Monhegan Musings

Yoohoo! It's day 5! Woke up for breakfast and had the same thing: scrambled eggs with sausage. I mentioned to Jorgie that I should probably change things up, but she reminded me "don't change it if... If it isn't bad don't... don't break it if it isn't..." I helped her out. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I enjoyed my breakfast outside on the lawn before coming back to my room and doing some reading. I made myself some leftovers and filled my water bottle and headed into the village to work. I felt a little bit like an elementary schooler again, walking with backpack on my back (very light) and my lunch in hand (I didn't get hot lunch as a youngster, I got packed cold lunch). I really started to sweat on my way up the hill today. The weather app said it was 60 degrees, but It must've been more like 75. Folks say you can't trust it because there's no station out here, the weather people just guess. WEATHER: This is e...

Welcome back to Monhegan Musings Day 4! Another day off today -- and it turned out pretty nice. The morning fog cleared around noon and led to some beautifully sunny (but humid) weather. Breakfast this morning was the same -- scrambled eggs and sausage (I should probably switch it up one of these days, huh?). Then I went back to my room and caught up on my lovely cellular device back under my covers. What else is a Sunday morning for?! Once lunchtime neared, I had some leftovers outside in the yard and planned out what I was going to do for the rest of the day. I put on my hiking shoes and went on another hike! I walked to the north end of the village and veered out to the east to conquer the last of the headlands -- Black Head. The trails up there were awfully muddy and I tried my best to avoid the puddles by straddling them and jumping, sort of like I was on that one American Ninja Warrior obstacle. I'll attach a photo here. That photo was a lot harder to find than I thought it w...

Day 3 is coming to a close. I had the day off, and It was cold and rainy today in classic coastal fashion. I woke up for breakfast and had eggs and sausage again, then went back to my room and laid in bed for a few minutes, trying to warm up. But I set an alarm just in case I fell asleep. (I knew I was going to fall asleep). My nap ended up being 4 hours! FUN FACT: One of my most favorite hobbies is napping. There is no sleep ever as satisfying, as quenching, as reinvigorating than a nap. The rain on the roof really helped too. I prepared myself some lunch (dinner leftovers) and then ventured out into the wildlands once the rain stopped. I took burnthead trail out to Burnthead and saw a gorgeous view of Gull Cove and White Head to the north. I took the cliff trail north to White Head and only slipped on one rock (my merrell hiking shoes have been essential here (no, I'm not sponsored)). On the way to White Head, I stepped out to watch the rolling seas at Gull Cove, a rugged stony b...

Hey! Day 2 and first FULL day on the island. Tonight I'm sitting in my room writing, as it's a little later and the bugs have come out. I slept awfully well, which makes sense considering the cool temperatures here at night. At one point I was even a little chilly with my window open -- which is exactly how I like it. I had a wonderful breakfast of eggs and sausage and finished it off with a little muffin. Did some organizing then up Lighthouse hill for my first day of work. I formulated a bunch of goals and ideas for my work this summer at the museum and wrote them down, and then began concentrating these ideas into key talking points for the walk I'll be designing and guiding. I had a yummy leftover lunch of rice, beans, and meat with some peppers and onions (and another muffin of course) on a bench at so far the best view of the village and Manana that I've found. Kept working until the early evening, when I headed back to the inn and went swimming at fish beach with...

Hey! I suppose I haven't quite had a FULL day on the island yet, but I'm counting today as day one, since I've been on the island since before most people my age even wake up. I caught the 7am ferry out of Port Clyde, Maine and spent most of my journey outside on the deck admiring the views.  VIEWS: seaweed other islands hundred of lobster buoys a puffin! We disembarked and my professor/personal guide/island ecologist showed me to where I'll be staying. Its a little inn on the top of a hill, and I'll be staying in the 'dorms' where other folks my age stay (most of them work at the inn).  We grabbed a coffee (well I, an arnold palmer and he an oatmilk cortado) and walked to the south end of the island (lobster cove), then trekked back through the village and up the hill to the museum where I'll be working.  QUICK FACTS: The museum is a part of a complex of buildings which include the lighthouse (the second highest lighthouse in Maine) The hill that the mu...

I leave for Monhegan Island in less than two weeks, and I've been starting to think about what I want to get out of this experience.  For those of you that don't know, I live on Cape Cod and have been granted an internship at a museum on a small island off the coast of Maine. My home and this island have lots of similarities -- they are seasonal communities where few people live in the 'off-season' and populations more than quadruple in the summertime. Yet Monhegan island is so much smaller and so much more remote. Even though my hometown is designated as a rural community, we can get overnight shipping if we pay enough. We have a full-time fire and police squad. My town has a grocery store and multiple baseball fields. The winters are quiet and rainy, and the summers are bustling and chaotic. Tony Pasquale, a local chef describes the Cape as "the end of the earth. A gone spit of sand: ragged and notched" with a "history full of freaks, muh fuhs, and Moon...