First Quarter to Full Beaver Moon

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​There are a lot of things that unite us, at least they should. I’m finding how important it is to focus on the unifying factors of life rather than the divisive ones. Food is a part of life that should unite us ALL. I had an overwhelming number of experiences over the harvest season that highlighted this for me.The full moon update needed extra time to process.  

The Common Ground Fair is the first highlight of my season. I took this year to go alone and volunteer in the Common Kitchen, knowing almost nothing about it. It seemed like the best place, as I love cooking.This is where thousands of fair volunteers come.They have scratch made meals made with donated organic, mostly local ingredients. I checked into my shift. Was instantly given the freedom to make a dish for 600 people.​

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Honestly, I’ve struggled to find a place within MOFGA. Being in that kitchen opened a door for me. I felt welcomed and useful. It brought me so much joy serving people food made with so much love and thought, for free. You can learn more about it here, Meet MOFGA Volunteer Devon Salisbury | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners.  

Another highlight has been taking up shifts at Tortillería Pachanga. She makes beautiful masa and corn tortillas that can be found all over the state of Maine. I met Lynne at The Kneading Conference | Maine Grain Alliance. I was so smitten by her process that I asked if I could come be a part of it. It’s a true farm to kitchen experience. She also delivers a few other Maine-made products. I get the pleasure of meeting so many great people who make delicious things with Maine grown food. True community.  ​

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The last food unifying experience that moved me the most was my attendance to Maine Farm and Sea to Institution Summit. It was beautiful to see a group of people gather to talk about healthy farm to table meals becoming a part of ALL people’s lives. From our children’s schools to prisoners' plates. My time with Nauti Sisters Sea Farm has shown me the importance of food from the sea and making that food accessible.

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Oysterfest » Newburyport Fish​

As humans, we deserve healthy, thoughtful meals. No matter who you are. I am so grateful for these experiences and all the others I did not share. I’m so grateful to be a Mainer.  

-Gwendolyn

Corn Moon

Slow progress sometimes feels as though you’re amounting to nothing. Especially when others achieve apparent success faster than you. Moving in a slow well-deliberated way takes patience and forward thinking, ignoring the noise around.    

The farm and observatory have felt slightly idle lately. We want so much for it. This summer has been all about working hard outside the farm to make the dreams come true. As the summer comes to an end, I’m looking forward to the next. I think all that we’ve done this year with financial earnings and human connections, the farm and observatory are going to be able to make bigger steps forward.  

Excitingly making progress this week! Tomorrow the Apex contractors are coming to extend the deck. There’s a new addition to our telescope collection, a William Optics Fluorostar FLT 156 apochromatic refractor telescope. We will now have two telescopes for observations on the deck. Pop up astronomy events soon! We have one event planned from October 4th to observe the moon rise.

Sturgeon Moon

Hello, 

The air is dry, intermittently filled with smoke. The tightening of my chest isn't from the poor air quality alone. It comes from the possibility of more summers like this. When I can’t sow seeds. Where the world swirls with hate. Thankfully, I have a lot of hope as well that keeps me breathing. I was so grateful this month to have gotten to venture all over the beautiful state of Maine. I was reinvigorated and reminded of what we want to be a part of.

Interning with The Maine Career Catalyst allowed me to not just work on NAUTI Sister’s Sea Farm. I also got to meet so many other young professionals and see that Maine offers more opportunities than I realized. If you are looking for a career path, check them out! 

Baby Oysters! They are already triple this size after a month.

Another passion of mine was enhanced this month. I last minute applied for The Maine Grain Alliance’s Kneading Conference and Bread Fair in Skowhegan, ME. I was accepted! It was such a fulfilling few days being surrounded by people of like mind. I’ll be returning.  

Maine is truly heaven on earth to me. I needed this last month to be around people who care about growing and eating good food while maintaining healthy communities. I promise to hold on to this hope and grow it here at Ossipee Hill Farm.  

Only a couple updates. The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks predawn 8/12/2025 to predawn 8/13/2025. The full moon will be a little obstructive. Feel free to come use the deck and set up a tent if you like. Please give me a heads up if you do.  

Lastly, planning one more rocket launching event on Friday, September 5th at 5:30 p.m. We can enjoy a potluck dinner together and watch the full moon rise. If you plan to come, let me know so we can coordinate food.  

Here is a photo Phillip took a couple weeks ago of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Photographed for over 10 hours using our monochrome camera & refracting telescope setup. This is the first time he attempted to photograph a galaxy in monochrome, but the level of detail exposed is evident over color. 

-Gwendolyn




Update 5

Greetings!

I don't have much to say in this update. Too much to do, not much time for computers. 

We are open until further notice for You Forage Strawberries. Sunrise to Sunset. 5:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.  All the information and payment methods are self-serve in the kiosk. 

The 100+ degrees made a little bit of a negative impact, yet there are still a lot of berries to find. I'll have pre-picked berries in the stand by 8:00 a.m. today through the weekend. Sparkle is peaking and Sunset is starting to come into season. 

I'll have a better email update in the next week or two sharing photos and details of our latest event and future ones. For now, I've got to get back to foraging! 

P.S. Come visit me at The Maine Oyster Fest this Saturday at the Nauti Sister's Booth!

-Gwendolyn

Update 2

We still have a lot of red berries for foraging!

OPEN tomorrow 6/14 sunrise to sunset. We may be a little busier. Early Bird gets the worm.

Also, Jen is Hosting Yoga at 8:30 a.m.!

Strawberry Full Moon

Hello! 

The Food Forest ground is filled with a few flowers, mostly green, and few pounds of red strawberries! I’ve decided to open our public foraging season tomorrow, 6/12, Sunrise to Sunset. It is a soft opening. There are still A LOT of berries that need to ripen.  

Most of the berries that are red and ready now are found in the Honeoye section as well as a handful of Sparkles and Charlottes. The rest of the varieties have a lot of unripe berries that will be ready in the next week. I’ll update our social media and Website in the evenings to let you know how things are ripening. A weekly email will go out too.  

The season only runs though mid to late July. Make sure you don’t let it pass you by! If you do come out, just head down to the Self-Serve Kiosk. It’s all ready for you to get more info and pay once you are done. Bring your own container if you can. We’ll have a few options if not. Everything this year is $3-$5 dollars a pound. $4 a pound if you are using credit.  

Jen is still hosting a Yoga Nidra class this evening. If you plan to come register here. Bring your own mat and maybe some bug repellent. This past Saturday’s Community Yoga was canceled and shifted to this Saturday at 8:30, 6/14. Free and open to anyone.  

Starting next Friday morning, I am hosting Community Forage. Come help me pick berries for those that aren’t able to do so. I will have bread and drink available to have a light snack before and after.  

Looking forward to this next month and hope everyone’s harvest is abundant.  

-Gwendolyn

First Quarter to Full Strawberry Moon

Greetings, 

I listen to a lot of stories and news from around the world while weeding. Lately, they bring me to tears. I rack my mind. What can I do to help ensure my children grow to find a world that is safe and filled with prosperity.  

Harmony with abundance isn’t produced from hopefulness. It requires dedicated work. Patient observation and understanding. Willingness to make sacrifices. Being humble. I'm coming to this understanding more while growing food.

I stared at the Food Forest and smiled at its growth this week. Knowing that it is there due to the 100’s of hours the two of us have poured into it. It delights me to share this abundance with the wildlife and with you. Strawberry Season is so close. I will be doing a weekly email through the foraging season and goals of a daily update on our website and social media accounts. I’m confident we have an ABUNDANCE!!

The greenhouse has been planted with five-hundred day-neutral strawberry crowns that will give us fruit next year. I also spread flower seeds in there and the forest. It’s become safe for the warmer weather plants to go outside too!  

Phillip hosted a local high school student to learn about astrophotography. They are planning to pursue an astronomy degree after graduation. Together they photographed the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and the adjacent Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). Both located in the constellation Cygnus. Over 10 hours of exposure using our monochrome camera system allowed them to capture the intricate structures of these emission nebulae, particularly the prominent Cygnus Wall—a bright, dense region rich in hydrogen gas.  

Phillip also got a shot of the night sky/sunrise this morning. A little Northern Lights in there!

I sent out my Full Moon update a little early because I wanted to remind you of our Yoga events. An individual in the community is graciously offering free community Yoga a couple times over the summer. She is also offering a couple other more in-depth classes for a fee.  Please check the Event Page for more info and I hope you can make it.  

-Gwendolyn

 

Full Flower Moon

Hello, 

In the last few weeks, the Food Forest has awoken from its long winter slumber. The plants are soaking up the inches of cold rain, unfurling their leaves and flowers. Our ponds are filled the spawn of amphibians. Birds from afar arrived, bonding with their mates shaping their nests. Wolf spiders strapped with their future generation on their backs. The abundance of summer is just around the corner. 

I’ve foraged the first food of the season, Asparagus. We’ve interplanted thousands of crowns in between almost every tree and bush. This is the first time harvesting it, as we have been allowing them to establish the last couple years. It’s not quite abundant enough to offer to the public and will be in the future as it spreads. 

Flowers of all kinds are blooming and transitioning into fruit. We’ve spotted a few Strawberry Flowers! In my next update I’ll be inviting you to come forage berries and garlic! Foraging this year will be fully self-serve/honesty policy sunrise to sunset no matter the weather. Information and payment options will be found in the parking lot kiosk. The price for You Forage berries will be a sliding scale of $3-$5 a pound. Please bring your own containers. Stay tuned!  

The solar powered irrigation system is mostly complete. Every row is lined with drip tape. We’ve also been working hard on weeding and improving walkways.  

We decided to commit the large Greenhouse to be a perennial growing space. Five hundred strawberry crowns will be planted there next week. Cabernet grape vines are growing along its sides. Possibly one or two other species will be added. Any ideas?  

I’m excited to say I’ve found a Yoga instructor who will be offering her services this summer. You can check the event calendar. I’d love for more people to utilize the deck space. If you have an event/club/class you want to host, let me know.  

We had our first Astronomy event of the year and had a lovely turn out. Jupiter and a few of its moons made an appearance, as did the Rosette nebula. Thank you to those who came. ABC news even showed up!  

This next month we will be experimenting with an internship program, hosting a local high school student to learn about the Astronomical Observatory. They will learn the basics of navigating the sky, use the telescope, and learn astrophotography. Phillip is wanting to open this possibility up to others that are interested. I also have listed on the website a selection of possible classes for fieldtrips. If you’d like to bring a group out, we can organize a time. Don't hesitate to ask!  

-Gwendolyn

Pink Micromoon

Greetings, 

Transitions are slow here in Maine. The tug-of- war between the seasons is long and drawn out. The battle of Winter and Spring is a dramatic one. I’ve grown to love winter and enjoy that it puts up a good fight. Though I am fond of the nitrogen giving snow coating everything in white as I write this, I am ready for Spring to win this battle.  

This week, we think, the long freezing nights are over. We’ve begun the process of uncovering strawberry plants and the garlic sprouts. They’re starting to vegetate and will be flowering in the coming months! I'm sowing peas and oats in the Spiral Garden. A few seedlings are growing inside; brassicas, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and a few herbs.  

Phillip has been working hard at installing the solar powered irrigation system. I’ve helped a little. The solar panels will also be used to charge an electric car. We got a lot of the set up from Shred Electric.  


I’ve been adding to our calendar on the website. You can see when we will be launching rockets, be at community events, and the Library Astronomy Club is. I’ll be maintaining the club through August. We’ll discuss what there is to see that month in our sky, space exploration current events, and a short lesson/activity covering a topic in astronomy. The theme will be observing space through the different waves of the electromagnetic spectrum. We'll be starting pop-up nighttime observing events soon! The end of

March marked our 5th anniversary of when we signed for the ownership of the farm. We are still so glad we made this leap and will continue to work hard to make it grow. It's been our honor to get to know a lot of you and become a part of this community. Looking forward to many more years to come!

Phillip has processed a couple pictures in the last couple months. You can find them on our Astronomy Observatory page

Snow Moon

It’s getting pretty noisy out there. Trying not to let it distract us from what is tangible. It’s the beauty of a deep snowfall. The laughter of friends while sledding. Conversations around a warm fire that deepens connection.  

​We are going to continue to do what we can to serve the community. Still not ready to announce the side project that Phillip is working on. It’s big and we hope you support us in the adventure. You should know by my New Moon update! 

I’m starting to get inquiries of events and classes to host at the farm. We’ve had Yoga instructors and an amateur radio club ask to use our space this summer. Working with a homeschool group on a simple high school level, multi week Astronomy course. Don’t hesitate to let me know your ideas!  

I am planning to host monthly rocket launching days. I should have that all worked up by the end of March. Phillip and I will provide the launch pad. It will be up to attendees to bring their own rocket. We will make up stipulations as to what engines are acceptable and where you can find them.  

My only event on the calendar is Astronomy Club at the Limerick Library. I’ll be there at 4:00 p.m. on February 21st. ALL are welcome. I’ll be giving a presentation on Radio Astronomy and talking about some of Phillip’s photos.  

Enjoy the beauty of winter if you can. Don’t get lost in the static.  

-Gwendolyn 

Simple Winter Days

Happy Winter Day, 

I sit watching the snowfall as I write this. We have been enjoying slow uneventful days, contemplating what the next year will look like. Walking through the snowy forest is incredibly dreamy, despite the single digit temperatures. The birder in me is delighted by the many species I see daily. I hope that next winter we will have some trails available to share! 


​Not much going on at the observatory currently. Between work and weather, the telescope hasn’t been used a whole lot. Here is an image that Phillip processed with the monochrome camera a few weeks ago.  

He captured 10 hours of data from the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237). This process involved taking three sets of black-and-white images through different filters to capture the light emitted by hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur gases—elements primarily released during a star's supernova explosion. To differentiate between hydrogen and sulfur, which both emit red wavelengths, we assign hydrogen a green hue while keeping oxygen as blue. This results in a red/green/blue color palette, commonly known as the Hubble Palette, which is also used by the Hubble Space Telescope

This was captured over 15 hours with the color camera. 

The Rosette Nebula is located about 5,200 light years away and considered a vast emission nebula. It is within the constellation Monoceros, The Unicorn. This is an area jam packed with young stars.  

Phillip had the pleasure of presenting at a local school this past week. He shared with the students about his time as an engineer. He also shared with them what it is we do with our observatory. We love talking about space and the future of it in Maine! 

I don’t have anything on the Calendar for the Observatory or farm. You can catch me at the libraries hosting the astronomy club. At 4:00 p.m. on February 3rd I will be at the Waterboro Library and same time February 21st at the Limerick Library. I’ll be showing a few of Phillip’s photos, sharing a lesson on an astronomy topic, and discussing current events in space exploration. ALL ages are welcome. I’ll aim to have simple activities for the busy minds and bodies.  

Hope your winter is being enjoyed! 

-Gwendolyn 

New Moon, New Year

Helo,

                Happy New Moon and soon to be New Year! I hope your holiday season is what you want it to be. Ours has been restful, filled with time to dream up what is to come in the next year. Lots of baking, hiking, and wild ice skating. We are thankful for the very cold days in the last few weeks. Shaker pond was thick enough to fish and skate on. Hopeful the winter will provide us with more freezing temps, we love the winter activities it provides.

We have been thinking heavily about making some big moves this next year. They are steps in a very different direction than we have been going. The farm and the observatory will still very much be a part of our lives. It is our desire to make a greater impact. We can’t wait to share this information with you. More details will be shared in February.

The farm/observatory now has a new tool to help us move along with some projects. We decided to invest in a wood mill! It is our desire to make further projects more affordable and built with material we have on the land. Potentially going to build the structure for the dreamed of 24” telescope. Exploring grant options for the supporting hardware and telescope. It is still a desire to have this set up in the next year or two.  

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                Phillip took advantage of the couple clear nights we had this last week by practicing using the new monochrome setup. He started capturing NGC 2264, the Christmas Tree Cluster. If you flip the image upside down you will see the tree. This object is roughly 2,500 light years away in the constellation of Monoceros, the Unicorn.


This area of the sky can be broken down into several different names. Near the center of this image is called the Cone Nebula, the apex of the Christmas Tree. Above the cone is the Stellar Snowflake cluster. Up and to the right of this point is the Fox Fur Nebula.  The brightest star is S Mon. Jets of gas from protostars can be seen in the center of the image, Herbig Haro objects. These are the faint orange arcs below S Mon. 

-Gwendolyn

Winter Solstice

Happy Winter Solstice!

                The beginning of winter. This is my New Year's. I’ve become committed to traditions around this Astronomical event. Ones that lead us to reflect on the changes in nature and in ourselves. It is a time to think about the past year, the good and the bad. More importantly, it is a time to look forward to more daylight and how to make the most of that coming illumination.

                I’ve been lucky to find likeminded people who want to follow similar traditions. The kids and I attended Sky Island Homestead’s Winter Solstice Spiral Walk. Carolyn has created this beautiful space which you use as a meditative walk, lighting your candle at the center as a symbol of finding the light.

                I plan to go forward with our Winter Solstice Celebration. We will be making the most of this gusty winter day and hope the sun peeks out a little. I’ll have some activities set up in the small greenhouse, bird feeder ornaments and collaging. Will have warm drinks and light snacks. Possibly a fire depending on the wind. Everything will be set up by around noon, feel free to stop by!   

                I tried to find the sun with the telescope at Ferment Farm’s Christmas Market. It was unfortunately too cloudy to be able to focus. I still made several connections and enjoyed the winter cheer. Looking forward to attending those markets again next year!

                This past month I got the pleasure of attending a book release party for Botanical Bar Craft by Cassandra Elizabeth Sears at the Lincoln Hotel in Biddeford.  Our first year open for strawberry foraging, 2022, I sold them during the Terra Market at Rooted Heart Farm. This is when I first met Cassandra and became memorized by her vision and what she was doing with ingredients. I’m honored that she has come the last three years and foraged strawberries for her drinks. It is a beautiful book worth adding to your collection!

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                We were invited to the monthly club meeting of the Astronomical Society of Northern New England and finally made it. They meet the first Friday of each month at 7:30 at the New School and operate the Starfield Observatory in Kennebunk. Was great connecting with other Astronomy enthusiasts that happen to all be close by. Looking forward to further connecting our observatory with them to see how we can grow.

                I’m diving back into offering an Astronomy Club at the libraries. Currently on the calendar for the Limerick Library, 3rd Friday of the month at 4:00 p.m. Will have some offerings at Parson’s Memorial and hopefully the Waterboro library as well. This is for ALL ages! Currently researching Radio Astronomy and will have a presentation on that (Still a Lot to learn). Still offering classes/field trips at the farm if you have a group wanting to come. Just reach out!

             

                Phillip captured the Rosette Nebula this past month, about 15 hours of data gathered with our color camera. He is planning to retake the shot with our new monochrome camera in order to compare data. 

NGC 2237

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                Lastly, we finally got all 50,000ish strawberry plants tucked away for winter. I’m feeling very confident and hopeful about 2025’s strawberry yield. This next week presents temps far below freezing, so we are glad the plants are all covered. To think, six months from now we'll be gathering fruit in the warm sun! 

​The kids spread Milkweed seeds for future pollinators

The Red Tail Hawk was seen many time while working.

                I hope you make the most out of this shift to winter. Embrace all the sunlight when you can. Hopefully there is lots of snow and ice fun in our futures.

-Gwendolyn 

Shift into Winter

Greetings,  

Early November we took a road trip down to Florida for my grandmother’s 94th birthday plus a visit to my parents. She’s someone who is most delighted by me choosing to grow and make food. A farmer herself, born on a small homestead in Kissimmee, Florida. She has since moved to Northern Florida, right on the Alabama border. Cotton and peanut country. The cattle ranches of her childhood have been replaced by Disney World and over population. I can relate to needing to move from the growing development.  

​ It is important for me to take my children to Florida every year to see my side of the family. Though, every time I go, another piece of the Florida I knew as a child is gone. I also don’t view things the way I did 15 years ago. This trip illuminated these changes within me.  

We happened to arrive at my parent’s home in Southwest Florida on November 5th. I don’t need to go into details about my political views. I’ll just say they don’t align with most, if not all, of my family and friends of the south. Being there for the election was so hard. I battled between being angry and trying to put our differences behind us to enjoy each other's company. Thankfully, we mostly ignored politics for the week and left the TV off. The kids were great buffers and mediators.  

I’ve spent the last month trying to process these feelings about the state of our world and our political system. I realize arguing and being angry amounts to little. It is apparent to us that we have a special place here in Maine. One that will hopefully bring unification, peace, and bring a diverse amount of people and ideas together. I remain focused on community building, even with people I don’t see eye to eye with.  

During my travels I did a lot of thinking about what our property looks like this next year, what I can and want to offer. I’ve been contacted by many individuals asking for various educational services.Planning to spend the next couple months creating field trip opportunities for groups of all kinds, from homeschool to adult get togethers. Rather than posting dated events, I’ll let you plan the time and get a group together. The worst part about this last year was hosting classes/events and no one coming due to scheduling.  

If you have any ideas or desires for events/activities this next year, let me know!! I would love to work with you. I plan to have a handful of options by the new year posted to our website. I’ve got a few Astronomy lessons and sourdough workshops worked up. We will be working on getting the smaller greenhouse functional to be a classroom so our options open up.  

We have received more encouragement to continue the growth of the observatory. Phillip got the opportunity to be interviewed by Ellie in Space in late October. The emails and phone calls we have gotten since this interview have been unexpected. We have gotten affirmation for what we are doing from complete strangers. Some generous donations have been made from people all over the country. Phillip has already invested that money into improving the Observatory with a new monochrome camera, the kind the Hubble telescope uses. We are excited people want to continue to support us in this work. I've attached some of the photos Phillip has taken this month. We don’t have any Astronomy nights planned right now. The weather looks a little tricky and Phillip would like to take time to learn the new technology we have acquired. If anything changes, I will send an update.  

Phillip and I have been working hard on getting the food forest ready for winter. We are covering every bed with a thick layer of mulch; the stuff we’ve accumulated from the arborist over the last year. So far, we have gotten about 1/3rd done, hustling to have everything covered in the next week or two. It is looking like single digit temperatures in the forecast for south west Maine. This mulch will help protect the strawberry and herb plants from the hard freeze. It will also become food and a weed barrier come the spring.  

It is a bit more work growing the strawberries without plastic, herbicide, and fertilizer. We are committed to hard work and believe it is the correct thing to do. As I cover every little strawberry leaf, I dream of all of the foragers who will enjoy this fruit come June. For now, they will rest deeply through the winter. 






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I have a few tentative things on the calendar for this month. I will be at the Ferment Farm Christmas Market on December 7th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm with the Solar telescope and an information table about the science of the Winter Solstice. Come check out all the great vendors that will be there. The 21st I am hosting a Winter Solstice decoration making get together for the trees around the orchard at 1:00 pm. Things you could bring if you come; apples, oranges, hemp twine, nut/seed butter, bird seed, or anything friendly for the native wildlife. I'll have light snacks and warm drinks. Feel free to bring a treat to share.  

Hope you are making the most of the shift into winter and embracing the rest it is bringing.

-Gwendolyn

Heart and Soul

Greetings!

The past week has been filled with a lot of Astronomy and Space interactions. I got the pleasure of spending the day with our Celestron NexStar Telescope and its solar filter Saturday at Sky Island Homestead Harvest fest. There were a lot of eyeballs trying to find sun spots and lots of great connections. Was fun to see a few of you out there!

We were able to spend a few nights with the telescope looking for comet tsuchinshan-atlas. A few guests were able to come and see it too! Phillip captured one more photo. We are going to try and see it again TONIGHT, 10/29. Come over around 6. Will only be visible for an hour or so after sunset.

I got the opportunity to participate in the Maine Space Conference Wednesday-Friday. Three days crammed with panel conversations, presentations, and keynote speakers. Most of the topics had to do with engineering and science concepts that quite frankly went over my head. I still made a point to listen and take in as much as I could. There were also talks about k-12 education, women in STEM, Space law, and conservation/sustainability. I sat on a panel for Astro Tourism and Dark Skies. 

I am being encouraged and making strides to be on the Board of Directors for the Maine Space Corporations. I’ve honestly been so unsure as to why I would be on this board or why anyone would want me there. The final panel conversation I attended was Maine Space Corporation’s Workforce Roadmap: Goals and Strategies for Growing a Space Workforce. I figured I had to go to this one.

In this talk they discussed how to bring more jobs to Maine that pertain to the Space Industry. What are actions that need to be taken? They talked about manufacturing and improving higher education. The conversation took a turn to k-12 education importance. It all begins with how we treat our children in their education in the beginning.

 Sascha Deri, a board member, made a point that really stuck with me. He brought up that in Maine the school system sort of segregates the exceptional students and the average students. The honors students are encouraged to be further book smart but aren’t shown how to use a tool. The average and below average students are pushed into trade but aren’t encouraged academically.  

It became clear to me at that moment why I was there, why I’m going to be a board member. It is to mend the complicated with the simple. Rocket science and astronomy can become tangible to every person. I feel passionate about encouraging more people in Maine to want to be a part of the space industry in a meaningful way. Whether it is to protect our dark skies or to build things that will go to space.

Rooms filled with people who are all so different in their skills and opinions working for the same mission made me reflect on the election. No matter the outcome, I hope we as a community aren’t overly divided. I’ve voted, I hope you do too and I hope it’s a vote that you thought long and hard about. More importantly, let's focus on what is important after it is all done. It’s our peaceful relationships with our neighbors. I hope we can set aside our politics, be there to meet each other’s needs, and be understanding of one another.

Phillip photographed the Heart and Soul Nebula this week. Or IC 1805 and IC 1848. I thought it was rather fitting with the way I am feeling about the election and the space industry. Lets focus on the heart and soul of our community, not the parade of politics. 

Hope you have a great week. Soak in the last of the leaves and see the comet! 

P.S. I'll be planting 1,000 plus garlic cloves this week and harvesting carrots/yams. Let me know if you'd like to help!

-Gwendolyn