By David Tait, Searsport
It was nearing summer’s end, late in the day, when I first drove down Sears Island’s long, narrow causeway in my little car and began my journey onto the island.
I began walking up the rather long hill, which eventually leveled, until the road turned to dirt and I came upon a meadow clearing, sun streaming onto the surrounding trees as if they were a cathedral shining against the blue.
I felt an energy. A an almost heavenly green energy flowing into my senses. I was the only one around, but I somehow felt one with all creation. That such a place as Sears Island exists is somewhat of a miracle in itself.
I continued on, filled with fresh air and sunshine, to a large rock, and stopped to climb it. Atop the boulder, in silence broken only by birds and insects, a sense of calm filled my soul.
The last of the light was fading from the treetops as I turned back down the road, glad for the moment when the island was kind enough to gently slope downhill. Quickening my step, I arrived at my starting point just as the sun was setting.
To get a closer look, I walked down the steps and saw a great blue heron at the water’s edge. Slowly and quietly I approached, hoping not to startle it. I wanted to take off my shoes and tiptoe at the edge like the heron, but I didn’t have a towel. Instead, I plunged both hands into the water like some metaphorical baptism, wiggling my fingers in the sand.
Driving home, so many thoughts raced through my mind. I tried to imagine heavy construction equipment and large semis passing back and forth on the dilapidated strip connecting the island to the mainland, and couldn’t, and thought that my journey up the rather long hill was a lot like the fight to protect the island.
How can we deny such pleasure and peacefulness to our children and our children’s children? Hopefully future generations will know this beautiful place and know the people who preserved it loved it as much as they will.
Sadly, the meadow that David so powerfully remembers is now the staging ground for heavy-duty trucks engaged in “geothermal” testing. Has the destruction begun even before environmental reviews? – Donna Gold, editor
A project of volunteers who care deeply about Sears Island