August 2010 Almanac
Hot, Humid, Suffocating Month, But…
August heat suffocates the soul with high temperatures and humidity, so Maine appliance stores do a brisk business selling air conditioners.
However, at dawn, August shows a crispness in the air reminiscent of the fall and red maples in lowlands sport a few scarlet leaves, a certain promise of what’s to come.
A hot oven baking blueberry muffins in the early morning adds welcome heat to the kitchen as the aroma of this common Maine food permeates the air and wakes the children.
A woman from Texas once told me that Mainers highly overrate blueberry muffins. She hated the blue color of the muffin, sending me into a paroxysm of laughter. No self-respecting Maine cook would have anything other than a yellow-colored muffin with the big, fat juicy blueberries – a product of using fresh berries dusted with flower so the batter did not turn blue.
Most salmonid waters shut down this month, sending trouters to the salt to fish for mackerel, stripers and maybe bluefish. Mackerel fish fries prove a Maine favorite and common recipes involve a wet mustard coating to cut the oily flesh, and for some reason, striper recipes often employ fresh tomatoes to cut the fish flavor, maybe because this fruit from the garden can overwhelm gardeners with its abundance by the end of the eighth month.
Blue-shark action picks up now, and that handful of people – mostly fly rodders – who chase them live for August and September days on the ocean beyond sight of shore.
Speaking of fish…. Maine anglers often chase white perch or black crappie this month, and often, they need to get the lure down 30 feet. At dawn and dusk, though, perch and crappie may come to the surface and offer top-water action.
Deer hunters scout in the cool of dawn just as bear baiters often sweeten bait piles before the sun rises fairly up. August forests do have a charm in morning.
Camping and hiking peak now as folks feel they have more time for such endeavors now that the salmonid fishing has slowed considerably. August camping gives folks a chance for making leisurely meals with such cooking tools as cast-iron Dutch ovens, Coleman folding ovens and reflector ovens.
Bicyclists get out early in the day now and relish every moment because cold weather for this sport often arrives by mid-September. Even though folks may continue pedaling until mid-December, they can see and feel the end now.
Hunters await in anticipation because their sports lie just around the bend – close enough to almost see. The wait sweetens the coming months.
