…’tis a column about this column

The fact that it is almost a full year since my column first appeared in The Original Irregular got me to thinking about this twice-monthly effort on my part to engage you. This past year has been easily the most satisfying for me, of the seven years my column North by NorthEast has had its voice here in the western mountains and lakes region of Maine.

I have to say up front that Heidi Murphy and her fine staff have provided a very compatible and supportive home for my writing, given that it is such a professional and attractive weekly news and information source for these parts. As regular readers, you already know that The Irregular is a thoughtful newspaper that is very sensitive to the needs and perspectives of the region, while also maintaining an all-important good sense of humor…delivered appropriately, and as needed.

So, you might ask, what’s with the name North by NorthEast? Well, it really goes back to 1971, when I entered Maine for the first time. It was a camping trip with fellow soldiers that first spring that I was stationed at the U.S. Army’s Natick Laboratories in Massachusetts. My first night in Maine was as it should have been… in a tent in the woods.

Unless one is born here, I think you will agree that about 99 percent of the rest of us first entered the state of Maine by crossing one of the bridges from Portsmouth, N.H. to Kittery. That, of course, would make us bridge crossers “from away.” For whatever reason, I have always considered that Kittery entry-point to be at the center of an old, and beautifully ornate “compass rose,” with north running directly up the Maine/New Hampshire border, of course.

A compass rose is an element of a map that shows direction as related to that map or nautical chart. On antique maps they were often works of art, showing 16 or even 32 cardinal directions. North North East (NNE) would essentially be the direction on a 16-point rose from that Kittery center-point that would intersect this cherished western lakes and mountains region. I have always liked the traditional way that explorers and mariners would refer to this direction… North by NorthEast. Superimposing that title on an antique compass rose seems to add a nice effect, don’t you agree?

Staying with that theme, you might say that the content of my columns seem to be “all over the map.” On one level, that is true. Lots of things interest me. On another, I would submit that they are consistent… in that they are all conversations with you, the reading audience. I throw out a topic that has been on my mind for you to consider, and hopefully it engages you to react or reflect on it. It is not a true conversation in the strict sense of a verbal give and take between two individuals; however I like to think that our respective thoughts and perspectives on a given topic are engaged on some positive and constructive level. At least that is my hope.

Looking back at my first column appearing in The Irregular early last February, I was pleased that it focused on a conversation that I had in Durham, N.C. a week or so earlier. It was with 94-year old John Hope Franklin, the eminent historian of the black experience in America. I was privileged to have that conversation at the kitchen table of such an impressive, yet cordial and unassuming, American icon.

Within a month of that conversation and its subsequent column, I had another memorable conversation, this time with local skiing legend, Roger Page. The subsequent two columns were fashioned from my dozen or so pages of notes I made as Roger recounted his colorful life as we sat in the comfortable, memorabilia-ridden office area at the back of his shop on Rangeley’s Main Street.

I hope to be able to recount other cherished conversations in coming columns. There are so many interesting stories housed in the colorful elders living in this colorful corner of the state. Yet, if not from a direct conversation, it shall continue to be my mission to try to engage you with whatever is rattling around in my head on a given week that I deem of sufficient worthiness to put it into print for you to ponder, reflect upon, or react to.

As a supplement to the words, I often like to include a photograph I have taken, that hopefully adds a visual element for your pondering or reacting pleasure, as well. I have always enjoyed taking photographs, and appreciating the works of accomplished photographers.

The photos I include with my columns are images that

I hope add another positive dimension to your reading and reacting experience. They are by no means great photographic works of art. They are simply there to complement the content of that column.

A case in point is the photograph I have included with this column. It shows two chairs that have for over 20 years, been “rockers-in-residence” on our screened porch overlooking the pond. These rockers have fostered countless enjoyable conversations since they were pressed into service 20-plus years ago. They are now patiently waiting for a few warm spring days to begin their three-season duties as “conversation catalysts” once again.

In like manner, I hope my columns will serve each of you as catalysts for positive and/or constructive pondering, reacting, or just plain enjoyable reflecting. I thank you for the privilege of giving it my best anyway… a couple of times each month.

“We need to write, otherwise nobody will know who we are,” Garrison Keillor.

Per usual, your thoughts and comments are welcome. Jot them down, and slip them inside the log door on our mudroom on the west shore of Gull Pond… an accompanying photo or two to illustrate your points would be welcome add-ons. Or simply launch an email to allenwicken@ yahoo.com.