Pages
-
Beach Read in a Sea Bag!
On Harbor’s Edge is a page-turning Maine island drama set in the early 1900s.
Categories
Recent Posts
-
A Maine Island Story for the Holidays
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Tumblr On Harbor’s Edge: A Maine Island Story for the ... -
Flying Cold
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Tumblr As the waters along the coast and between islands... -
Life Flight
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Tumblr The night Evan Hopkins’ truck left the road... -
Life Patterns
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Tumblr For artists Eric Hopkins and Peter Ralston, islan... -
Island Rescue!
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Tumblr Fifteen Maine islands are inhabited year-round wh...
-
-
Say Ello
Fire Danger
Island Spirit Flies High
November 8, 2012
Author : Kate Hotchkiss Taylor
Category: Community, Environment
0 Comment(s)
The doctor’s appointment is important because my son has mild scoliosis, side-to -side curvature of the spine common in adolescence. Time for a checkup and hopefully an “okay, go ahead” on a sports schedule that includes ocean rowing with six other crew. Problem is, my 14 year old and I are on North Haven island, the car is on another island, and we need to drive inland to Hallowell to see “Dr. Scott” (first name), a dedicated physician we first met years ago via the M/V Sunbeam’s Telemedicine service. Days like this I wonder why we live on Maine islands where logistics are often inconvenient, especially now that we are forced to navigate between two isles so our boys can attend high school.
![PIA Pilot © Kate Hotchkiss Taylor 2012](https://www.maineislandliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/PIA-Pilot225x169.jpg)
Chief Pilot Roger Wolverton with Island Spirit - - Photo by Kate Hotchkiss Taylor
The flight is exquisite! I happily watch the morning
![Islands © Kate Hotchkiss Taylor 2012](https://www.maineislandliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Islands305x245.jpg)
A lobster boat heads out among Penobscot Bay islands. - - Photo by Kate Hotchkiss Taylor
Too soon we bank left and land at the Stonington Municipal Airport – a paved airstrip! I could stay up there for hours and am disappointed the best part of the day is over.
![Stonington Airport © Kate Hotchkiss Taylor 2012](https://www.maineislandliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Stonington-Airport610x407.jpg)
Early morning approach to Stonington Municipal Airport runway "two-five" on Deer Isle- - Photo by Kate Hotchkiss Taylor
Pilot Wolverton takes my bike out of the aircraft’s luggage compartment, puts on the front wheel, snaps my picture, and then takes off - quite literally.
![Arrival © Kate Hotchkiss Taylor 2012](https://www.maineislandliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Arrival610x407.jpg)
For twelve months of the year Penobscot Island Air pilots fly mail, groceries, packages, people, pets, livestock, office equipment, bikes, and more to Maine islands. – Photo by Kate Hotchkiss Taylor
As I bicycle to Isle au Haut Boat Services’ dock - my husband had left the car there before boarding the mail boat to the island - I am still floating from the upliftingly beautiful ride over Penobscot Bay. I love biking. I love flying. I love the sea and its islands, especially in Maine. What could be better than enjoying these unique lands from above, and then biking along their picturesque roads and trails? If I had more free time I would fly to various Maine islands and bike to my heart’s content!
Putting vacation day fantasies aside, I shove
![Take Off © Kate Hotchkiss Taylor 2012](https://www.maineislandliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Take-Off310x207.jpg)
Island Spirit flies high. – Photo by Kate Hotchkiss Taylor
We drive back to Rockland through rush hour traffic and road maintenance, making the North Haven Ferry with barely a minute to spare. Eleven hours of travel for an eleven-minute appointment. I would be annoyed about such a time sucking experience except that I love my son, I love this doctor who even makes house calls during his own island biking excursions, and I love heavenly gorgeous plane rides over Maine islands.
![Biker by Roger Wolverton](https://www.maineislandliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Biker225x266.jpg)
--Photo by Roger Wolverton
Kate is a photographer, writer, and global business consultant living on North Haven with her husband and two sons.
www.katehotchkisstaylor.com
www.taylorwrite.com
COMMENTS
There are no comments yet!