݁ ˖𓂃.𖠰

Many thanks to NRCM for including my St. Croix Island photos in their weekly series!

݁ ˖𓂃.𖠰

As I’ve mentioned a few times during this 30‑day challenge, I’ve been taking photos and videos around Downeast Maine — sometimes in lesser‑documented spots like the Musquash Esker Trail, and sometimes in more well‑known places like the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec.

It’s become a small personal project to document the landscapes around me, especially the ones that don’t usually show up in tourist brochures.

For a while, I’d been thinking about contributing some of my photos to Maine conservation or tourism organizations.

Not in a formal way…more like, “If these images resonate with me, maybe they’ll resonate with others too.”

And with my point‑and‑shoot workflow, the hardest part is rarely the photo itself. It’s the driving or the hiking to get to the spot! The epic landscapes do not come to you; you go to them 🥾

One day I noticed that the NRCM website had a feature called My Maine This Week, where members of the public can submit photos.

I had just visited the St. Croix Island International Historic Site and taken some winter photos there, the kind where the cold hits you immediately at the water’s edge.

For the full effect, here’s a short video so you can hear the wind and water.

I submitted two winterscape photos of St. Croix Island, and NRCM included them in their weekly series. I’m genuinely grateful for that. It felt like a small but meaningful way to participate in Maine’s conservation storytelling.

I’m not sure what I’ll end up photographing this spring or summer.

Those aren’t my favorite seasons for wandering around, but weather and terrain can be surprising.

Maybe something will catch my eye again, like a trail, a coastline, or a quiet moment of light. And I’ll follow it.