Skunk Hour Redux: Things go bump in the Night By Todd R. Nelson Robert Lowell’s seminal poem, “Skunk Hour,” is set in Castine, Maine. In the wee hours of the morning, as the Trinitarian church bells knell and a family of skunks scavenge in the gloaming on their way up Main Street, the insomniac … Continue reading
Category Archives: In Town
They looked into the lens–and history.
The sunlight in the old photo looks as it does today on a spring or early autumn afternoon. The facade of the white clapboard school shines, and the shadows cling to the posed figures, the shade line close to where we would see it now, more than 130 years later. There is even a familiar … Continue reading
Plowing by Woods on a Snowy Evening
A Nor’easter has us in its talons—finally. The entire East Coast has been hammered, there is a record twenty-two inches of snow in New York’s Central Park, and this storm might just bury us too. It has taken until Sunday, February 12th for a proper winter storm to arrive here in Castine, Maine. The kids … Continue reading
The Steeplewright Stuff
Most of Bob Hanscom’s work is in the 18th or 19th century. He commutes to his job up a set of narrow winding stairs, or sometimes up a ladder. And occasionally he is hoisted by crane, as high as 130 feet in the air, while standing in a yellow metal cylinder that he designed for … Continue reading
Preserving a Way of Light
Preserving a way of light The last line of the accomplishments listed by the town manager in this year’s report reads: “Brought 30 large elm trees over 100 miles to supplement our stock.” When I read it, I flashed back to the day in October when Joe Slocum, the town manager, pulled up in his … Continue reading
