ramblings

We had a visitor last week. Or perhaps the week before. Time flies around here. Tempus Fugit.

We have so little traffic on the road several hundred feet away, that oftentimes it sounds as if someone is pulling in the drive. Not lately, of course, with the condition of the drive-even a well tuned automobile makes an obvious ruckus pulling in.

The Firebird sounded the alert, and the local boys have me well trained.

They sit in the dooryard and beep their horn-perhaps this is a legacy of years of bullmastiffs, but if an unexpected visitor arrives, I trot out dutifully to see what they want.

This time I was caught offguard (well, at least I wasn't in pj's)-but offguard in the sense that the visitor was out of the vehicle and headed up the side drive. He kept coming even after seeing my approach.

My first impression was military; clean cut, small but well built. He oozed proper manners and brandished a brand new Maine road atlas. (mine is well loved and in shreds and well past the point of replacement). He was obviously "not from around here".

He pointed at the boat icon at the head of the pond on the map, and gestured down the drive with his map..."do you know who owns this path?"

"That is a twenty foot public right of way to ------- pond, " I informed him. "You are welcome to put in, but they prefer if you park along the road."

He looked a bit puzzled, and repeated, "yes, but who OWNS it?"

I told him the name of the family, and which house, and specifically to talk to the neighbor with the bulldog disposition, and he confirmed the name and the house and thanked me and left.

Of course in this neck of the woods, that was food for thought for several days. I deduce he is from out of state, perhaps California, and maybe not military, but perhaps a lawyer. How many folks of average intelligence realize that a public right of way/access is still owned by someone?

Or perhaps he meant the trail beyond the boat landing-that is still private property. At least it qualifies as a trail now that it has been trimmed-to me a path is the ghost of a deer trail indicated by an opening through the branches, which usually splits off into even more questionable paths as it meanders through the woodland. Maybe I have paths and trails confused. A trail is something you can ride a horse on-a path to me usually means a footpath. Hence my indignant response with, "twenty-foot right of way." LOL.

So, I spent a tense few days wondering if this was an attempt at a purchase of the property. Visions of million dollar homes and deforestation danced across my vision. My ace in the hole was the woman I directed him to speak with. When her husband died, they were split up, and he left his out-of-state oldest daughter from a previous marraige in charge of his affairs, and the neighbor confided in me, as he was on his deathbed, that she was afraid she might be kicked out.

We have had minimal contact since that conversation well over a year ago-the man passed last summer-so I have no real idea in whose name the property is in. However, C is still there with the brood, and if she does not own it directly, I am sure she would not have directed an out-of-state purchaser to the out-of-state daughter. And if she owns it herself, I doubt that she would part with it, although money does talk to us poor folk. Or perhaps that polite, well- groomed healthy male specimen was sent to soften up the old bulldog(S). ;)

A few days after that, I saw a trio of vehicles parked along the road, and several others tucked in for a gathering. The trio stayed the weekend-either camping on the pond or perhaps on the property in question. So I was relieved to surmise in the end it was most probably a case of requesting permission to use the property and not purchase it.

I couldn't help but notice this weekend that another trio of vehicles had parked right up to the pond blocking the right of way. I was incredulous. A holiday weekend and they are blocking the right of way!?! Bear in mind that this is no way affects me personally-I don't have a canoe or kayak (bummer)-nor do I own the property. But I see the few folks that use the pond kindly, and the ones that are not so kind, and I was angry for the folks that had hoped to put in for a paddle over the beautiful weekend.

I have watched many lug their canoes and kayaks down the right of way, and trying to get past three suvs and trucks with a load would be impossible. Nevermind the fact that if any of them were leaking oil, it was going to leach directly in the pond. They were there Friday night, all day Saturday, Saturday night, and by Sunday I decided to act.

We walked the dog down to the pond, and actually it was a spur of the moment thing or I would have brought pen and paper and left a note. I saw a superman insignia in the dust on the hood of the front suv, and inspiration struck.

With my forefinger I wrote, "You are blocking a public right away. RUDE. :( "

Later that afternoon on subsequent dog pees I saw three vehicles pulled along the road that put in kayaks or canoes. I wondered how they felt when they had to drag by the vehicles in the way, and if they saw my dust doodlings. Then I did feel a bit guilty, as each subsequent paddler might suspect the previous one .....

shortly after the third had arrived,,, there was some commotion and the three blocking vehicles left (the saplings riding bikes informed me)...and I wondered if the poor innocent paddlers had waved at the ROW blockers, and if the ROW blockers upon return cursed them, the unguilty. Geez-I really don't have much excitement around here, do I?
LOL

I just feel very protective of the pond, as it is such a lovely unspoilt place. ON a recent trip to the city, we travelled through a place where there are cottages right up to the water-and visible along the pond. And that water was as green as jade, and as murky. That is what development does. Run off and leaky septics (or overflowing in heavy rain) cause algae blooms. They are disgusting. Our pond is as clear as glass.

I embrace the fisher folk and nature lovers who respect it for what it is. I am not too crazy about motorboats on the pond-too often I have seen a glaze of oil or gas on the water after one manages to put in. That is one of the nice things about the condition of the right of way-it almost demands hand carry only.

So, time will tell what will happen to the pond. IN ten years it has pretty much remained unchanged-the dam has taken some damage but looks solid overall. The worst thing that ever happened was the deceased landowner, in his last winter here, when he was laying the logs out to mark the right of way, dragged an old shanty down the pond and smashed it to bits with his tractor to discourage folks from parking there. It was a terrible eyesore, and I still pick up bits of glass from the one window. Some of the framing I hauled home and built the goose house-another intrepid visitor lugged out the aluminum siding when the price of junk metal got high. All that remains are a few odd bits that someone else and myself chucked over the logs-and they will be rotted in another few years. So for now, paradise is secure. Drop me a line and I'll give you the grand tour-including the path streamside. You might note the name of the stream on your brand new Maine Atlas. ;)