Seeing as the rain’s let up, I thought I’d provide a helpful guide to summer recreation on Swan’s Island. We offer something for everyone: sailing, strolling, beachcombing, kayaking, jogging, swimming and even (a personal favorite) sitting around just looking at things.
The trick to really enjoying Swan’s Island is to befriend someone who lives here. I don’t count, because I don’t dare give away any details. But there are neat little places all over the island that require either a knowledgeable guide or a willingness to get very lost. I personally think this makes them that much more exciting.
There are a few island beaches that are particularly popular and accessible. There are those that don’t allow dogs, which have signs saying “no dogs.” Then there are those that do allow dogs, which have signs saying “no dogs” but which don’t have any other cars parked nearby.
You can camp, but naturally you ought to ask someone if you can use their property first. You must never start a campfire on Swan’s Island. Many of our trees are short-lived since their roots don’t have far to go before they hit granite. Therefore they’ve developed the habit of transforming into kindling at an alarming rate.
If you’re looking to motivate yourself to exercise, beautiful island scenery is powerful incentive. There are sandy parts, rocky parts and forest paths whose moss stays green all winter. On one memorable shoreline walk I interrupted a lady in the process of skinny-dipping. She was far enough away to remain anonymous, but I had to take the long way back to my car out of embarrassment. If you’re reading this, m’am, I didn’t see anything!
Many forms of island entertainment haven’t changed all that much over the years, though they’ve been mixed in with other things. Island kids who grew up before the days of digital entertainment had to resort more exclusively to their own imaginations.
Childhood playmates Donna Donley and Bonnie Holmes told me about the mischief they used to get up to. They swam in the quarry, roamed on their bikes, picked blueberries, and hung around the hotdog stand on the crossroads.
Donna remembered playing with her pal Helen LeMoine in the summer:
“We used to go clamming and there was this little hut down on the shore right where the quarry wharf is, over to the side. We’d steam the clams and eat them, have popcorn, and that was our little camp.”
Bonnie played in old henhouse in her backyard. “I’d go ask my mother if I could have some flour,” she said. “I wanted to cook. So I’d get some water and mix up the flour and pretend I was keeping house. There were spider webs everywhere and it smelled, and—oh! I had a good time by myself, playing in that old chicken coop.”
“We had a beautiful tree in our yard. A red maple,” Donna remembered. “It had a branch that came way out and I remember getting up in that tree, hanging from my legs just by my knees, my arms just swaying back and forth.”
The girls used to climb a tree in Bonnie’s front yard and play a little game with one of the island’s old characters, Harry Gott.
“He’d walk by,” Donna said. “He supposedly was deaf.”
“And he’d walk with a cane,” Bonnie added. “And he walked really, really slow.
“And we’d get up in a tree and say, ‘Hi, Harry.’ He’d go, ‘Hi.’ And we’d wait till he got a little ways away and we’d go [quieter] ‘Hi, Harry,’ our voices getting softer and softer and softer. And he’d lift up his cane and keep walking. We’d go [whispering] ‘Hi Harry.’ And up the cane would go. It’s amazing. He could hear us till he got almost around the corner. And we’re laughing. We thought it was funny!”
Here’s to many more imaginative island summers!
Kaitlin Webber is an Island Fellow on Swan’s Island through AmeriCorps and the Island Institute.