Back To The Other Coast…

More pictures from our trips to York, ME that I’m using as inspiration for my fictional town, Landry.

The Old Gaol stands in the heart of the village and is the oldest in the country. Originally, a royal prison was built in 1656 for the Province of Maine in the Village of York, and then this building replaced the old one in 1719, using some of the old one’s timber. The story of The Old Gaol can be found here.



This photo shows the old burying yard with Jefferd’s Tavern (the saltbox, 1750) and the schoolhouse (1745) in the background. Both buildings were moved to the village in order to save them.



This one doesn’t need a lot of explanation…lobster pots, buoys, and supplies on York River.



And a couple of birds…Perhaps those of you on the East Coast could help me out here--pretty please? The red one is a Cardinal, right? But the brown one? Don’t know that one.






Okay, back to revising and polishing. How’s your writing going?

Hope you’re all doing well!

Michele

A Walk On a Moody Saturday

Last Saturday, we headed back down to the wetlands to stretch our legs and clear our heads. A storm was blowing in off the ocean, so the dark and moody lighting mixed with the chilly weather made for a completely different experience than the last time I posted about the reserve.

Since it was low tide this time, hundreds of birds were feeding before the storm hit.

Also, there's one point where we're on the bluff and you can see a rusted track on the right of the screen with plants growing around it. That used to be a track for a gun turret during WWII, as the area was a bunker that guarded the coast: Port of Los Angeles. A couple of those turret tracks still exist on the bluff.

And the road the cars are speeding down is Pacific Coast Highway.

My husband took video of our walk with our little Sony point and shoot and set it to The Hush Sound's "Lighthouse"...No lighthouses are to be found, though. :-)

By the way, today it's 72 degrees F. here. Go figure.

Hope you're all doing well!

Michele



Saturday from eric cwiertny on Vimeo.

York River

Here are a couple more photos from our summer trip, which I'm using for inspiration in Book One.

The first one is of the Victorian house we rented for the week in York Harbor...And I have to tell you, we ALL cried when we had to leave the place. Seriously. This was one of those family vacations I've told you about previously where our parents brothers, sisters, in-laws, and my brother-in-law's in-laws all meet up and spend a week or more together. And we have sooo much fun! That particular year it was York, ME. And this is where we stayed...



And this the view from the porch of the house, overlooking York River:



How can you not relax with a view like that? THAT right there...is the way life should be.

Michele

Same Town, Different Moods

Hi everyone,
I’ve been deep in “the revision zone.” So, I thought over the next few blogs, I’d post some photos in order to show you what has been a source of inspiration for my stories. These photos were taken during two separate trips to York, ME: 1) during the first week of July 2004 trip, and 2) during the first week of April 2007.

What’s so cool is that both trips were completely different experiences, and I loved them both. And even better: Book One of my paranormal trilogy starts at the beginning of summer, so I have experience dealing first-hand with the crowds on the Fourth of July, the bumper to bumper cars on Route 1 from Kittery to Kennebunkport, the battles for parking in nearly all of the villages and towns, and the lines out the door in the restaurants. The slight chill in the air, then the humidity, and the thunderstorms and lightning that reminded me of something I'd seen only in movies previously. And the Mosquitos, with a capital M. But not only that, I’ve tasted and fell in love with the lobster rolls, fried clams, chicken bombs, and blueberry pies.

(Short Sands...York Beach, ME)












And by Book Three, my story is set in the dead of winter and finishes at the very beginning of spring. As you can see by these photos, most of the town shuts down in the off-season, which is virtually unheard of out here in California. It looked like a ghost town…Sooo different than the summer! Signs were pulled off the buildings, windows boarded up and paint was peeling. No battling for parking and no waiting in restaurants.

A few of the local businesses remain open year-round, so it’s not completely closed down every winter. And the week we were there was the week before the official season began; therefore, one day a business would be closed, but the next, the shades would be up and the neon sign lit. Kinda of like watching a sleepy town stretch and yawn after a long nap then blink a couple of times as it started to wake up before company began to arrive. But the guests wouldn’t pour in early that year, as winter made its appearance late and the snow kept on comin’. Not being used to that kind of lung-freezing chill, we couldn’t wear enough layers of clothing. But damn, the town was gorgeous and moody!

Same town, two completely different views of it. Different moods, different atmospheres.

Do you look at your old photos for inspiration?

Hope you're all doing well!

Michele

P.S. If you'd like to join me, I'm also blogging over at A Slice of Orange today! :-)