My life began with a great deal of chaos when my family moved to the state of Maine.  Mom was struggling with schizophrenia, my brother and I contracted tuberculosis at four-five years of age, Mom and Dad were divorcing, and our new life being raised by a single parent resulted in growing up in abject poverty.  Mom set the stage for me with a basic ‘path’ that I clung to, deviated from, and ultimately returned to throughout my life. For two years in my late twenties, I lived in an old hunting cabin, experiencing heavy snow each winter along with thirty-five-degree below zero winter temperatures in Northern Maine near the Canadian border on the 47th parallel. I eked out my existence without electricity or running water while gardening, reading historical naturalists’ works, drawing pictures of wildlife and attempting to re-focus on the ‘path’ my mother encouraged me to follow in my life.  I became an avid bird watcher which has stayed with me for my entire life.

I contended with my own failed marriages, found my way across the continent viewing most of the United States and Canadian provinces and, finally, left my Maine roots in the Atlantic NE behind for my new home in Washington’s Pacific Northwest, again on the 47th parallel near Port Gamble, WA, a quaint little Maine town replica.  I had to overcome a confused patchwork of education, numerous jobs, and developing a career.  Along the way, I found that my life vacillated through a lifelong passion for birding, hiking, back-packing and naturalism.

Also, inflicted with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and dietary restrictions, I finally met a woman, Laurie, the love of my life.  Combining her education, knowledge and unmatched compassion and empathy, she could see past these afflictions to the better part of me.  We connected right away and moved forward to build our dream home using century old materials with the focus on sustainable, recyclable and natural.  We negotiated the daily ups and downs of American life and kept family in focus to the best of our ability as we navigated through life’s jungle to make our way finding fulfillment and happiness in our journey together.  Now, in our early 70s, as things began to stabilize at near perfection on my ‘path’, I was faced with unexpected events that redefined my outlook on life.

AUTHOR - HOW DID I FIT INTO THE WORLD:

This true story began with opening chaos to show the barriers placed before me so early in my life.  Unknowingly, I negotiated significant parts of life without focus.  Additionally, I didn't know I was afflicted with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.  It had not really been recognized in the 1960s and 1970s.  I harnessed the simplicity that Henry  David Thoreau and Sigurd Olsen used in their study of our environment and in their philosophy on living in harmony with nature.  I lived in a one room cabin without electricity and running water and began drawing wildlife pictures in pen and ink.  I hiked daily in all weather and watched birds and wildlife everywhere I went.  I found the environment equally as inspiring and influential.

Early in chapter 2 of the book, I focus on my family's poverty.  We became poverty stricken when my parents divorced combined with my mother's mental health issues.

Children that grow up poor have a greater likelihood of being poor as adults.  In one Columbia University study in 2009,  it became clear that the probability of being a poor adult increased with the number of years spent in poverty as a child.  According to the study, approximately 5%  who never were poor as children were poor at age 20 and 25.  In contrast, for those who were poor for 14 years as children, 46% were poor at age 20 and 40% were poor at age 25.  That was me!  I was poor until my 30s despite achieving a bachelor's degree from the University of Maine by the age of 21.

Customer Book Reviews of Life on the 47th Parallel

"This book provides with astonishing honesty the journey from poverty to achieving fulfillment. Marty details his "path" driven by his passion for all things nature and an ingrained desire to grow and learn with every choice in life."

"This is a great story of resilience and hope with the ups and downs of living with mental illness and a lens into what the struggles are with food insecurity and poverty. A wonderful message of strength and determination."

"Just finished reading it last week. I must say I’m very impressed…  I almost don’t know what to say and where to start!...  First of all it is very well written. Once I started I couldn’t put it down.

Thoughtful, brave and honest. Boy could we use more of that in our world today! I never realized the true extent of the poverty you and your family endured. You may have been poor but ‘YOU' were never impoverished."

Book Excerpts from Life on the 47th Parallel

Starving & Poverty – 1960s

“One, two, three, four, . . . . . . . twenty-five.  One, two, three, four, . . . . . . . twenty-five”.  This was the way my mother equally rationed out cooked rice kernels or pieces of pasta to my brother, sister and I during the last few days of each month.  Sometimes the last two-three days were without food altogether.  Unlike our previous accommodations, our current home was a dilapidated old apartment on Spruce Street in Ellsworth, Maine during the early 1960s before the state government food program began for the poor. 

Finding interest in things to do was difficult to achieve during those years of poverty and food insecurity.  There were no computers, electronic games or cell phones, crutches of modern society.  Even if you do escape poverty, as most people find out, you are more than likely to suffer set backs during your life.

Fishing

Fishing was introduced to me at the early impressionable age of six or seven by my father.  While on a summer vacation at my grandparent's home in Machias, Maine, Dad gathered up a bunch of us kids and headed out to the shore of the Machias River down below the bridge in the middle of town.  It’s a storybook little town that made you wish you had grown up there when you saw it.  The Machias river was a historical river that inspired stories about the magnificent Atlantic Salmon migratory spawning runs that used to thread their way up the river and ultimately into hundreds of tributaries, streams and brooks for which Maine is famous.  There they spawned and perpetuated the cycle of life for the only eastern anadromous species of great salmonids.  

The Pacific Northwest Dream

Since I was sixteen, I had this draw to go to the Pacific Northwest.  After reading Field and Stream for years, I would often dream of going to the Pacific Northwest.  Nature, the rivers, mountains and the allure of Puget Sound was stronger than ever after I left Ellsworth.  It was a strong instinct, as if I were a migrating salmon instinctively traveling thousands of miles following the scent of a few molecules to navigate my way.

Preserving the Land

Following my experiences and learning about nature, I began thinking more about preserving what we have in this world.  In Maine, our license plates called it, ‘Vacationland’.  I was always proud of that.  Over the years, though, I began to see more trash on the roadside during my visits to Maine than in the past but, almost nothing compared to Washington State where I live today, sadly.  The amount of litter pollution on our roadsides shocks me.  We’re dumping garbage in our home, basically.  Litter doesn’t even begin to account for our disregard and lack of respect for our land.  The land is our legacy for our future generations.

A Deep Intimacy with the Environment

The American prairie evolved in a way no other prairie in the world changed.  Partly responsible for the rich earth-covered base of pulverized rock was the wave of continental glaciers that had a way of pushing and shoving the earth around anyway they wanted.  The rich, aerated loamy soils sported grass that “once was taller than a man on a horse” and the variety of plants that withstood fires buried their roots up to twelve feet deep allowing them to restore the prairie in its pure state, over and over again (Lemonick, 1986, pg 42).  Because few trees could get a grip on the land due to fires that spread for weeks in the winds, it remained a prairie.  Short and tall grass prairies, as well as prairie marshes, emerged along with bird species such as prairie falcons, prairie chickens, mountain plovers, willets, upland sandpipers and many more.  Mammalian residents of prairies include black-footed ferrets, badgers, swift foxes, blacktail prairie dogs and thirteen-lined ground squirrels and others.  Sadly, except for scattered small reserves, the short and tall grass prairies have all but been wiped out by the cow and the plow, the fence and cement, and tar and the car.

Birding in New York

I was fortunate to connect with some accomplished birders in upstate New York to bird with and began assisting an expert bird bander, Ken, banding birds and collecting data along the shore of Lake Ontario.  He taught me a lot during our few weeks together and eventually commissioned me to draw a picture of a northern saw-whet owl nestled in some pine boughs.  I also met the founder of the Derby Hill hawk watching site, Dr. Fritz Scheider, who invited me to go birding with him as we were clearly both obsessed and enjoyed each other’s company during the Audubon field trips that he led and I had attended. 

Finding Home

As I drove along the main road and approached the old cedar fence lined entry into the property, it opened up majestically with flat open areas on both sides, large trees on the borders, and a long winding road entering through the fenced field ending at the house. We both knew this was home.  There stood an early 1920s chicken barn converted into a house in the 1970s on almost seven acres of land with a view of a forested valley below us in front of a panorama of the Olympic Mountains.  It was truly extraordinary.  We had both fallen immediately in love with the property.

Our New Home, 2010

We had succeeded in completing the construction of our home which was an extremely difficult undertaking while working full time.  We chose to do most of the work ourselves because of the cost and our stringent requirements associated with keeping the home as ‘green’ as conceivably possible.  We took pride in every eco-friendly aspect of the process.  We chose to build using mostly reclaimed or recycled materials, low or no chemical treatments such as paints and floor coating, implementation of passive and eventually active solar, and radiant floor heat. 

Unexpected Obstacles in my Path, 2024

Laurie (my wife) and I were a team that built the home of our dreams together.  We both retired from our careers in our 60s.  I was now over seventy years old and believed I was in a very good place in my life.  My mother had set the stage for me with a basic path to follow.  However, over the years, my path had developed many side trips due to my attention deficit and lack of focus.  But, I would always reset myself and find my way. 

History on the 47th Parallel

Over my life time, I migrated from the 47th parallel in the far northeast, Maine, to the 47^th parallel in the far northwest, Washington.  I was amazed and intrigued by how beautiful both states are.  Dad grew up in East Machias, Maine during the 1930’s and 1940’s when loggers were known for their presence throughout Maine.  As their operations grew, loggers made their way west to Washington State.  Eventually, they built the town of Port Gamble, WA which became a base location for their timber operations in Washington.

Becoming a Steward of What we had been Lucky to Receive

My focus became the condition of the world, about trying to be a steward of what we had been lucky to receive.  Our home is built using mostly recycled materials.  We have a lower carbon foot print by integrating passive and active solar capture, eliminating significant energy usage from power companies.  I had already lived two years in a rustic cabin with only spring water and no electricity while cultivating organic veggie gardens many years earlier when I lived in Maine.  Now, we have taken that all to a new level.  For Laurie and I, it’s always been about our working together on the same path, side by side.  We have grown together with common goals and have come a long way.  It was clear I was finally living the path my mother always wanted for me that I had followed on and off throughout my life.  It was our path now.  It felt right and I have arrived feeling at peace and content.