In Maine: Essays on Life's Seasons

by John Cole

John Cole wrote with passion about his life, the outdoors, and the glorious rhythms of nature. In Maine , like all his essays and books, draws from his lifelong partnership and his fascination with the natural world from commercial fishing in the waters off Long Island, New York, to chasing stripers in Casco Bay, Maine, to quietly observing the shifting winds that roll across the local meadow and the annual change of seasons, a ritual he finds exhilarating. "Few realities life can muster are capable of destroying the zest and richness of September and October in this northeast," he writes. Cole has gained insight and contemplated potential lessons during his journey. He notes the changes that have come to the world and those that are coming. And he laments the basics of nature that too often pass unnoticed today, but remain important parts of our past and possibly our future. "Men cannot live without knowing... knowing which way the wind blows, which way the rain falls, how the sea surges, the land lives and the forest dies." To do so, he says, is unnatural.

Genres: Essays

172 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2019

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Susan Emmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a long time fan of John Cole (and Peter Cox and the Maine Times), I needed to return to his essays which have been re-issued in paperback in 2019. It is the time he often focuses on, the change from summer to fall, when the changing winds signal so many changes in nature.
I also grew up near where Cole did, along the water on the northern and eastern shores of Long Island.
His memories of fishing, birding, hunting, shooting, rowing, settling in for seasons, paying attention to natural rhythms and fluctuations, as well as his utter love for all that taught him, continue to amaze me.
In this time of young people demanding attention to climate change, to political tomfoolery and corruption, to the need to PAY ATTENTION to what's in front of you - all this brings me back to the Maine Times and its important work in seeing and warning and pushing people to think and feel and act.
Such a fine anthology. Well worth reading now. Plus it's a quiet book in many ways.

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of essays on nature, fishing, Maine, and home. The essays were originally newspaper columns in the Maine Times, and my only critique is that they should have included the original publication date for context.

[Marie B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a love letter to Maine, a perfect read while in Maine. It reminds me of another love letter but to Cape Cod called The Outermost House.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

delightful essays about the little things in life !

[Jim Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written stories and reminiscences of a life lived in coastal Maine. Recommended for Mainers and wannabe Mainers. Full review: http://bit.ly/InMaineReview