'Blurred in thin rain'

The Thorofare.

“Still weeks to ice-out

in upcountry lakes. Here

on the coast, salt-ice

gets lifted off coves

by gales and steep wave-

lengths. Tides flow hard

between the mainland

and islands. Out in

the Thorofare, two fish-

boats, blurred in thin rain,

march back and forth like

small boys’ small toys’’
 

From “Beyond Equinox,.’’ by Philip Booth, who spent much of his life in the beautiful mid-coast Maine town of Castine. The "Thorofare'' is the passage between Vinalhaven and North Haven Islands. (It's usually spelled "Thoroughfare''). Castine is the home of the famous Maine Maritime Academy, seen below.

Winter scene in Castine.