When the snow is knee-deep and the wind rips down out of Canada, it can be hard to remember how fabulous — if fleeting — Maine’s summers can be.
But eventually, the snow melts, the resulting mud dries up and even the most northerly of our lakes reaches that magical swimming temperature. Summer has arrived.
So what does summer in Maine mean to you? What’s the iconic scene that you play back in your mind’s eye during those long, dark winter days? Have you re-created that scene this summer? Or maybe even topped it?
Summer in Maine comes in different forms that can be equally appreciated.
Perhaps you enjoy sitting on a lawn chair on the scraggly grass at camp — camp lawns never grow in like city lawns do; have you noticed that? — and listening to the cry of distant loons. Maybe that’s your summer scene.
Or you might just like the journey itself, driving leisurely on a dusty dirt road that leads to a magical place. If that’s the case, be sure to wave to every driver you meet — that’s dirt-road etiquette, don’t you know?
Some can sit and watch ocean waves pound our rocky shorelines for hours, never considering there might be something more productive to do.
And others get their kicks standing thigh-deep in cool water, wagging a limber fly rod while trying to fool the local fish.
Summer also is the time when our weather gets even more fickle than it is when the snow is flying.
When it gets hot — which, thankfully, it has recently — the afternoon clouds can take on an ugly, bruised hue and send beachgoers scampering back to their cars — for a few minutes, at least. Nature’s fireworks shows can be far more impressive than our Independence Day versions, and the arrival of a good, old-fashioned “thunder bumper” can turn into a spectator sport.
Whatever the case, many images of summer focus on family: barbecues staged, camping trips planned, memories made.
Nowadays, we all seem to have cameras — in the form of our phones — strapped to our hips or tucked away in our pockets.
Sometimes we get lucky and capture those special moments, such as Bangor Daily News photographer Linda Coan O’Kresik has: a father and daughter walking the rocks, holding hands, toting fly rods; a bear that showed up to enliven a family camping adventure; a chamber of commerce moose that always seems to show up at a certain location and pose for a few pictures.
So tell us, what does summer in Maine mean to you? Better yet, show us your photos that sum up a perfect summer day or night in the Pine Tree State.
Words or photos, or a combination of both, would be much appreciated. Send along your submission to me at jholyoke@bangordailynews.com.
Our hopes are to appreciate our fleeting summer while we still can and to share some of your iconic Maine photos with readers in a future feature.
