Back to Red Hill

We took our friend and neighbor Gayle up through Red Hill today. It was fun to share this hike with her. The views from this trail are fabulous; I love the 200-year old cellars and farmstead remnants.  

Throughout the day I've reading my graduate students' autobiographical multigenre papers... wowza! I just love this genre of writing.  Danielle created hers online: I Left My Heart in SF.

Hiking Red Hill from Black Mountain to Rumford Center (30/60)

I've been wanting to do this hike for a long time. Starting near Black Mountain, I hiked a gravel road next to Austin Glover's home. A gradual up for about 30 minutes, the hike then settles in to a roll-polly hike that weaves through the mountains to the left of Black Mountain and White Cap. Red Hill road is parallel to the hike I took up Glass Face just beyond Joe Pond. I know there's a snow mobile trail that connects the Glass Face trail to the Red Hill road. Our area is awesome.

   

Finding Little Concord Pond (29/60)

Ever since seeing Little Concord Pond from the summit of Mt. Zircon, I've wanted to find it. Today, we did. Wedged in between mountain ridges, Little Concord is just before Shagg Pond. The hike in is gentle and the hike around the pond itself is easy. In and out it takes about an hour. It's amazing what I'm finding my back yard! For the full photo album, go here.

 

That is Mt. Zircon in the background. 

Seven Photos, Seven Decades... 1950's to 2010's (28/60)

I've been thinking about creating a retrospective of "me" as one of my 60/60 for a few months. I gathered a slew of photos and then realized, as Henry David Thoreau would say, "Less is more." So, all morning long in between phone calls and Facebook posts, I kept trimming until I narrowed the selection to these seven. As always, click on the photo to enlarge.

1950's

1960's

1970's

1980's

1990's

2000's

2010's

'Finding' Concord Pond (27/60)

More backyard discoveries this week...  I drove out to Concord Pond in hopes of hiking around Little Concord, the pond I could see from the top of Mt. Zircon. Well, I couldn't find the entrance to Little Concord, but I'm sure glad I trucked off on a 4-wheeler path to see some of the sites. You can see the full album here.

Little Concord from the top of Mt. Zircon.
I'll find this later this week!
pond

Right Sizing... (26/60)

For a number of years I've had a Smart Phone that has all the bells, apps, & whistles--most of which I did not use. Sixteen months ago I promised myself to dump the $75 per month phone for a TracPhone that delivers phone, text, and if necessary Web services. The cost? Maybe $120-150 per year. Finally, this fall, I went to the US Cell office and asked the young sales clerk to analyze my Smart Phone usage. The guy looked at the computer screen. Then at me. Back to screen.

"Says you wrote 8 texts last month."

"That many?"

"Looks like you use 1% of the data allowable per month."

"I only check the radar weather and sometimes download photos to Facebook when I'm on a hike."

"You don't need this phone," said the sales rep named Jason.

"I didn't think so."

And so, for the 26/60, I'm saving $750 by not having something I do not use.

What's next?

TracPhone (l) .... Not-so Smart Phone (r)

 

Another Local Discovery: Mt Zircon Reservoir (25/60)

After four days of a lousy virus, I rallied to climb Mt. Zircon today. From the summit, I finally caught a glimpse of the Mt Zircon Reservoir and decided to find it. Who knew?! I'm sure many Rumford people especially those who are out on snow mobiles and four-wheelers may have found this reservoir because the trail goes right by it. But never me. What a great find, and as you'll see in the full album, Bailey got to take an early fall swim.   Finally, added years later, here's a picture of the Mt Zircon Reservoir from 1914. 

Mt Zircon Reservoir 

Mt Zircon Summit

Coming home to writing (24/60)

One of my goals over the past year has been to find a replacement for me as director of the Maine Writing Project and thereby give myself just a bit more time to work on my writing, teaching, and research. As you'll read in the letter below, I've been at this work with the Writing Project for the past decade. I've had fun with the job--even during the struggles--but I've also recognized that such a job is a convenient way to avoid writing.

"Oh, I've got to answer this email... Oh, I've got to work on that project..."

In truth, such an administrative job drags me away from my writer's life just like, as I've written earlier on, Lady Bugs and Cluster Flies. You may remember that I have a hand-held vacuum cleaner and I just love to run around the house sucking up bugs... it's just so sad.

Anyway, I found just the person for Director in Ken Martin, the Writing Project's associate director. The letter I sent out to my friends and colleagues pretty much sums up what I feel about Ken. Not everyone is as lucky as me to name his replacement and to know that that replacement will be superb. Now, it's time for me to write... Here's the letter I sent to my friends and colleagues:

Dear friends and colleagues

I am so very pleased to announce that associate director Ken Martin '99 is now Director of the Maine Writing Project. Ken's longstanding commitment to MWP makes him ideal to assume the leadership role of MWP at the University of Maine.

Over the years Ken has spearheaded projects such as "Our Maine: The Way Life Is," MWP's version of the National Writing Project's "Rural Voices Radio" programs. He and Debra Butterfield were terrific organizers and leaders of this state-wide project that involved Maine students and teachers. With Dave Boardman, Ken played a critical role in developing NWP's Digital Is resource website as well as helping us create the MWP Graduate Program in Writing and the Teaching of Writing. He's also reinvented the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI) by creating an Annual Institute comprised of an online spring semester and an on-campus summer institute.

Over the past decade in the Maine Writing Project, Ken has led a wide range of professional development activities, presented nationally, chaired conferences, and served as an ISI Mentor, ISI Co-Director and Director, Technology Liaison, Professional Development Director, Co-Director, and Associate Director. And somewhere in the midst of all of this work, he became Dr. Ken Martin!

As for me, I'll be helping Ken with the transition and then plan to dig deeper into my own writing, research, and teaching. I've been honored to serve as MWP's director over the past 10 years. I've loved the friendships and the laughter. Most of all, I've enjoyed the work accomplished by all of us on behalf of the students, teachers, and communities in Maine and beyond. We've made a difference... and there's so much more to come. 

I know you'll understand when I say that there's nothing more fulfilling than handing off this directorship to someone like Ken Martin, a man of grace and intelligence.

Warmest wishes ... keep writing!
Rich

Ken Martin, Director, Maine Writing Project
Rich Kent, former Director, Maine Writing Project

Poor Boy... :'-(

Bailey injured his foot horsing around. The bone might have a crack in it, but it is not dislocated, according to Dr. Uncle Freddie. So now, watchful waiting... no hiking, no big walks, limited activity... Poor Boy. Poor Dad, too!

Giving back (23/60)

Since late June I've been researching and writing a small book to celebrate skiing in the River Valley and to raise money for our small-town ski area, Black Mountain of Maine. I'm happy to announce that Words for a Mountain came out yesterday with a stunning foreword by Mexico native and friend, Monica Wood.

The back story of the book is that Black Mountain lost its funding in the spring of 2013. Faced with closure, people from town and across the skiing world rallied to begin fundraising to save the mountain. The story was featured in Powder Magazine titled, "We're In This Together."

As I wrote in the acknowledgements, "Books, like small-town ski areas, are community affairs." This little book owes a great debt to many behind-the-scenes contributors like my friend and primary reader, Gayle Sirois; my dear friend and editor extraordinaire Anne Wood (we've been working together for 35 years...whoa!); Paul Jones, Chisholm Ski Club's historian and archivist, researcher and writer; Monnie, for saying "You bet"; Chummy Broomhall, Muriel Arsenault, my ski coach Herb Adams, and my dear-dear friend Joe Sassi for serving on the 2004 Museum Committee along with Paul and me  doing the leg work for the writing at the museum plus part of the historical section in this book; photographers John Bernard, Kate Clough, and Jill Bartash plus those photographers of years gone by; and of course the hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers from the past 50+ years who have given their time, expertise, and money to nurture this community treasure.

Not to sound mystical or other-worldly (or like I'm slipping into the  black hole that could be turning 60 years old), I wrote this book because the mountain--my family, friends, and experiences--called me to write it.

Plus, writing is fun. Ya, write! ;-)

Here's a website with photos from the book.

My XC coach, ChummyBroomhall... back in the day... c. 1940

 

Red Hill (22/60)

OK, so this is remarkable... About 7 miles from my home is Kimball Road. It's signed as dead-end road. I've road skied Kimball with my team back in the day. But at the "end" of the asphalt road is a gravel road that heads out to an area known as Red Hill. Walt Abbott, a UMaine colleague of mine and a Rumford native, has a cabin way out on the road on Red Hill. This area has rolling pastures and awesome views of Whitecap Mountain. It's beautiful. My full album may be found here.

White Cap from Red Hill... Click to enlarge

Walt's cabin

Views toward Sunday River and Presidential Range. 

Cascade Falls (21/60)

Today, we drove off to find Cascade Falls in Farmington. It's a neat water fall that's hidden on a back road. There are non signs marking the trail head, but the directions on the web were spot on. There's something really fun about discovering a landmark like this water fall right near by.

Back side of Tumbledown

Bailey has a small health issue--a limp in his front leg that probably happened when he was playing too hard at Sharon's daycare--so I avoided dragging him up a mountain side. Instead, we walked the roads on the back side of Tumbledown for an hour. First, we dropped off laundry in Weld and then drove around the lake to the West Brook road. With the big rains a week ago, the gravel road heading off toward Tumbledown had been washed out. We took an alternative route and landed on a cut-off to Tumbledown. Bailey got a chance to wade into a river to cool his aching bones. The view, captured with my new el-cheapo TracPhone phone doesn't do justice the beauty... but it gives you an idea of what western Maine has to offer for mountain views.

Breaking News: Dog Loves Bone... a gift from our friends, Peggy & Jimmy Hegedus

Bigger than a Buick!
Remember: Click on pictures to enlarge.

Now they qualify as "Aunt" Peggy and "Uncle" Jimmy, parents of Jim Hegedus, my former UMaine student and advisee... who also happened to be one extraordinary runner... and a person we lost way too soon.

Jim Hegedus in class at UMaine, 2004

As they have in the past, Peggy and Jimmy sent me one of Jim's Memorial 5K t-shirts. Added to the package was a huge bone for Bailey. Here's a dog that eats sticks, but he looked at this mega bone and wondered, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Do I eat something this big? 

We'd just finished a local hike, and we were both hungry. Consequently, it didn't take Bailey long to figure out that this mega bone was a absolutely delectable. Thanks to Peggy and Jimmy for their kindnesses. I love the t-shirt for its style and flare... and because it reminds me a fabulous student and runner.

Edible? 

 

Oh baby. 

Delicious! 

Hiking the Back Side of Glass Face Mountain (20/60)

Driving down Route 2 through Rumford and Rumford Center, one would never suspect the network of roads that wrap through the tops of the mountains. But they're there. For #20, a new hike, we left from the Andover Road side of Glass Face and hiked up a well-maintained gravel road to the top. Up here Sally and Kenny MacFawn have a quaint "cabin" (it's a full-blown Cape) with views that reach into New Hampshire. To see the full collection of photos from Facebook, just click on this sentence.

Sunday River Ski Resort and the White Mountains.

The King of Glass face

Rumford Mountain Taxi

 

Our Dog Whisperer

Rumford's a great place to live. Mountains, lakes, rivers... and people like Sharon Madore, our local Dog Whisperer... one of Bailey's favorite humans.

Click to enlarge. 

What makes writing easy for you?

This evening, I met my students in Writing in Schools and Colleges. As with every writing class, I begin with a couple of 3-minute quick write activities with the following prompts:

What makes writing hard for you?

What makes writing easy for you?

You can imagine the responses to the "hard" prompt...e.g., not enough time, lack of confidence, trouble getting started, topics (e.g., uninteresting, too emotional), self editing while composing, and more. Then, we move on to the "easy" side of writing. For me, it's always the idea of having an "Anne" and a "Gayle." Anne Wood has been my editor for over 3 decades. She knows exactly the right words to bring out mine. She's taught me the value of "less is more" and almost has me understanding the difference between "like" and "as" (almost). She's also a dear friend. Gayle is a great first reader and her words are honest and immediate--she sees the potential in a piece and generally has a really good eye... Both Anne and Gayle encourage and inspire me to keep putting words on the screen and to stay in my writing room... as Ron Carlson wrote, "The writer's the one who stays in the room."  

Today while writing the "easy" side of the opening prompts, I remembered the gift of an IBM Correcting Selectric II typewriter. These are the machines that allowed the writer to press an X and to back space and erase a letter, word, or entire sentence. What a beautiful thing at the time.

It was about 1980, and I had zero money. I was substitute teaching for $25 a day, coaching soccer and skiing for about $3000 combined, working at Sunday River Ski Resort for $4-$5 per hour, and writing poems ($5 each) and articles ($25 each). I was also in the midst of writing a book called Play On!, a fictionalized account of starting soccer in my home town of Rumford... a paper mill town that still loves its American football.

Back then, I was writing on my grandfather's c. 1950 Underwood typewriter and became blocked while writing Play On! In October, the week of my birthday, the UPS delivery person left a big box at my apartment door. At the time, I was living in subsidized, low rent housing with a lot old people plus a couple of teachers. I opened the box and saw that glorious machine and started writing. I'm pretty sure I've never stopped.

What makes writing easy for me? Computers. I love mine... Black, hard-covered journal books with soft absorbent paper. I also like black fountain pens that have a smooth feel on the page... and i'm also inspired to keep on writing by the memory of a bulky cardboard box leaning against my apartment door, that special typewriter, and a brother's generosity.

Taking time... chatting with my nephew (19/60)

Denny and the girls. 

I don't take the time I should. I'm not sure when this rush-rush way of being happened for me, but... there you have it. For example, this summer after writing through the morning, I tended to cut my fun times short to get back to my work desk. There, I'd peck away on a draft or roll my eyes at the onslaught of email that invaded my inbox. Yesterday, I fought the urge of running home from an afternoon at Weld and enjoyed a leisurely few hours with my sister's son, Denny. We talked about work--he's a vice president at Cisco Systems now!--, his kids, travel, Weld... and his mom, my favorite sister.  It sounds cliché to talk about how rushed life is--but it is for me. I do know people who know how to kick into the leisure mode, but that's just not me right now. Perhaps when the day comes that I leave the university I'll be able to live a writer's life: morning writing, lunch-time email, and afternoon playtime. And the evening? Time for extended conversations and dinners. Sounds good. We'll see if it happens.      

Yes, Gayle... another Whitecap Hike (18/60)

I suppose it's about being able to do it on a moment's notice when I have 2 hours or so to spare. I suppose it's about the mountain views, the little streams, the exercise, and the alone time (not that we writers don't have massive amounts of that each and every day). And, I guess, somewhere tugging at my gut, hiking my backyard mountain is about getting older and knowing that climbing mountains won't always be part of my life's repertoire. It's great to keep collecting these memories. To see the whole slide show of photographs, a lot like all those other Whitecap photos I've posted (Gayle!), just click on this sentence.

  

Grabbing some shade on a lazy hazy August day. 

Hazy western mountains before the storm

New Hike! Hiking the AT | Piazza Rock Trail on Saddleback (18/60)

We had a fun and gentle 3-hour hike on the AT in Rangeley this past Sunday.  To view more pictures, please click on this sentence.

Hiking Glass Face Mountain (17/60)

In our backyard, just beyond Joe's Pond, is Glass face Mountain. I haven't ever been to the top of this mountain, but I went nearby on my mountain bike in the 1990's. This 3 hour and 30 minute hike took on an incredible twist as I thought I'd be bush whacking through the back country only to discover new roads having been built for logging and then .... (this is the hook)... you can read more about it and see more photos by clicking on this sentence!

Joe's Pond with Glass face in the background.
Joe's Pond is about a 45 minute hike from my home. 

Mid-day ice cream cone... (16/60)

Over the past ten years, I've been pretty dedicated to my eating habits. Except for late at night after a glass of wine or during a mindless afternoon meeting of talking heads, I don't snack between meals. But today, a steamy day in Maine with an afternoon Red Sox game on television, I tossed caution to the wind and made myself a two-scoop Black Raspberry Yogurt Ice Cream cone... on a sugar cone no less!

So, for #16, ice cream right smack dab in the middle of the afternoon.