7436-R1_CIC_February2021_Calendar_Web

Marty’s Memories - The Walks

The walks are more important now that I am totally serious about staying on the island. Yesterday, trotting down toward East End point I could almost feel the eggshell thin membrane of my ‘bubble’. The air held the usual canopy of damp, the cold, just hanging there ready to drop and penetrate. The route was familiar, hardly changed from the last time we walked it a few days before. Yet we always silently looked for differences to mention, subtle things like the blurry tinges of color from the red winterberries pulsating on spindly bare branches, there beside the road. So quiet, like the second before you take a breath until a crash of frantic rushing birds landed on and dominated the whole top of a huge tree just ahead of us. Unidentified, this mass of crackling, hissing, squawking and complaining took our attention. My walking mate and I looked at each other, watching, mouths agape, mystified about where they had come from and why they were making such a fuss. Breaking into this eerie atmosphere, I said “Would we have noticed that or lingered to figure it out before the pandemic?” Norah, my old childhood friend now, like me, living year round on the island, replied “No, we wouldn’t have, I’m sure.” One car eases onto the road, then another from the other direction and soon there are people emerging from their houses and we are sporatically interacting and mingling. We are commenting on how long people’s hair has gotten as we swap tips for getting provisions here without crossing the great divide. It’s airy chat but it’s about what we all share so it feels significant and fun. We break off and return to the momentum we had begun.

We always walked around the island as a family years ago. I can’t help but remember the time my parents and I walked along Firehouse road in the spring and we came across Bill Hodge walking his beloved Airedale dog. I wish I could remember his name. He was the pride and joy of Bill and his wife Evelyn who lived in the house on Springette’s road now belonging to the Mary and Lew Holman. We were stopped right at Clyde and Geneva’s home where their adult son, Marshall Bowen, kept all sorts of animals. Bill Hodge said “Lets go see Marshall’s new horse, shall we?” The beautiful long nosed animal, well-loved and friendly, came to greet us at his half door. Before we had a chance to reach out and stroke the velvety face he offered us, the Airedale sprung up off all fours and in one horrifying instant snapped off a chunk of flesh just above the horse’s nostrils! In the melee of scolding and chasing that followed, the Airedale took off after Marshall’s pet goose and chased him into the woods. The poor goose limped out of the woods with a broken wing drooping to the ground. Marshall was understandable agitated. The next day when my mother went over on the nine o’clock water taxi she looked across the seats and saw a worried Bill Hodge holding the goose under his arms, protecting its wing on his way to the veterinary hospital.

Walking the island is always a pleasure whether an adventure or an inspiration from nature, an opportunity to be grateful for.

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FEBRUARY 2021 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR