July 25th, the Apex of Summer on Peaks

The last Saturday of each July is the height of the Peaks Island Summer season. An utter explosion of events all over the Island all day long and into the night.

The Peaks to Portland Swim kicks off the day at 8:30am. Over 125 brave, hearty souls dive into the water at Peaks and hopefully emerge in Portland some 3 miles away anywhere from 55 minutes to three hours. Of course, each swimmer has a friend in a kayak paddling near by for the sake of safety. Of course that makes for one crowded boat coming into Peaks loaded to the gills with swimmers, friends and kayaks; a fine example of the Hong Kong Express. Then at 10:30am over 300 runners take off for a 5k race around the Island. Another boat load of humanity descending on Peaks. The Peaks Island petting zoo is definitely open for business today.

Filling in around all of this is Brad's bike shop doing its usual brisk business on a Saturday morning, one of many bake sales at the Library, the usual hordes descending on the Library for their DVD Saturday evening selection, an Art Walk, a walking tour of certain upscale Island houses and tonight a full blown Summer dance at the TEIA Club and the normal full boatload of cars depositing this week's new renters.

In the midst of all this, I found out my gas can was empty and the lawn looking like an alpine meadow awaiting a flock of hungry goats. Throwing the gas can into our grocery cart I wandered down to the Library and dropped off an article for the monthly newsletter and proceeded to stand in line for gas at Plante's between two SUV's; sure wish I had a picture of that but I don't. Wandering home between the runners, bake sales and Brad's bikes I simply kept humming the old Joanie Mitchell tune "you don't know what you got until it's gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot" Is it September yet????

The 7:15am Boat from Peaks Island

Now, that the 4th of July energy has departed and the August rush to complete everything before leaving Peaks Island hasn't arrived yet, we have a few short weeks of pure Summer on the island. We have many visitors but everything seems to fall into a slightly more saner rhythm. The 7:15 morning boat is the main commuting and school boat each day of the week. Yet, for these few weeks, this is one of the calmest boats of the day. Many of the regular commuters are on vacation, our visitors haven't yet started their day and the students are still in bed.

Not many people show up early for the boat and most of the people departing the incoming boat are the carpenters, plumbers, et al coming on to the island for the day. Of course, there's always Hannigan's truck bringing out another load of groceries for the day clearly marked with it's motto "If we don't have it, you don't need it"; perfect!! It's just a rather calm way to ease into the day even if a little early.

A Calm July Evening on Peaks Island

Tonight after supper, I took some time to wander the beach in front of our house. It had been way too long and I wanted to check out our banking to see if it was holding as to erosion and how much growth had occurred in a couple of stray trees that had taken root some years back.

I didn't do too much checking but did spend a lot of time just sitting on a rock watching the sun go down and the 7:15 boat bringing home another load of islanders. With nearly three straight weeks of rain hopefully behind us, it was a pleasurable diversion from the daily chores to just sit and watch life go by on the bay. Enjoy the pics of a very pleasant after dinner stroll.

The Peaks Island Deluge is Over--We Hope!!

For the last three weeks, Peaks Island has been in nothing but fog and rain. It continually felt like early Spring with chilly temps, wet walks to the boat and squishy, mudgolf being endured whenever possible. Islanders were definitely moving into the grumpy stage. Our seasonal visitors I'm sure felt trapped in their summer cottages with bored kids having nothing to do.

At long last, this past weekend saw the sun break through complete with some dry northwesterly breezes. Maybe, just maybe, Summer has arrived on Peaks Island. The island was overwhelmed as usual with tons of visitors this past weekend. Long car lines were the norm as the 4th of July approached. Both Friday and Saturday, the sounds of lawnmowers trying to catch up echoed all over the island. Yet, we all survived, ate too many hotdogs, watched the fireworks and listened to house parties all through the neighborhood.

The 8th annual Peaksfest went off without a hitch, weather somewhat permitting. I do enjoy watching the kids tackle the pie eating contest and seeing some old friends who needed to move off the island last September. They are missed! Enjoy the hodgepodge of pictures. Maybe next time I can pull together some sort of theme, that is if the weather can hold itself together. Enjoy the Summer breezes.