Sullivan, Maine

My parents live on an estuary called the Taunton River. It really isn't a river at all, but a narrows where the ocean's salt water ebbs and flows with the changing tides. At the head is Hog Bay, named for the domestic pigs that would wallow in the mud at low tide. It's just a short walk down the hill to the estuary, through the Gordon Cemetery. My parents purchased their home from the Gordon family. This headstone is for Admiral Judson Gordon, who died in New Orleans July 27, 1862. The headstone made reference to the fact that Judson answered his country's call to duty and died far from home. Though I do not know the details of this individual, some research informed me that the Battle of New Orleans was a pivotal Union victory in the Civil War. The battle was fought months before, so I can only wonder if Judson received a wound that much later proved fatal, or it he just perished of disease or some other cause, at the young age of 29 years and 4 months while serving Company 1 of the 13th Maine Regiment. How very fortunate I am, to have now lived more than two lifetimes when compared with his short time on Earth.

Here's another access to the estuary. This dirt road goes down to the water through an evergreen forest.

Many little creeks empty into the estuary.

The image below is Mud Creek. The tides come far to fill this creek bed with brackish water at every high tide.

Eel Grass and rockweed sit at the edge of the tidal basin, cast up at the high-tide line as the water ebbed.

At sunset the warm evening hues reflect off the water.

Here's an expansive view of the Taunton River, looking toward Hog Bay.