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Marty’s Memories - The Gray by Marty Trower

The first time I saw the island in the early winter, the initial difference I noticed was the gray. The gray of the water. It was no longer softened by the dense green of the trees, no longer its bouncy blue color, whipped by wind and tide. It was still and metallic as were the trees limbs. They stood naked and twisted and reaching. I didn’t recognize them at first. Did they know me? I asked to be dropped off near Hamilton Beach where our family summer cottage was. I immediately went to the shore and found the majestic Big Rock, exposed at half tide. I pulled myself up onto its barnacled surface to take in the whole experience. The air felt heavy and I sensed a touch of loneliness. The ducks and gulls didn’t know I was there and went about their business at the edge of the water, which fascinated me. There was no-one else around, no people and no dogs, just birds muttering or squawking at each other. Would I have noticed the contrasts of grays in the plumage of the birds if the sun had been out and the gardens blooming?

I was in art school at the time and I suppose I was learning to see in different ways, but this day, this

time of wonder when I first saw the grays- I learned how to stop and look and listen.

I remember now, very early in school I asked my first- grade teacher how to make the color gray. My uncle Bruce was a pilot and he had taken us up in a small plane and we flew over and around Montreal. I only remember a dizzying view and then throwing up and upsetting everyone. My teacher told me to mix black and white together and then add a little bit of blue. I resumed drawing a picture of the plane, the best part of the time being its metallic gray and I wanted to make the color myself. I am living on Hamilton Beach now, year-round, and the long gray season has begun. I often think that the words ‘gray’ and ‘nuance’ say so much and mean so much, the possibilities endless. I will always be grateful to Chebeague and art school for prompting me to appreciate the subtle beauty and stability of everyday life.

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DECEMBER 2019 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR