Being with Ashley Bryan in Islesford, Maine one Autumn Day

Foto of Ashley Bryan from the book, Beautiful Blackbird. Cropped and modified from an archival image found on the book’s back cover from Photographer Peter Ralston archival color ink print from 2010.

Awoke Sunday morning on the day before Labor Day from the strangest dream. The dream itself unfolded as a real, everyday depiction of normal reality. There wasn’t any fantasy, syfy weirdness, or dissolving boundaries between dimensions and destinations. The whole dream took place on Little Cranberry Island on the edge of Acadia National Park in the State of Maine. In this dream I lived in Islesford, a village or hamlet within the Town of Cranberry Isles. The town spans three main islands and a few small ones. It’s all part of Hancock County, too. And the weather was beautiful with the wistful nostalgia of long ago good times as Summer turned with the Wheel of the Year into Autumn.

Frost was in the air. The sun felt warm even with a sweater on. Twas early Fall still, but the leaves had already fallen from the hardwoods. More likely they fell due to recent high winds as much as from the chill. In this dream I walked and talked for long hours with the late Ashley Bryan. Yes, he’s been dead since February 2022. Never met the man, unfortunately. Indeed, I’ve not ever heard of this gentle genius until my own visit to Islesford, Maine, from Seattle, Washington. Continue reading →