Nature's spirit

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks     John Muir

AUBURN, Maine - You can sometimes hear the clanging of picks and shovels off in the distance as you make your way up the mile-and-half trail to Mt. Apatite - a slice a heaven located next to the National Guard Armory.

Besides the park's natural beauty and challenging trails, the mountain's eye-opening quarries, which were mined for commercial feldspar during the 1900s, are teaming with catfish and the huge blocks of stone are lined with majestic trees.

My son and I spent Easter Sunday afternoon roaming the woods and getting lost for about 20 minutes as we headed away from the huge quarries.  Since this family is dry-docked on poverty row thanks to an inept Congress, greedy speculators and traders and poor leadership at the top, we decided to ponder our fate in the woods.

I didn't panic and neither did my son, who acted as a guide as these two lost souls made their way back to the quarries without incident or having to make an embarrassing cell phone call to authorities.

We bumped into a couple of older gentlemen who spent the afternoon with pick and shovel, looking for rare stones. There are many amateurs who spend hours on the mountain digging for precious minerals. These fine gentlemen could easily pass for determined miners out to strike it rich. My next-door neighbor, Dan, also spends his time pounding away at the rocky soil on Mt. Apatite. He is an amateur geologist who would give a professional a run for his money.

As we hiked around the park for the first time this year, we noticed small patches of snow holding out in the shady areas of the park. Most of the lowlands were flooded by runoff and relentless April showers. The trails were muddy and small streams of water cut through the paths, making it slippery going for hikers on a mission to get  to the quarries.

Environmentalist John Muir believed nature could also serve as a place to worship. While I am not a religious person, the long hikes with my son and being surrounded by the pristine woods often serves as my cathedral and a way to strengthen my bonds with my family and nature's magnificence.

After setting our compass straight, this duo found themselves back at the edge of the quarries' dangerous cliffs. There is about a 30-foot drop to the cold and murky waters below. This is also the perfect perch to lob giant boulders into the water. Suddenly, I am like a rambunctious teen. I joined my 14-year-old son as we bombarded the still water below.

As we prowled the cliffs, another hiker came upon a large brown porcupine cleaning itself on a ledge below the cliffs. Anthony and I moved in closer to snap a picture and take

some footage our prickly friend, which was a bit unnerved as we snuck up on him to take a bird's-eye view of this remarkable creature.

Anthony and I downed our flavored water and watched catfish swim around the flooded quarries before reluctantly heading down the mountain after our two-hour visit with nature.

I have been taking to the woods for years with my young son, and I have come to understand what Mr. Muir felt when he said," Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."

Two hours on a quiet mountain with my son was enough to lift my spirits and rejuvenate my soul.

Going to the prom

PORTLAND, Maine — The long walks allow us to open up with each other, inhale the soothing sea breezes and marvel at enormous cruise ships quietly slipping into Casco Bay

It is a mecca for out-of-breath joggers and hard-core walkers who enjoy traversing the Eastern Promenade's winding trails in the cooling salt air. The Eastern Prom also serves as an outdoor gym for numerous canines that dash across the hilly terrain that rises above a small rocky beach.

For mariners who can afford the gas — or the boat for that matter — dropping your vessel in the water at a launch and heading for open waters makes us all wish we were asked to come aboard and travel around Casco Bay. The harbor certainly puts on quite a show with sailboat races and enormous cruise ships drifting around the harbor.

For this family of three, the Eastern Prom and its next-door neighbor, the Old Port, gives us an excuse to pack a lunch, find a secluded park bench above the tranquil beach and just stare at Portland harbor's vastness without the interruption of an annoying cell phone, laptop or the television set.

Who needs technology when nature's allure and splendor make any social network on the Internet seem boring and inane.

The Prom is an inner-city refuge that delivers all of us from a planet enveloped in endless wars, hate and economic upheaval.

If you got the gas money and don't mind packing food, this is a cheap date with nature. After a three-mile hike around the prom, get the chow line going, open a book and find a shady tree. Do some people watching while you turn the pages of your book.

A park with a past

Besides the stunning views of Casco Bay, the Prom is sprinkled with history. There are two Civil War cannons perched on the grass. Below the two cannon is a gazebo and a breach-loading cannon from the "Maine," which was sunk in Havana Harbor and triggered the Spanish American War.

To the left of the gazebo is a giant mast surrounded by a gray deck rail from the U.S.S. Portland, a heavy cruiser that was built in Quincy, Mass., and commissioned in Boston in 1933. The World War II ship saw action at Coral Sea, Midway, the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal and Okinawa. Leaning against the old ship's deck wall and staring up at the tall mast allows anybody with an appreciation of old battle wagons to step back into its glorious past.

 

Other historical plaques can be viewed during walks on the trails that line the park.

Across the harbor, you can see Fort Gorges lodged in the middle of the bay. The Civil War-era fort was completed in 1865 and it was modernized in 1869, but was not garrisoned even though 10-inch Rodman guns were installed there. Fort Gorges was acquired by the City of Portland in 1960. The only way to visit the fort is by small boat.

The Eastern Prom is a historic park that rings around the Munjoy Hill neighborhood in Portland. The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum is located there. A vintage train still transports tourists along the promenade.

Good place to park yourself

I was raised in a seacoast community, and that is why the Eastern Prom holds a special place in my seagoing heart. You don't need money to enjoy a park that offers every citizen something without wringing your wallet dry.

This family becomes certified beach bums and avid hikers. The television is often ignored while my son and I battle the surf at Popham Beach on searing summer days.

Newspaperman Horace Greeley once said, "Go west, young man."

But this clan would rather go East and spend their day on the Eastern Prom — a park that only demands that you enjoy yourself — at least for the afternoon.

1. 
   

Close it down

Wait, wait, wait! 

Don't shut down the government!

Close down Congress for several weeks, turn out the lights in the White House and allow the president to head to the links to improve his golf game. Let's throw the lobbyists out of town and invite a handful of educated constituents who know how to compromise, think on their feet, make informed decisions, and call the shots. Common sense is definitely a prerequisite for those who want to right this sinking nation.

We are not asking for much other than cooperation from elected officials, especially a handful who apparently flunked fifth-grade history and couldn't pass a basic American trivia quiz.

Sarah Palin told an audience that Ronald Reagan graduated California's Eureka College. Reagan matriculated from Eureka College in Eureka, Ill. Rep Michele Bachmann made a real boo-boo when she said the "the shot heard around the world" occurred in Concord, N.H. According to Map Quest, she was only off by 71.5 miles. That shot was first heard in Concord, Mass. Bachmann has been on a roll, saying that the nation's founding fathers worked to end slavery. Our founding fathers owned slaves and it wasn't until the Emancipation Proclamation that blacks were freed in 1863. She topped it off by saying she wanted to thank the people of Idaho for her visit. She was in Iowa. 

Oops!

The sideshows in Congress are a wonder to behold. My favorite is the tears of a clown - John Boehner who cries needlessly at the drop of hat. Quick, get that guy a hanky.

And there is the president trying to sell us on our fireworks display in Libya, telling us all this intense bombing campaign was a humanitarian venture to protect Libyans from their leader. I guess the citizens of the Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia aren't that important - for the moment. As long as there is oil in your backyard, America will come to your aid - because we really care - about the oil.

Here in the Pine Tree State, we have a governor who fancies himself an art critic. A dispute over the removal of harmless mural erupted at the State House and consumed his administration. What a public relations disaster for Maine's leader, who can't seem to pick his political fights wisely. Where was his staff on this one?

What is transpiring in Washington is simply absurd, inept and really insane. Congress has got a twisted agenda, which obviously doesn't include their constituents' welfare. Both political parties are to blame should the government stop doing business after Friday.

While these 535 lawmakers, although I wouldn't call them that, haggle and finger point, the country continues to perform like the hapless Red Sox this season.

This is a nation that gave away good paying jobs to China, celebrates celebrity to the extreme, blames teachers for society's woes, and meddles in the Middle East whenever our oil supply is threatened.

The United States has been coming undone for nearly five years and many citizens have become disenfranchised thanks to leaders whose only concern is themselves.

There is no excuse for this stalemate. Just remember that when you head to the polls in 2012. Think about the guys and gals up on the HIll. They all had a big hand in weakening a nation and turning a deaf ear to their citizens.

What's the difference if the government closes up shop, anyway.

America hasn't been in business for years. We have been giving the store away for decades - and now there is nothing left and all the bills have come due.

Save the Olympia

Olympia

What shall be done with such a mass of floating steel?

Should she be sunk to become another ocean meal?

For though she belongs to us, we belong to her.

And if they say she should be scrapped, I cannot concur

For across the seas and in the enemy's grasp, she sailed to them and let loose her mighty blast.

And when this cruiser at last avenged the Maine, she sailed herself and America onto better fame.

And when she brought our last soldier home in the fall of '21, this great deed, we all know, did not go unsung

And when our children ask, where is this brave ship now, will we tell them where and will we tell them how?

Even though she survived her wars, the enemy sinking her not.

Is it our American duty just to let her rot?

And though you may sink her, or tear her up for scrap, you will not destroy her legacy or find it in that trap.

And posterity will read of her and think of her with pride. Will they see her at the wharf, as Philadelphia pride?

- Anthony P. Blasi, 2011

"A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace."

                                                  - President Theodore Roosevelt, 2 December 1902, second annual message to Congress.

AUBURN, Maine - Anthony's passion for ships and boats began when he cast his oversized plastic vessels into the sea and watched them being tossed about by large waves at various beaches across New England.

He would study the toy ocean-going vessels being pummeled by breaking waves at Popham and Revere beaches. This 4 year old found it fascinating as the ocean's force capsized his fleet over and over again. He would marvel at how some of his boats would slowly sink to the bottom of the raging waters. 

Although he was still fascinated with cars, planes and trains, Anthony was eventually consumed by his passion for ships and the sea itself.

The years would pass, but his fascination of ships, particularly naval vessels, grew as well as his love of the ocean and all its sweet mysteries.

He began reading book after book about sailing ships and then set his sights on the world's navies and their amazing and destructive warships. The introduction of ironclads and the construction dreadnoughts between 1870 and 1920 fueled his passion to learn more about these behemoths and their deadly force.

Anthony also embarked on building his own fleet of Lego and plastic model warships, organizing battles between these toy fleets on our parlor floor. He would bring his Lego ships to the ocean and navigate the vessels on the tranquil seas as parents gathered to watch this young man let his fleet loose upon the world's oceans.

During our visits to the waterfront in Portland, we visited the U.S. Coast Guard's training ship, "Eagle," which was a Nazi vessel that America received for war reparations. We have seen huge cruise ships and toured the U.S.S. Cassin Young and the U.S. Constitution in Boston.

But his particular interest in dreadnoughts steered him to great warships like the Cruiser Olympia, which was Admiral Dewey's flagship during the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish American War and also saw action during World War I. He created the Olympia out of Legos and sailed his toy masterpiece in pools and on the high seas.

He was astounded to learn that this great ship with a storied history was in danger of being scrapped because of a poor economy and lack of funds to preserve the Olympia.

His disgust prompted him to write a poem entitle "Olympia" about her uncertain fate for a classroom project. 

I am forwarding this article to the Independence Seacoast Museum in Philadelphia to demonstrate our support for this great ship.

The Olympia is a wonderful piece of American history, and it would be a travesty to see this great ship drift into obscurity without a fight to save her from the scrap heap.