Documented in full at this link without ~ the verse was first inscribed in the author's journal "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" which was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1893. The full journal ~ including passages immortalizing Thoreau's journey at the Mouth of the Merrimack ~ has been fully digitized as a resource on Google books and can be found at this link without.

^[2]And retracing steps (under a Harvest Moon in 2004) Comity footnotes that The Fourth Estate published a topical piece about the Ring's Island Rowing Club: The Daily News article entitled Young Rowers go with the flow is archived on this Web site, with permission of the publisher.

Incidentally, when Alice had described this early morning row to us, she had mentioned that her (then) 9-year-old niece was with her ~ and Alice had asked that she hunker down in the bow of the dory so the photograph could be taken. Upon reading the news piece, Comity did a bit of math and wondered if the 14 year-old mentioned in the article was one and the same person. And at a recent gam on Ring's Island, when asking this good question, Alice confirmed (with a smile) that indeed it was her niece Jaque who was in the dory, in camera, when the photograph was taken. Now a Sea Scout, Jaque likes to row the waters solo ~ at her own pace.

Any generation can join the Ring's Island Rowing Club which --- to quote Alice --- "welcomes youth of all ages." Reference the news article for contact information.

^[3]And soon, with dawns (and moons) ~ a ray of hope for the launch of a new boating program at the mouth of the Merrimack. The venture in seamanship is propelled by Ray Pike ~ a native of Ring's Island and owner/captain of the small tall ship Misty Isles (and coincidentally, co-founder of the Ring's Island Rowing Club).

As noted in the Ship's "log" (of sorts) at the link within ~ Ray fulfilled plans on the horizon since the New Millennium when he returned to his home port to begin a new adventure on this leg of Life's journey. Since his homecoming in the summer of 2003, Ray assumed the role of Salisbury's Harbormaster, then formed a relationship with the Boys and Girls Club to establish a boating program ~ while maintaining close ties with the Twombly crew and the Lawrence Boating Club upriver. Along the way, Ray and his first mate Wendy Pike became the proud parents of a new little shipmate.

In the fall of 2006, Ray's relationship with the younger generation evolves (or rather comes full circle) when he resumes a role he served a generation ago as a math/algebra teacher in the public school system. We envision Ray will figure out the ways and means to combine all facets of education when he joins the faculty of the Triton ~ the regional school system which serves Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury. Come to know more about the Triton Regional School District at this link without ~ and of course, keep in mind the deft ply with the name "Triton" (given the tri-town school system for these three regional coastal communities) ~ in that in Greek mythology, Triton is the messenger god of both fresh water and the sea (link without).