“The Rembrandt light of memory, finicky and magical and faithful at the same time, as the cheaper tint of nostalgia never is.”   Ivan Doig

So here we are again, on the cusp of change. September, in the not-so-distant past, was the month we started to batten down, take off the screens and put up the storms (in the days before double-glazed, super tight windows), plant the bulbs, and stack the firewood.

Frost would already have knocked flat the squash vines and frizzled the peppers. We’d leave for the Common Ground Fair early on a freezing morning – always the third weekend in September – dressed in layers, only to shed them by noon.

These days as our world warms up, September’s just a tease, with weeks to go before fall gets serious. October lets us know.  No more long, lingering twilit evenings. When the sun sets these days, she’s serious, turning off the light before we know it.

“How’d it get dark so quick?” we ask.

And she’s got a trick of illuminating the maples and the beeches, turning them almost iridescent with that sidelong way of shining on them. October light. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else than New England?

Just don’t ask them in February.

A long time ago, 178 years ago to be exact on Oct. 22, a good number of folks around here fervently believed the world was going to end that day. Of course, there was a guy perpetrating that fiction, though, the times being what they were, he fanatically believed it himself.

William Miller, a Baptist preacher and farmer from upstate New York, based his beliefs on his reading of the Bible, particularly Daniel 8:14: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed".

Miller’s own complicated calculations led him to a specific date – Oct. 22, 1844 – as the day when Jesus would reappear and take believers up to heaven. And there were many believers – Millerites they were called – and not just in New England. But certainly, in Lincolnville and Camden.

The story goes that they prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus all that summer by not preparing. By not putting up firewood or cutting hay for their animals. Some gave their land away to neighbors since they weren’t going to need it.

So, on Oct. 22 they rode their wagons or hiked up to the cliffs that today ever after bore their name: the Millerite Ledges, calculating that they’d be closer to heaven so they could leap into the arms of Jesus. All day, all evening they waited; midnight came and no Jesus.

The long walk back down must have been dispiriting to say the least, as they had the jeers of their neighbors to face to say nothing of empty hay barns. Some of these same folks were the ones who would later trek out to Utah and join the Mormon movement.

An aside: Lincolnville has an interesting religious history yet to be documented. Any takers? One persistent historian, Corelyn Senn, took on the lime industry and has pieced together a fascinating story of quarries and kilns, coopers and quarry workers.

What was going on that so many – and there were thousands across the country – were willing to abandon their earthly lives for one man’s fever dream? What perhaps we could call one man’s big lie (though there’s no evidence that Miller knew it was all fantasy)?

It's called “cognitive dissonance… the perception of contradictory information, and the mental toll of it. Relevant items of information include a person's actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environment. Cognitive dissonance is typically experienced as psychological stress when persons participate in an action that goes against one or more of those things. According to this theory, when two actions or ideas are not psychologically consistent with each other, people do all in their power to change them until they become consistent. The discomfort is triggered by the person's belief clashing with new information perceived, wherein the individual tries to find a way to resolve the contradiction to reduce their discomfort.”

Hmmmm. What goes around comes around.

Anyway, as Rosey Gerry, another of our local historians, reminds us, another year has slipped by, and it’s time for us to join him on the annual (about the 25th) hike to the top of the Millerite Ledges.

Here’s Rosey’s invitation to one and all to join him:

A lot of people have made this trek with me year after year and I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new.

All are welcome, Please if you bring your dog keep them on a leash.

Right now the long range forecast says ok, we go unless it's a downpour. Things can change. So bring a rain coat and dry boots just in case. Don’t forget tick spray. Also may want to bring a water bottle, cause the beer stand at top closed last weekend!

Here are details:

Meet at end of Maiden Cliff Road, it's at top of the hill just up from Youngtown Inn on Youngtown Road.

We will meet there no later than 6:45 a.m. and will start to hike as close to 7 a.m. or as soon as it's light. There is limited parking up at the end. I hope to have parking attendants to assist.

Please take care not to block driveways on last house plus entrance to fields.

There is some parking along Maiden Cliff Road after turning around and headed out.  Please park as far off road on right as possible. One side only.

Also, there will be some parking on Youngtown Rd. at Judy Rolersons.  I will be there to show you where to park.

Walk up takes about an hour, walk down about 40 mins. No whining!

Any Questions contact Rosey 975-5432.

See you this coming Saturday the 22nd!

Town

Karen Secotte at the Town Office reminds us that 2023 dog tags are now available at the office or online through the town website. Licenses expire Dec. 31, 2022, and there’s a state-mandated $25 late fee plus the license fee for any dogs unlicensed after Jan. 31, 2023.

Note that part of the Nov. 8 ballot will include a referendum question asking us to approve amendments to the Town Charter to make the Charter gender neutral with reference to elected and appointed officials as well as other people. For example, the Board of Selectmen will be called the Select Board, etc.

School

Check out the Lynx this week to see the various activites students are participating in – visiting the Lincolnville Fire Department (grades K-2) to figuring out loon nests (grade 4) to measuring perimeters (grade 5). And grades K-2 took a trip to the Coastal Botanical Gardens as well.

Lincolnville Improvement Association

The LIA holds its last meeting of the year this Thursday, Oct. 20, starting with a 5:30 p.m. potluck. For the first time this year the meeting will be held at the Beach Schoolhouse (formerly known as the LIA building, 33 Beach Road.) If by chance you missed last Saturday’s Open House this is your chance to see how the old building has been upgraded and renovated.

Lincolnville Historical Society

A great time was had by all last Saturday, or so it seemed to those of us who put the day together. Over 120 folks stopped by, ate cookies and wandered around the newly-renovated downstairs and newly-organized and cleaned (the gallon jug of PineSol we’d used was nearly empty) upstairs.

Especially appreciated was the interest folks took in reading the material we’d assembled.  Thanks to all who came, and stay tuned for the next event at the Beach Schoolhouse.