Round Pond a favorite spot for R&R

The Way I See it
By Bev Rand
    We were digging potatoes when on Wednesday it started to rain. It rained on Thursday and again on Friday morning it was still raining. I said to Bennie, “I’m heading for Round Pond. If it should clear and dry out, call the forestry office and ask them to contact the Forest Ranger by radio with this message: “Sun is shinning on Golden Ridge.” That will be the code for me to come out and go to digging. Hopefully to finish the potato harvest before another storm or cold weather sets in.
    Round Pond at Telos was one of my favorite spots for a little “R & R”. It is on the Allagash Water Way about 30 miles back in the Maine woods. Arnold Webb and his wife Avis were the Forestry Fire Rangers for that district. They lived on the shore of Round Pond in a quaint, well-kept log cabin. It had two bedrooms, kitchen, living area and a screened in porch. Avis had it spotlessly clean and decorated with fall flowers. When we arrived in the later part of the day (we had radioed that we were coming) as we stepped through the door we could smell the aroma of freshly backed yeast bread and also smell the partridge stew simmering on the back of the wood stove. Arnold and Avis had just gone to the dump. While there they lingered a while watching a bull and cow moose prance around. The smells in that log cabin that day are some that I have remembered all these years.
    On the southeast side of the cabin Arnold had a fenced-off garden. In season, they had green peas, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers and other vegetables. Back in the woods like they were, it was a real treat to have fresh vegetables. Arnold fertilized his garden by hauling horse manure from a woods cutting operation some distance away. He had to fence it off, because the deer like to feed in it.
Way back in the woods
    Round Pond at Telos was one of author Bev Rand’s favorite spots for a little “R & R”. It is on the Allagash Water Way about 30 miles back in the Maine woods. Arnold Webb and his wife Avis were the Forestry Fire Rangers for that district. They lived on the shore in a quaint, well-kept log cabin. On the southeast side of the cabin Arnold had a fenced-off garden. In season, they had green peas, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers and other vegetables. Back in the woods like they were, it was a real treat to have fresh vegetables.
    I got up just after daylight and went walking along the shore. It was a very still morning. The water was smooth as glass, not even a slight ripple. As I walked a little way from the cabin, I came to these large pine stumps washed up on the shore of the pond. It interested me, for one of them had its roots pointing up to the sky whereas the other one still had its roots to the ground. It made me think of the saying “I’m stumped” when you cannot readily solve some problem.
    As I went along, I saw something swimming not far from shore. I stopped and stood perfectly still on the very edge of the water. Soon I recognized it as an otter. He swam by a couple of times out a distance from shore. After those swims, with his head held high, he swam toward me sniffing the air. I estimated that he came within twenty feet of me. Close enough so that I guessed his length from the tip of his tail to the length of his nose would be the same length of me if I were laying face down with my arms extended over my head. I have told people of the size of this otter, but they think I am grossly exaggerating. They do not get to be that size, I am told. Now, I have a picture of an otter taken by a trapper that he caught that was of this size. Seems as though this should make my story credible and believable.
    That day, we all had a ride into Chamberlain Lake to check on a campsite where there was a small fire the day before. It was a nice ride in this large boat equipped with a pump and fire hoses for fighting fires close to shore. The wake of the boat was white and wide.
    After this ride and checking a few more campsites, the balance of the day was playing bridge. Avis and Arnold loved to play bridge, but did not have that opportunity very often as they had few visitors back there in the woods.
    Cora and I did visit them two or three times during the summer. The girls like to swim in the clear, clean water that was not too cold. Also, this was the time when we could have outdoor barbecues. Whenever we did go in, we always planned to bring fresh supplies that we thought they might need. The forestry plane brought them groceries every so often. Arnold liked to fish, so nice fresh trout and salmon were a common dish on the menu at Round Pond.
    An early morning message came. “The sun is shinning on Golden Ridge.” That meant we had to head for the clearing. On the way out, we saw seven moose. An unusual sight to see so many in one trip.
    We said our goodbyes to Arnold and Avis, telling them what a good time we had and would have to finish our bridge tournament at some other time.