The snow was soft where not crispy, but neither was it gluey like today’s. Allen dropped me off down the road just above the widening gap between hills, where the north pond lies below. On his way to get groceries and meet with friends. Did not think I’d make it over the filthy plow-row—ice and snow crusted with sand the town plow had pushed up along the rural road. My young neighbor stuck his head out the door to see if I needed help. 

“Just want to do a bit of shoeing.”  I was getting out the big webbed shoes. He went back in. 

Here is a bit of The Gulf book quote from something I learned writing my (hoped for) forthcoming book on the coast of Maine.

Brooklyn Museum – Misty Morning, Coast of Maine – Arthur Parton

Maine had been inhabited by a primal people before the coming of Europeans, and how they had originally found it and why was not known in 1869; what had been recorded is the discovery of what became known as Maine by the Northmen, as J.G. Kohl, author of HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF MAINE (published in1869) called the Vikings. According to this Maine scholar from the 19th century, these People had a well-developed civilized society in Iceland. They were mariners who sailed out from there and, led by Eric the Red, discovered and settled what was previously thought to be a mythic land—Greenland. Heriulf, fellow adventurer with Eric had a son named Biarne who sailed from Iceland looking for his father. Biarne was blown along strange coasts by a storm that drove him far from Greenland. After making his way back to father and Greenland, he told of these coasts. Later he returned under the command of Leif, son of Eric the Red. The year was 1000 A.D. Aided by the day’s length on the shortest day of the year, Leif was able to fix the geographic position of these coasts.

Referencing Kohl’s 1869 HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF MAINE 

This is an appropriate season to mention Gott’im’s Monster and its connections to the craft of writing and making.

The narrator of Gott’im’s Monster is tasked with the destruction of a monster created by his former school master. He does not feel up to the assignment.

The school master does not think it wise to describe how he put his monster together and galvanized it to life. Perhaps he wanted to patent it? Actually, he’s terrified of his own making and does not know what to do with it on account of his lack of foresight unintended consequences of—shall we say?—his technological making?

The maker’s young scholar/poet in school would have known that he could make a poem about such a happening, while trying to work out what it would mean through the poem, but this young poet himself would never dream of making a real monster.

tenth month not eighth