Mainer friend Scott says Marshall Point is definitely the first lighthouse in the first Red Lobster commercial, which he knows because of the yellow house at the tip of Hupper’s Island which he was able to see because he cheated and looked up the commercial on (stop-and-start) You Tube because Red Lobster doesn’t advertise in Maine. Imagine that! As this is not fair, his conclusion doesn’t count and we still need on-site inspections, especially if he is going to climb the wind-shaped tree to get an “aerial” view which I think he should do to make amends. He is also sure that part of the commercial was filmed in Port Clyde Harbor, which probably requires either a kayaking expedition or dinner at the Dip Net to verify, and that the second lighthouse is Portland Head light which I think Edward Hopper also painted, so I was sort of right. But Edward Hopper’s Pemaquid Light is still worth a look.
All of Maine is worth a look, the closer and carefuller the better.
Another possible kayak outing for those Roseledge Books Regulars who
I know are kayakers and have promised they are coming in July
would be to construct an on-site water-trek of the Andrew Wyeth paintings in his current exhibit at the Farnsworth. Though it is titled Andrew Wyeth: Summers in Port Clyde: Watercolors from the 1930’s and Early 1940’s, a note notes that they were painted in Martinsville. This could make getting on the water a bit tricky, as public landings there are few. I hope the Farnsworth or someone publishes a paperback catalog to accompany the exhibit and maybe include a map of the painting sites.
Wouldn’t it be fun to find the sites from water (or land?) and see how 75 years has changed or not changed them? Changes in Maine are often subtle and usually pragmatic. Think of Maine farmhouses as they are amended, expanded and renewed over time. Tenants Harbor has two lovely examples within an easy walk from RB. Thomas C. Hubka’s Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England is the best book I know on the subject and I hope RB will have it by the time you come by.
From the water, emphases change; but Roseledge Books remains outstanding.
Charlie has purchased the tickets for Maine. We will arrive Sunday, May 27, just in time for the Memorial Day parade on Monday. I hope you all can be there, too. Andrew Greeley, the Jesuit sociologist at the U of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center and romance novel writer, said about the Irish in his early ’70’s book, Why Can’t They Be Like Us? America’s White Ethnic Groups, that they were a people of contradictions. The one I remember is that they expect the best and are not surprised when it doesn’t happen. So mine is probably an Irish hope, but it’s my hope and I’m sticking to it. See you soon.