Lake Torneträsk, Swedish Lapland.

Vinalhaven, Maine.

Gull galore. Where there's fish there are seagulls, lots of them. People have attempted to count the hair on a head, count the sheep in New Zealand, but I suspect it would be challenging to count the seagulls in Maine. Let's just leave it at 'countless', they really left their mark -more than one mark, and not always a welcome one...

Some roofs from the distance appear to have a sort of weathering, patina, or liken growth which gives them an attractive look. Upon very close inspection with a telephoto lens the nature of the decorative feature is revealed. Life imitates art, or was it art imitates life? However, Jackson Pollock might have gotten the inspiration for his drip paintings from the droppings on the roof of his East Hampton studio? Just saying.

I love Maine, and while it is easy to fall right into the cliche trap, it's just as easy to see why our idea of Maine is usually associated with lobster, seagulls (a woman in Vinalhaven came out of her house asking me whether I was taking pictures of gulls???), fishermen, and the winning combination of coniferous trees and rocks in the fog. Antiquing and perusing flea markets is equally fun, and I like the challenge of spotting a real old buoy among the thousands that are made 'old' for the tourist market. The old ones are pretty pricey, and I'm sure the fishermen shake their heads in disbelief, just as the woman could not fathom why I would take a picture of seagulls. I guess we revere icons, but I'm also drawn to the 'simple' every-day moment, because an accumulation of icons is just that, an accumulation of icons, lacking any context and life.

Painted water at the Risley reservoir, Vernon, CT.

Somewhere in Maine it is 4th of July year round.
Once you enter Maine, there is something in the air and water that make the state feel distinctly Maine. The painter Marsden Hartley felt very strongly about his home state, and for decades he tried to define Maine in his paintings, probably more successfully than any other painter before him.

Hurricane Island, Vinalhaven, Maine at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of Hartley's late paintings that capture the essence of Maine so beautifully.

Cruisin' at the Stockyards, Fort Worth.