New Year's tradition....drop a sardine!

Most of the time I'd rather eat Bay of Fundy sardines than drop them but if you're looking for a very bay way to ring in the new year consider the annual sardine drop in Eastport, Maine.

An 8-foot to scale model of the Atlantic Herring will be lowered from the third story window of the Tides Institute and Museum of Art at midnight Eastern Time. Also, a 'Maple Leaf' will be lowered at midnight Atlantic Time, (or 11:00 pm eastern), as Eastport is just west of the Atlantic time zone with the Canadian islands of Deer and Campobello located just off shore in Passamaquoddy Bay. Last year a crowd of more than 300 revelers came to celebrate--twice!

Sculptor, Bill Schaefer, of East Machias, created the fish, which has a bent wood frame and is stretched with canvas. To offer a more authentic rendition, he painted the sardine in a 'contemporary realism' style to look like it was caught fresh from the Atlantic.

For more info on the Sardine and Maple Leaf Drop, visit the Tides Institute and Museum of Art web site.

Here comes Christmas dinner!

Went down to the beach this afternoon to find our Christmas lobster dinner all lined up and ready to cook. Look closely to see them 'crawling' out of the Bay of Fundy and into the pot!

Lots of Fundy folk choose lobster over turkey for the big event. Wishing you were here...

The Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas on the Bay of Fundy without the annual tree hunt. No city parking lots with strings of lights for us, no sirreee. It's the real thing here around the bay....tromping through the woods, in any kind of weather (storm is best!), searching for the perfect 'real' tree. Admittedly, this escapade is somewhat more civilized than it was when I was a kid. Way back then we'd go to my grandfather's farm, wade into the forest, climb the highest tree, lob off the top 10 feet, drag home the crown, drill a few holes into which we'd plug a few spare limbs (to fill in the bare spots) and heartily congratulate ourselves for knowing the difference between fir and spruce!

Nowadays around the Bay of Fundy, rural tree farms or U-Cuts (like summer strawberry U-picks but for Christmas trees) provide accessible but still magical means for Christmas tree hunting. At our nearby Tree Farm, Ram's Head, it's a relaxed, kinda self-serve deal - the good old honor system. In recent years my teenage kids hem and haw a bit about this task so it makes me grin when they end up wrestling for the best burrowing spot beneath the cut tree on the back of the truck.

For previous Christmas posts, see Christmas With The Captain and Oranges For Christmas.