for as long as i’ve known the levee on route 1 in machias which keeps the tidal flow from machias bay out of the middle river has has been called, simply, The Dike.

The Dike has always had space for parking, and when i was a kid it was a popular place for folks to sit and pass the time watching cars pass by and the tides come in and out ( and who knows what else after sunset ). in more recent times, it seems that The Dike has become a popular spot on the weekends for the local farmers market and a flea market where all manner of junk, er, treasure gets served from out of the back of parked vehicles ( as an aside, the dike has been in use for 150 years and is a recent source of controversy as the state would like to remove the “flappers” that prevent the tides from going into the middle river which has angered some local residents. )

i was a bit pesimistic that we’d find anything worth keeping, but odin was quite sure i was wrong and after strolling for a bit he found this sign made from “found” wood in harrington, maine that he thought would, rightly, be perfectly perfect for The Girls’ chicken coop!

if i’ve done my googling correctly, it appears the the nice man who made and signed the sign is, leon raikes, a professor of english at the university of maine.

thanks leon!