I love it when my turn to blog straddles the November and December holidays. Though it’s dark early and cold often, this time of year puts me in a grateful mood, something to celebrate in these times. It’s easier to ignore the grim headlines and focus on the hopeful ones when I’m in a thankful headspace.
Sunrise at Allen Cove
We spent last weekend in Brooklin, our longtime summer place, which has in recent years also become our Thanksgiving place. It’s intensely quiet in November, and beautiful beyond words. I can spend a whole day mediating on the ever-changing view of the light on the sea, watching for ducks and loons, observing the tide flood in and slip out. And in between, reading good books.
Here are some photos that reflect that beautiful rhythm, some of them of the same places at different times of day, because the view differs by the hour, and I can never make up my mind which I cherish the most.
Mid-afternoon at Allen Cove
An hour later – approaching sunset – at Allen Cove
Naskeag Point on a sunny afternoon. I love how the sea floor looks like a moonscape when the tide is out.
Seaweed of many colors
The hills of Acadia from a distance
Eastern Beach in the early afternoon.
Eastern Beach in the late afternoon shadows
In addition to feeling grateful for the beauty we get to experience on a regular basis here in Maine, I’m grateful for my writing friends who take my breath away with their fine prose, for the people who read my stories, for the editors who make my work better, and for all of you who read and comment on this blog.
Our community is strong and rich and wondrous. Thank you for making it so, and happy holidays to all of you.
Brenda Buchanan sets her novels in and around Portland. Her three-book Joe Gale series features a contemporary newspaper reporter with old-school style who covers the courts and crime beat at the fictional Portland Daily Chronicle. Brenda’s most recent short story, “Cape Jewell” was published in Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025. Her short story, “Means, Motive, and Opportunity,” appeared in the anthology Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories 2021 and received an honorable mention in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022. Her story Assumptions Can Get You Killed was published in Wolfsbane: Best New England Crime Stories 2023.
This is just a stunningly beautiful place. I actually live in Utah, but visited Maine a couple of years ago and really loved it. So I’m on this list. So I know I’m not a “Mainer”, but I sure appreciate the beauty there. Thank you for sharing these pictures. Utah has some beauty of its own, but I love the water and so much of the Maine beauty and vibe. Thank you, thank you. I loved looking at them. Wish it was somewhere easier to get to for me (but, haha, you are probably glad I can’t get there easily to crowd it up). Take care. Happy Holiday.
Jan
Thank you, Jan. I’ve been to Utah, and there are indeed some gorgeous places there. Certainly different than here, but stunning in their own right. I’m glad you enjoyed your time in Maine and hope you do come back. We always make room for people who appreciate, as you say, Maine’s beauty and vibe. Happy holidays to you, too!
Wow. I just looked up Brooklin on a map. When it gets “quiet” in late fall – I agree, Maine just beams.
It really does, Jule. I love the quiet seasons.
Beautifully written, Brenda. We are putting Brooklin on our must visit list!
Thank you!
Love this, Brenda. Your photos and writing always bring me much joy.
Thank you, Sherry! That’s such a nice compliment from you, a friend and writer I admire deeply.
Lovely post, Brenda. Just what I needed to read…and see…during a breaking my cooking.
Kate
Happy to help, my friend. And I’m grateful to you and Kathy and Maureen for all your work to keep this blog and community strong.