I just had to share this video from NBC Evening News about the pod of blue whales that have been delighting whale watchers in the Los Angeles area.

The blue whales were once almost extinct but they have mande a huge comeback and NBC News reports that a blue whale was also “spotted by whale watchers just off the coast of Maine last Sunday.”

Maybe we’ll hear of sighting by one of the more local whale watching boats here on the North Shore sometime soon.

You can’t get there from here…

This beach in Eastport, ME is on the south end of the island, facing Lubec. Lubec is about 10 minutes by boat or an hour by car… It’s one of those places that truly epitomizes the saying, “you can’t get there from here”…

(Photos: © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

“Being is the practice of gratitude and compassion. I am alive only in the degree that I am moved by the tidal rhythm of receiving and giving. I am a gossamer curtain hanging in a window separating time and eternity, blowing back and forth in the everlasting breeze.” ~~ Sam Keen: Hymns To An Unknown God

(Photo: Plum Island Center, December 2010 ~ © Pamela J. Leavey)

“When we say that ecstasy is like the drop melting back into the ocean, it must be made clear that we are the drop and the ocean at the same time, just on different levels.” ~ The Path To Love – Deepak Chopra

(Photo: Plum Island Center, Plum Island,MA, December 2010 ~ © Pamela J. Leavey)

“To Be Empowered – I accept the rhythm and flow of my life. I acknowledge that nothing ever stays the same. I am open to change and remain in the moment.” – Pamela J. Leavey

(Photo: Plum Island Center, c. Pamela J. Leavey 2010)

Home is Massachusetts… It always has been, even during the almost 19 years that I lived in Los Angeles, and the 7 lovely months I just spent in Maine, home is and always has been… Massachusetts. And… It’s good to be home.

Home is a drive along Main Street in Amesbury, looking across the Merrimack River to Newburyport… A walk along the waterfront park in downtown Newburyport, admiring all the beautiful boats in the river.

Home is a short drive to Plum Island…

There really is no place like home.

I love Eastport, Maine. It had been a dream to move here for a few years. Sadly, you never know what direction your life will take you in and that is what I find myself in the midst of at this time. Although I am excited about the prospect of moving back to the area of Massachusetts where I grew up, I will be leaving Eastport, on Friday with a heavy heart.

It’s been a joy to live across the street from my wonderful niece, Lisa and her family. They were in fact one of the primary reasons that my daughter and I moved here to Eastport. We’ll miss having family so close by, but the consolation is that it won’t be as hard to come to visit, as it was when we lived in L.A..

We’ve met some wonderful people here in Eastport since we arrived late last October and had a lot of fun with the family and new friends here.

We survived a winter! We took lot’s of wonderful photographs to remind us of the beauty of Eastport. Both of us will miss the fact that we can walk to a view of the bay in less than 5 minutes and we’ll miss seeing the deer in the field behind my niece’s home.

A friend recently reminded of me a great quote from John Lennon, when I told him I was moving again:

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

I was so busy plotting and planning what I thought life might be here in Eastport, that I missed the writing on the wall with the state of the economy and what was next for my life.

I’m extremely grateful for the time I have had here in Eastport — 7 wonderful months, that I will always remember as one of the best times of my life spent with loving family, who I love dearly.

There will always be a piece of Eastport in my heart and I will be back to visit often.

I frequently regret not having my camera with me when I go out to run errands here in Eastport. I was lucky on Wednesday, because the camera was with me and it was a picture perfect day.

I took quite a few nice shots… I’ll post more soon.

There’s a natural flow of tides that causes erosion on all beaches. Add to that storms and other natural effects and the landscape of a beach is constantly changing. I can remember as a child camping on Sandy Point on Plum Island (Newburyport, MA) and claiming a rock as my own. Much to my chagrin my rock was no where to be founf the following summer when my family set up camp on the Point for the summer.

While I was down in Newburyport last weekend I drove down to Plum Island because I had heard there had been problems there with homes built on the water front being at risk. The photo below is of the jetty at the Center Beach on Plum Island:

North Shore Magazine has an article about the situation on Plum Island: Last Days of Plum Island?

The romance and tranquility of Plum Island has lured homeowners to its long stretch of open shores for decades. But could the natural forces that spawned an entire community now threaten its very existence?

I’ve always been an ocean person, which is part of the reason I moved from Los Angeles, after nearly years there, back to the East Coast, to Eastport, Maine. I wanted to live near the ocean and that goal was unattainable in Los Angeles. However, watching homes slide of steep hills in Los Angeles during mudslide season, or get caught in wildfires and burn to the ground, I ofter wonder why people risk building and living in certain areas.

It stands to reason that Plum Island can only sustain so many large homes at the edge of the dunes before something happens and homes either wash out to sea or are at risk. The debate over what to do about Plum Island homes is tough one. There’s only so much dredging and nourishing of dunes that can be done, and then nature will take it’s course again.

Plum Island hosts a beautiful National Wildlife Reserve which “consists of 4,662 acres (1,883 hectares) of diverse upland and wetland habitats including sandy beach and dune, shrub/thicket, bog, swamp, freshwater marsh, salt marsh and associated creek, river, mud flat, and salt panne.”

These and other refuge habitats support varied and abundant populations of resident and migratory wildlife including more than 300 species of birds and additional species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and plants.

I hope residents of Plum Island find a way to preserve their homes with out disrupting the essence of nature that makes Plum Island so very special.

Over the past few weeks I have noted in a few posts that I am preparing to move across country. I’ve kept meaning to write more about the move and let readers know what’s up but have been so busy with all the preparations, that I haven’t had time to blog about much of anything some days (once I am re-settled in my new home Down East, I’ll be writing more).

So here’s the scoop, readers…

After 19 long years of living in Los Angeles (San Fernando Valley), I am moving back to the East Coast. I am originally from a small city on the coast of Massachusetts — Newburyport. I am heading further North in my move however, and will be living in Eastport, Maine:

Eastport, Maine is a beautiful small coastal community on the border of Canada. It’s a fishing port and artist community that is surrounded (as you can see from the map above) on three sides by water. I’ve missed living near the ocean, so I am thrilled to be moving back to my roots in New England, and particularly to move to Maine which has been a dream for many years.

I will be setting out from Los Angeles three weeks from today (October 19) with my daughter (and our cat, Zeus) and a friend to embark on a great adventure, driving cross country (from the South West corner to the North East corner) to our new home in Eastport, Maine. Thankfully, my business is a wholesale internet based business that I can run from just about anywhere.  

The economy has made it nearly impossible for me to afford to live (and run my business) in Los Angeles any longer. The latest turn of events in the economic mess has reinforced that the move will be a positive one. Housing in the Eastport area is a fraction of the cost here in Los Angeles. I’ll be renting a little 2 bedroom duplex from my niece and her husband to start and hope that in a year or two, I finally be able to buy my own home.

My new home will be about 1/2 mile walk to the ocean. On any given day in Eastport, Maine you can see Whales off the coast, Seals basking on the rocks and Canadian Geese, Eagles and other Raptors over head. And, there’s deer, racoons and bobcats in the woods and absolutely gorgeous views of seasmoke, sunrises and sunsets over the water.

An artist by nature, I used to paint years ago and I look forward to taking that up again and finally finishing my novel I started years ago. I’ll be living in just the right peaceful atmosphere to re-inspire my artistic nature and I’ll be among community rich with artisans.

While I’m on the road, I’ll be offline most of the time, I hope that all of The Dem Daily writers will keep readers up to date on all the election and political news during that time. There’s lots of incredible photos of the Eastport area at EasternMaineImages.com for any readers interested in seeing what the draw is for this small town New Englander to head back to her roots. Ironically, Eastport, Maine “was first settled in 1772 by James Cochrane of Newburyport, Massachusetts,” which adds to the sense that I belong there. And of course there is the opportunity to live near family which is something my daughter and I have missed out on here in Los Angeles for years.

I will miss all my wonderful friends here in Los Angeles, including the bloggers here like SteveAudio and his lovely wife Pam, Skippy and Brad Friedman - to name a few. I’ve had a rich and wonderful life while living in Los Angeles, but now it’s time for a new chapter in my life. Stay tuned…

[Cross posted on my political blog: The Democratic Daily]