter inch of rain per week (if we are lucky) just doesn’t cut it for the gardens, and the vegetables are suffering for it. Last summer was so wet we had to pull up the tomato plants due to a blight. This summer, the vegetables are growing and ripening very slowly due to lack of water. We have a 16’ dug well, so we cannot afford to water the veggies very often.
Patience…Grasshopper: This summer has been amazing in that the pond has been glassy smooth day, after day, after day…Unfortunately, all I can do is sit on the picnic table for a short period of time, gaze out at the pond and dream of kayaking…my paddle dipping into the mirrored surface causing small ripple after ripple to spread out from the paddle…spying a painted turtle’s snout breach the surface as it grabs a breath of air…fish jumping out of the water to catch a dragonfly meal…the great blue heron bursting forth from its resting place calling, “Kraannk”, as it flies to the opposite shore. Patience is a virtue, I am told…I am having difficulty with Patience because the pond keeps inviting me to play on its surface day, after day, after day…and all I can say is, “Soon”…Well…I must go stretch my back so it can heal…
