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Retired publishing executive ecstatic with the idea of spending most of his time on the coast of Maine

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Land Urchins


This cactus garden at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles inevitably reminded us of sea urchins in Maine. Of course, Maine has nothing so exotic as cactus, or for that matter, the Getty Museum, an amazing display of resounding plazas, swooping rooflines, the requisite hilltop location and billion-dollar (inflation) view, and a bit of pretty good art as a bonus.

There isn't enough guilt money in Maine to build such things. As far as I know, no huge fortunes have been built here (Plum Creek is trying). Quite a few huge fortunes used to (still do) come to Camden and Bar Harbor and various private peninsulas, but leave only large houses and a scattering of cash to the locals as legacies. Maine is a modest place, generally. No oil reserves, or film industry, or vast fields of thirsty fruits and vegetables - just various renewable things that soon, come to think of it, may have large implications and possibilities far beyond the size of the state. I'm sure we'll have our own monuments to wind and tide power, in about 50 years, by which time California will have dried up.

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