Postcard from new England

Well, the Land Rover 'ultimate adventure' ended this day last week, and since then I've been taking a break (and quietly catching up on work) in a remote part of Maine, USA.



Penobscot Bay is one of those places where Americans go to relax, either renting remote summer homes or maybe owning one in a scattered group of communities around this highly-islanded area, only three hours' steaming from Nova Scotia.



There are many strong Irish influences here: I met one woman whose ancestors were six brothers from County Clare who all emigrated here five generations ago. She has the look of the Irish all right, is an artist, and she was working in a small community-owned store cum pizzeria pending the real opening of the holiday season in July, when her gallery will hopefully provide her with her income for the year.

This is also one of those places where you don't lock your doors, or your cars, and nobody goes near them. I remember when Kilcullen was like that, though now a long time ago.

Also, I didn't have cellphone coverage (the local services obviously were too small to have an international agreement with O2), nor internet access beyond the town library some ten miles away, and then only a slow dialup. Hence no back to the Diary until this morning in Boston, and this city's bustle and brash is so far removed in lifestyle that you wonder how 300 miles of a road journey can make such a difference.





Where I was staying was idyllic, but also had an underlying problem which is unfortunately replicated all across the world. A mining company extracting copper in the area ceased operations in the sixties, and in recent years the leachate from its activities has polluted the foreshore, and also some of the wells from which the locals get their water.

It is going to take a lot of money to rectify the problem, and though the US EPA stepped in a couple of years ago, they had to leave when funds dried up. At the moment the local community is working to address the problem, with some help from the company that bought the original mining operation.

Just shows how environmental chickens eventually come home to roost. And do we have any like this in Kilcullen? Hmm ... I can think of two, and one, of course, is the local authority facility at Siliott Hill. The other is NOT the adjoining operation at KTK. So, want to give me your guesses?

As to the origin of the name Penobscot, it is from the local Native American tribe, and there's a neat history of it here.

Anyway, back to what poses for 'normal' from tomorrow. Wonder what's happened in Kilcullen over the last five weeks? Apart from some football and badminton results, and a missive from Tom Horan in Brannockstown, nobody's bothered to tell the Diary. Just goes to show, there's no substitute for walking down the street and looking at the notices in the windows ...

Brian Byrne.