We all try to emulate our parents in one way or another. Sometimes it is with the embrace of a lesson learned, a skill mastered or a full-fledged attempt to follow in their footsteps. Here Downeast the importance of work is apparent and with it comes an intense desire to learn and follow the lead of a parent. The young watch, learn, and ultimately end up doing what it is they are taught. Perseverance is deftly on display in the commitment that the work will continue no matter what.

Growing up in Pennsylvania I watched my father go to work and make a living as a carpenter. Occasionally he moonlighted on weekends or evenings building things for people to use or places for them to live. As I grew older the watching ended and the process of doing took hold. I found myself tagging along with my father, observing and helping where I could.

I found out much later in life that those skills he taught me are still present. The things we did together lay dormant for a time underneath the other experiences in life. The skills I learned back then matter now as we carve out this new life for ourselves. Today’s building projects in Maine are a constant reminder of those days spent working with my father.

In the early morning hours of any Downeast harbor you will see the same thing I experienced as a boy. The only difference being the serious focus attached to the activity. The young watch the old and the old teach the young in both words and action. Hands on experience is the way it’s done in this classroom.

Steering a boat, reading the water and weather, preparing bait for the ride out or loading and stacking tackle and traps — doing is learning. The sound of it is magical, the rhythm of it seduces the soul. It is a cadence of life buoyed by work that can only be found if one looks and listens for it. It is this Downeast cadence that provides for families and makes this place special.

To make a living is a primary objective for all of us. Sometimes we like the job we have, sometimes we do not, but we know in order to live life we must do something. This area does not offer many job opportunities. Industries are centered on fishing and timber and have been that way from the beginning.

This “limitation” sets in motion a determined spirit and a true sense of stewardship over a place that is both hard and beautiful.  Downeasters learn from each other and exemplify the true spirit of teamwork. If industries were bountiful and jobs were plenty, then this place we call home would not be the Downeast we have come to know and love.

On my trips home I find myself sometimes driving to some of the spots I worked along side my father. I look to see if the small buildings and deck projects are still there. They are. I also see some of his work on a much grander scale in the brick and mortar of institutions of learning, medicine and recreation, buildings that provide service and in their own unique way support that cadence of life there.

Here Downeast I go down to the harbor to be reminded of what I experienced with my father. I see sons learning and most assuredly following in the footsteps of a father or grandfather.  I look out to the waters deep and cold and imagine everyone there on the docks doing the same thing. They look out to both past, present and future seeing the product of their work — father and son — on a sea of experience.