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My family recently experienced a tragedy, which happened just a few days before a long planned, anticipated and arranged for vacation to southern Maine. I love traveling, and thought processing our tragedy on the beach would be more productive than sitting at home.
So my family set off on the long drive. We visited with family, returned to some favorite beaches, and I enjoyed a blueberry flavored beer or two.
For me, nature has always been a healer. I hoped the beach would have this effect, but on this trip, I found a new ecosystem to enjoy and find peace in: the salt marsh.
My partner and I stayed at a camping and glamping site called Sandy Pines. Our "hideaway hut" was in the Salt Marsh section of the campgrounds.
Strolling around the large park, I admired views over the salt marshes. A few more steps on my walk took me to a marsh access point, and a stack of kayaks and a sign for kayaking excursions.
Our family signed up, and a few days later at high tide, we hopped into our kayaks and started paddling. The marsh channel took us into a little inlet. We turned and headed upstream onto a river.
Along the way, we saw white egrets (I didn't manage to narrow it down to which species) and cormorants (I didn't get close enough to look for species identifying features).
I thought I might have spotted a great white heron in the distance as well. That sighting brought back childhood memories, when my sister was interested in birds. On family vacations in Maine, I thought every egret I saw was a great white heron, and she'd correct me every time.
We turned off the river and meandered along a tributary through the marsh.
As we continued paddling, I admired the plants, growing in abundance throughout the marsh. One that caught my eye turned out to be lavender thrift. It was blooming with tiny light purple flowers, and large sturdy leaves, which were often fully submerged at high tide, and totally exposed at low tide.
According to the PictureThis app, lavender thrift is only found in salt marshes and seacoast dunes. I read that in some ecosystems lavender thrift forms mutualistic relationships with other organisms.
The salt marsh banks were also interesting, with varied textures and many nooks and crannies, rather than being a solid bank. My paltry steering abilities often took us too close to the banks, and I noticed crabs utilizing the holes and hideaways as we approached.
The brackish marshes are a key ecosystem, facing many threats including rising sea levels, run-off from farms and septic systems, and coastal overdevelopment.
We spent just a couple of hours kayaking around the marsh. But there were options for full day, multi-day, and even full-week tours.
Longer kayaking trips would be a really fun way to experience more of the Maine Coast. From our campground, we could have kayaked to various beaches, as well as farther along the marshes and river.
Floating and paddling through the marshes was my favorite part of our vacation, bringing a sense of peace and perspective even in the face of our family's current troubles. Spending time like this immersed in nature always reminds me how small I am in the world, a thought I find comforting.
Getting out of the kayak, I felt more prepared to handle the challenges ahead.