Farmers' Markets are coming! Starting the third full week of May, the Boothbay Area's FM will be set up on the Town Commons, on Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. to noon until Oct. 4.. Call Dan Heydon, 563-1076 or mushroom@lincoln.midcoast.com. In Damariscotta, on the DRA grounds, the FM will be open on Fridays, 9:00 a.m. to noon (and from June 19 through August, it will be open also on Mondays, 9:00 a.m. to noon) through October.
The Edgecomb Historical Society performed its Rites of Spring by bouncing around the Schmid Preserve's cluster of long-ago mica mines. One piece of graphic granite we turned over had a whole colony of translucent little yellow ants milling around. Gently, we replaced it so they could go on about their business. But were they a distinct species of ant none of us had ever seen before? Or an immature form of a perfectly unremarkable Maine ant? We need a few entomologists on our mailing list!
Let me tell you what I found about mica and fel[d]spar in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition (1911, which is where my expertise on anything stops!): The variety of mica found in our parts is probably more properly called Muscovite, and was once used instead of glass in stove, furnace and lantern windows, and the chimneys of lamps and gas-burners. Even longer ago it was used for house windows and the portholes of ships. To quote from EB1911, "Powdered mica is also used in the manufacture of paints and paper, as a lubricant, and as an absorbent of nitro-glycerine and disinfectants. Sheets of mica are used as a surface for painting... for lantern slides, for carrying photographic films, as a protective covering for pictures and historical documents, for mounting soft and collapsible natural history specimens preserved in spirit, for the vanes of anemometers, mirrors of delicate physical instruments, for various optical purposes. Being a bad conductor of heat it is used for the packing and jackets of boilers and steam-pipes. Other applications depend on the strength of its resistance to acids. The most extensive application of mica at the present day is for electrical purposes. Being a bad conductor of electricity, it is of value as an insulator, and the smooth flexible sheets are much used in the construction of armatures of dynamos and in other electrical machinery."
Mica occurs as a component of any igneous rock; for instance, in granite, it's the sparkle. Locally, it is often found in association with feldspar, which has been used in the manufacture of porcelain because of its fusibility. As feldspar breaks down chemically, it yields kaolin, the pure white china-clay. Highly translucent porcelain, known as "ivory porcelain" has a large proportion of feldspar in it. It is also an important constituent of most ceramic glazes, and was once used in the making of false teeth. Anyone wanting more current data can go to Wikipedia!
As a result of the above adventure, and still buoyed up by our success at having a marine botanist and a marine molluscologist (is that a genuine discipline?), EHS will plan to invite geologists, paleontologists and archaeologists to grace our meetings in future. Any suggestions? Any volunteers?
The Fort Edgecomb Bicentennial Committee will have a small but select silent auction table at the Town Meeting on May 17, at the Edgecomb Eddy School, from 10:00 a.m. to noon or whenever we stop debating. Our thanks to donors of items to our first such effort, which netted us over $1,300! for letting us stockpile unsold wares for this "intravaganza."
Congratulations, Dominic Lombardo, who graduated April 18 as a Delta Company Honor Graduate from the U.S. Marines' boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, ranked as the most outstanding and motivated Marine among his cadre of 400.
And congratulations, Roger Bintliff, who was recently honored by the Marine Corps League, Department of Maine for his "Project Recognition," which has treated 20 military families with their service members to a week of relaxation at the Sheepscot River Inn Resort. Next year, Roger says, he will extend hospitality to 40 such families.
Boothbay Region Land Trust is now seeking applications for Barge-McKee Education Fund scholarships for 2008. Applicants can be from Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Edgecomb. There is no age limit and the scholarship funds can be used to attend colleges, schools, camps and conferences involved in the scientific study of the environment. Scholarships have ranged from $100 to $1,000, and have been granted to dozens of students for studies all over this country and abroad. The scholarships are awarded annually, and depending on each year's applications, can go to one or more students.
Interested applicants are asked to write a letter to BRLT explaining the program they wish to attend, their planned course of study, what they hope to learn and how the program is related to the environment. The deadline is May 9th. Letters should be sent to the Education Committee, Boothbay Region Land Trust, P.O. Box 183, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538. For more information on BRLT, visit www.bbrlt.org.
This Saturday, Morris Farm is holding its 12th Annual Contradance, 7:30 to 10:00 p.m., following an informal potluck dinner, if you wish to participate, from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. Admission to the dance is $10, free beverages and nibbles. For details, call the Farm at 882-4080.
The Damariscotta River Association is offering a student internship this summer, for a 2008 highschool graduate or college student who is interested in ecology and conservation education for children in this region. It would be the ideal job training for future teachers, naturalists, biologists and other similar careers. Call 563-1393, e-mail dra@dracltorg, or go to DRA's webpage, www.draclt.org for the details.
Safety in the home, I don't think! Last week, my spouse went down cellar to turn off lights on the seed flats, and missed a step, breaking his shoulder blade and a couple of ribs. Our hearty thanks to Dr. David Millay and the staff of St. Andrew's Emergency Room for the speedy diagnosis, X-rays, etc. Bones knitting nicely at 234 River Road, 633-2978, jocam@midcoast.com. This column appears in several local papers, and at www.Edgecomb.org.