Update. Fuzlee has entered middle school. That’s where you learn stuff with one parent on one side and one on the other. Photo by Susan Golder

Sept. 10, Arch and I got back from our walk in the morning and brought the dogs to the lake to wash off the mud they'd picked up. We saw a little end of a rainbow that was across the lake. We stood there for 25 minutes, watching the entire bow form. At first we could even see the reflection in the water. Then raindrops began to arrive too. There is a hint of a second bow on the left side. Spectacular. We said a prayer thanking God for his sign that he makes all things new.

12 local residents met last Saturday to form a new group to help protect and preserve wildlife and water quality of Lake Keewaydin. If you are interested in joining Friends of Lake Keewaydin please contact Adam Helm at adamfhelm@gmail.com.

September has opened with an abundance of delicate late-summer wildflowers. As accustomed as we have become to big, elaborate cultivated and hybrid flowers, it can take time to learn to appreciate the delicate, diminutive beauty of wild flowers. The brilliant gold, yellow, white and purple of the native plants currently flowering in our yards and woods and buzzing with many fascinating varieties of native pollinators invite closer inspection.

Two of the loveliest early fall wildflowers are the golden rods and asters. There are several native varieties of each around Lake Keewaydin. The native golden rods offer sweet nectar and an abundance of high protein pollen that attracts over 100 butterfly and moth species. It’s many seeds feed juncos, sparrows and finches in the fall and winter. Interestingly, goldenrods are short-day plants, whose flowering is triggered by the length of unbroken nighttime darkness that the plant is exposed to. Even a few minutes of artificial light during the night will prevent flowering! Who knew the dark was so important to the survival of native flowers, bees and birds?

The lovely hues of the wild asters with their white, lavender and blue petals and glowing pink and yellow centers aptly get their name from the ancient Greek word for star. And while each star-like flower may seem to be a single blossom, each is actually a composite flower head of many florets. The outer, strap-like florets surround many smaller, circular florets that make up the central disk. The entire flower head may move throughout the day tracking the sun, not for energy but to maximize its reflectivity and attract more pollinators. The inter-connectivity of sun, wild flowers, bees and butterflies, birds and other animals is as astonishing and humbling to contemplate as the starry night sky over Lake Keewaydin.

Betsy Hiteshew, Professor Emeritus from Santa Monica College, has been coming to Lake Keewaydin for 92 plus years. In her own words, “I was conceived here.” Each summer she makes the long trip from California to Maine. I sat down at her breakfast table and she recalled some childhood memories.

“I don't remember when it was built. In the 70's I would say.

My father (Richard Andrews) designed and built it himself, after much experimentation and study of the journals from the British outfit The Amateur Yacht Research Society. He made many models of boat hulls of different shapes and floated them in the bathtub before choosing the final shape. He chose the trimaran based on outriggers used in the South Seas.

The boat is very fast because it has so little hull in the water to create drag, but also is as stable as a much wider boat because of the outriggers, and can therefore carry a very large sail and jib. The boat sails well in light winds, and in a strong wind can beat a motorboat. My father, who was a big man, could walk around on the struts and outriggers while under sail.

The main hull is just barely wide enough for two people to sleep in, end to end, when cruising on the ocean. My father measured us to be sure we'd fit. He could get the boat onto the trailer by himself with a winch, and the distance from "elbow" to "elbow" when the pontoons are folded in is the exact width allowed through a toll booth.”

“The boat is named the Mary J, after my mother, Mary Joan. My father kept a journal of all voyages.”

Wednesday, Taibitha Day and Carol-lee Lane removed the stand of Japanese Knotweed encroaching on the Keewaydin dam waterway. Highly invasive, Japanese knotweed threatens water quality, native habitat and natural landscapes throughout Maine. Removal is tricky, and must be done by hand, as any small piece of stem or leaf can root to form a new plant. The two founding members of the Keewaydin Invasive Species Squad, filled 15 trash bags as a service project to celebrate Tabitha’s graduation from Unity College with a degree in botany. They hope to encourage others to join them in identifying and removing invasive species in the lake area.

Special thanks also goes to Lucia Owen and John who helped haul the bags to the dump.

If you are a little breed like me you might get a bit intimidated when you see a giant Chesapeake Bay Retriever like Chester Randall striding like an Olympic athelete up Ban Grover Road. You may even get a little scared and bark at the big behemoth. Waste of time and energy. Chester has no time for nippy little dogs with their nippy little squabbles.He has a bigger fish to fry—furry green round, Wilson, fish that his owner Debbie Randall slings with her special tennis ball thrower. You see Chester loves ball and he loves to swim. Click on the video below to see Chester in action. Follow this link to find out more about Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/chesapeake-bay-retriever/

Holly Campbell , a former resident of Checkerberry Cove on Ban Grover Road, sent these amazing images of the most stunning sunset taken on her last night at Checkerberry Cove.

Becky and her mother Karen Conroy have been coming to Lake Keewaydin for 21 years. Back again this year.

Debbie Owen, resident of Ban Grover Road and member of the Boston Cantata singing group, sings the song composed by Dortothy Chang for her granddaughter. An ode to a new baby born in the year of Covid.