The biggest Independence Day parade that Your Scribe knows about is that of the tourists marching into the local convenience stores on July 4th for provisions.

That's right. Dads lumbering in to supply the troops with subs, soda, chips, beer and ice. Moms wandering down for groceries, playing cards, magazines and Raid.
Teens, doing whatever.

Independence Day is the annual high point of the tourists mixing with the locals. And it's a good thing.

So many people who summer in Maine love it like natives (maybe more, since they don't have to put up with the hard winters).

The locals like July 4th because tourism helps out almost every community that's near water - or a hiking path of more than 200 yards. But beyond that, Mainers are nice people who are genuinely friendly to visitors.

One of the best parades I've been to is in Round Pond, in the Pemaquid region. The tourists march along with the locals but they mock themselves.

Some tourists wear black socks up to their knees and carry folding beach chairs that they click open and closed in unison. (It's very funny and of course, not in unison). Everyone loves it.

The country store in my community changed ownership over the winter.

Larry the Hardworking Businessman was making money but spending almost every waking hour at the store. Or worrying about the store. (Phone call at home: "Hey Larry, get down here, there's another deer to hoist, weigh and register.")

So he sold at a good price, and returned to his old job, a 9-5 manager's post at the farmers' cooperative.

I know he was tired of the hours. I am guessing he wanted more time to pursue other interests. I saw him at a horse-riding event at the Farmington Fair once, and he had a smile on his face that I never observed when I was in the checkout line behind a dozen customers with no potential purchase of more than $9.

The new owners have really cleaned up the place. They removed the filthy, tattered carpet (before OSHA did) and put in bright, clean tiles. They also installed screen doors, and got rid of the paintball display.

I had to laugh when they erected an "Employees Only" sign in the parking lot. There are only about a dozen spots, and the thought of saving several employees a walk of 20 feet seems bizarre at this informal center of community activity.

There are several parades in my sector of Cabin Country, including those in Belgrade Lakes Village and Farmington.

I plan to attend at least one them. It can be a great experience. A lot of elderly folks come out to see people and get the fresh air, and as many kids (both local and tourist) are herded to the curbs to witness on old-fashioned community event.

Plus, taxpayers get to observe the shiny (and very expensive) cars and trucks the police and fire departments are buying under the heading of Public Safety.

In addition to watching these official parades, I will likely trek down to the local trading post myself to pick up some essentials.

The new store has the basics that I seek for the day: hot dogs, buns, chips, soda, beer and ice. Plus the local newspapers.

But these new owners have stopped stocking worms for the fishing crowd. I might make a polite suggestion that they go back to offering this time-honored bait.

Do you have a story about a summer event in Maine? If so, please comment. We are building a community, you know.

Your Scribe has always thought that a river is the best place to take a dip.

Last place goes to the ocean. It looks great on tourist material but the water in the Atlantic in Maine is bone-numbing. More times than not, my ankles seemed semi-frozen. If I dove under water, I was in pain. (An aside: That was then, in Fortunes Rocks Beach, Biddeford. Today I would have to worry about cardiac arrest).

Pools are No. 3. Face it, Maine is not a pool state. The number of hot days is limited, plus a lot of people have shade trees that obscure the sun for some part of the day. And who goes into a pool after Aug. 1? Only people who get thrown in at the Labor Day Party.

Lakes are good. But there are too many boats and jet-skis. (An aside: I must admit, it's hard to beat a sun-warmed float about 50 feet off-shore.)

For me a river is the best. Above is a photo of the Sandy River in front of my property, where I hope to be splashing around on July 4.

It took me years to dunk a toe in the Sandy. For the first two decades I owned the land, the (public) road did not reach my property. So if you can't drive a car onto your acreage, it's hard to think about camping, cooking or swimming.

Then the road reached the property, and I built a cabin. But for several years I had trouble finding my way back from the river. It is 2,200 feet through heavy woods from the road to the river, and I am no Ethan Allen when it comes to navigation skills. (An aside: It should be clear that I would be a terrible candidate for "Survivor, Maine.").

Several years ago I ran a piece of twine from the cabin down to the water. But Maine winters are tough, and each spring the twine would have "gone missing."

My joy came last year, when Bob the Reluctant Woodsman cut a path to the river. (An aside: If that was his last project before going from "reluctant" to "inactive," he did himself proud). The path is marked by yellow tent stakes on the ground, and hunter-orange strips of cloth on the trees. I can make it down and back now.

The river bank, and the water, on my side of the Sandy River slope straight down, meaning you walk out six feet on a sandy bottom and then you drop to 15 feet.

I have a rope along the river to cling to, and I wear a life preserver (though I am a decent swimmer).

The river is clean. There are no boats, not even canoes.

If it is 90 degrees on July 4 (as it might be today), I will be splashing in this warm and inviting river that flows slowly (in July, anyway) through Franklin County.

One of the most unique events for late summer is a bear hunt for women only.

It is being offered by Highlanding Camps on Fish River, at Portage Lake up toward the Allagash. www.highlandingcamps.com.

The women-only stalk will be from Sept. 3 to Sept 8, and women get $100 off per hunter if they register before July 1.

I called host guide David Prevost to find out if many women do sign up for this gender-only event, but he did not return my call.

Most hunts will be over "active bait." And here's one that could cause logistical challenges. "Hunters must provide their own transporation to the stands and return, unless other arrangments are made prior to the hunt."

Does that mean the ladies must get a map from Google, and head into the woods with the hope of finding the stand?

Whenever I write about bear I am always intrigued by the fact that more bear are taken than moose each year in Maine. Maine publicizes the moose as its dumb but adorable state animal, yet the black bear comes up bigger when it comes to counting up the harvest.

Of course, there is a moose maximum set by lottery. Probably four times their annual harvest (about 3,000) could be taken, save for the desire not to wipe out the herd.

Many Maine camp operators are trying to encourage hunting, and appealing to the women is one marketing tactic.

I really wonder if it will succeed. (Maximum per week is 13 hunters). In fact, I am going to again call Prevost, a registered Maine guide, to find out how long the signup list is. Maybe I'll catch him in this time.

Grim news: Terry the Motivated Renter is not buying one acre of my land after all.

To review the bidding: My (itinerant) neighbor, Terry, who was renting one of the houses in the "compound" up the dirt road from me, learned that the owners were moving, and he couldn't live there any longer.

He double-timed down to my cabin with his slobbering Lab-mutt Spike shortly therafter, and said he couldn't bear to leave our humble (and that it is) thoroughfare. He wanted to buy an acre of my land, upon which he would put down a doublewide trailer.

Terry is in his 60s, retired (or at least not working), and not one who strikes you as a man of means.

Still, when he offered me "10,000 for one acre, and $15,000 for two acres," I had to listen.

I listened. Then I nodded. Then he left for Indiana to generate some cash. I said, "I will send you a purchase and sale agreement, and we can move forward."

He was enthusiastic. He seemed to think I was a fine fellow for giving him access to ownership in a modest riverside community on a dirt road in Franklin County.

And I thought, 10 large!

Of course, it was too good to be true. After calling me a half-dozen times from the Hoosier state to stress his commitment, he then left a terse message on the machine that said the deal was off.

It would cost $7,000 to bring the poles for electricity down the road. And he wasn't sure the town would fix up the dirt road so he could drive up and down in winter.

So there it was. $48,000 for the doublewide (his estimate). $7,000 to get electricity. Perhaps $10,000 to clear the site. Maybe $10,000 more for septic and water costs. And $10,000 for the land, which HE did not negotiate.

I wasn't surprised at this decision. I wasn't disappointed. Actually, I don't know why he insisted on living on this modest dirt road in Franklin County, except maybe he is in the Witness Protection Program and didn't want the hassle of redoing all the paperwork.

At the end of the day, I stand to be short of $10,000 that, for a few weeks anyway, was scheduled to come my way.

But I'm still a happy camper. I have a cabin, a piece of property - and the whole summer to look forward to.

This summer Your Scribe vows to catch some trout (as opposed to wretched yellow perch and sunfish).

One reason for optimism: The state has stocked the Sandy River in Franklin County (where I fish) with more than 3,000 brook and brown trout. The fish were put in upriver, in Strong, Farmington and Phillips. They can't all have disappeared.

Second reason for optimism: I am reforming my ways in the following manner.

- Time. I usually amble out to the river at about 2 p.m. The fish want to eat at 7 a.m. or earlier. I am moving up my schedule to early morning.

- Location. I usually fish in slow, deep water. I am moving to faster water downriver, as this photo shows. The trout should be there.

- Better lures. I fish with crawlers but I am going to add some plugs and spinners.

- Stealth. I generally am noisy, sounding like a member of the Corps of Engineers stomping around to scout a river-widening project. I plan to be quiet and largely hidden from view.

It's true that in the past I have often vowed to catch trout. But these behavioral reforms should make a difference.

I can't wait to attack the white water - with the first light.

Some people evidently like cabins condo style.

In Belgrade Lakes Village, the Windover condominium project has been built adjacent to Great Pond. The cabins (condos) are separate but when all are built and sold the (16) owners will own the property in its entirety.

Most cabins are not on the pond (really a lake). But they have shared access to the lake, and other activities.

Prices for a cabin would range from $359,000 to $379,000. Most units are 1,600 square feet, and there will be 16 such cabins. (Prices recently came down, and the cabin above would be about $359,000. It is not on the water, as one might deduce).

Condo fees are about $870 per year.

The drive to get to Windover is great. You pass several of the Belgrade lakes, then drive through a horse farm (no kidding) to get to your unit.

Your Scribe usually writes about "reasonably priced" cabins. This is not in that category, though I am sure there are some who can afford it.

There's not much wilderness to be had, since cabins are pretty close together.

So you had better like your neighbors.

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As recently explained, I have a tree about to fall into the river.

The roots have pulled about four feet away from the bank.

I do thank one of my last "commenters" for telling me about which state agencies would be involved.

In fact, I think they let it fall as "part of nature."

Next time I will show the river into which it is falling. It may end up as our canoe launching area.

While reading a story about the Sandy River in The Daily Bulldog, the new newspaper in Franklin County, Your Scribe was startled to see a story about the amount of refuse and man-made junk in this fine waterway.

Actually, I would have gone from being "startled" to "taking umbrage" at the scandalous report if there hadn't been photos with the story.

The Bulldog's reporter had canoed from Phillips to Farmington. He snapped photos that showed a large industrial saw blade in the water, and in a different section of the river, part of an automobile.

My camp is about seven miles downriver from Farmington. I have seen very little garbage in the miles that I canoe.

But there it was, photos of decaying waste in the upper Sandy. Every river must have parts that could be cleaner.

My shock (later downgraded to "disappointment") reminded me of the days in the '70s, when the Environmental Protection Agency was getting aggressive.

It disclosed the names of the most polluted rivers in the country. On the list were rivers in Maine, including several of the state's largest in central Maine.

Maine waterways had for years hosted mills, shoeshops and paper companies. It was Maine's dirty secret that the rivers were foul, but at that time the mill owners and Chamber of Commerce types said that they could not afford to change their ways for the sake of clean water.

They vigorously opposed the EPA directives to invest in new methods and machinery so the discharges would be cleaner.

Business execs, many in offices located far from Maine, argued. They complained. They pleaded poverty.

Corporate spokespersons rolled out the oft-used trump card, "We'll move out of state."

But some companies, especially the paper mills, did invest in equipment to help clean the rivers.

(An aside: It seems to me that even today the Androscoggin is sending large concentrations of egg yokes downriver, but leaders in that area gamely say it is just the way the water comes rushing off the falls).

The state's paper companies, which invested many millions to change their polluting ways, today are moving operations South or overseas.

It hurts to lose jobs. But I'm glad that many paper companies did the right thing, and made an effort to leave clean rivers before other economic factors interceded.

There will always be blemishes, I suppose, such as those found by The Bulldog on the 69-mile long Sandy River. But it seems to me that the waterways are a lot cleaner now because the EPA put on the pressure those many years ago.

Your Scribe doesn't know exactly what a "good deal" is when it comes to looking to buy a camp. It involves how much money you have, how far you are willing to travel, what kind of camp you want, whether you insist on waterfront, etc.

That having been said, these ads in statewide pubs or websites suggest "reasonable" deals even if they aren't good for everyone.

- Log cabin in Strong. 18 acres with "spectacular" views and seasonal road. Wood stove, gas stove, kitchen, loft, furniture. Near Farmington and Rangeley. $79,900. 207-235-3252.

- Perry (toward Eastport). 6.3 acres. 600 feet on Sipps Bay. Soil tested. $79,900. 207-282-4177.

- Greenville. Year round, near Moosehead Lake. Two bedrooms and loft. Deeded lake acces. $154,000. 207-873-7400.

- Solon. Cabin. Electricity, drilled well and wood heat. Partially insulated. One acre of land, more acres available. $45,000. 207-672-4108,

- Center Pond. 50 feet on waterfront of the 400 acre lake. Built in 1990. Two bedrooms, water heater, propane heat. Decks and docks included. $159,900. Info at 207-564-3119.

- Guilford. Second Davis Pond access. Year round home, two bedrooms, woodstove, loft, $159,900. 207-564-3119.

- Jackman area. Crocker Pond waterfront retreat. Four bedrooms, kitchen, bath, electricity, hot water. "Hunter and angler paradise." $89,000. 207-491-4441.

Good luck.

The annual poll results from "The Maine Sportsman" magazine are in, and here his Your Scribe's take on the annual survey.

The poll, of course, is composed of questions addressed at an ardent choir. The magazine is read by die-hard outdoorsmen, and the supposition of most questions assumes that the reader is a fisherman or hunter seeking to expand (or at least maintain) the quality of the activity.

There were about 40 questions. Here are the answers that intrigued me:

"Do you believe the deer herd is increasing in the area where you hunt?" 40 percent said yes, but a full 56 percent said no. (An aside: Please don't be bugged by the fact responses often don't add up to 100 percent). State bureaucrats and cranky gardeners in recent years say the herd is expanding, but I agree with the 56 percent. The herd is getting smaller. I see fewer deer than five years ago, both on my property or along the rural roads.

"Would you favor the state buying northern Maine deeryards so they could be managed for the long term?" Fully 78 percent said yes, which is a high percentage for a state whose residents are known to be tight with the buck. (The dollar, that is). Would a referendum pass approving bonds for such a project? I doubt it.

Here's one with language that tips off the editors' bias: "Does the importance of catching coyotes in deeryards outweigh the risk of killing a few lynx?" 75 percent said that whacking a "few" lynx would be OK if that helped save deer from the much-despised coyote.

"Should there be a fall shotgun season for turkeys?" 87 percent said yes. But I am with the 13 percent here. Now that wild turkeys have returned, why not give them a chance to thrive, rather than be "thinned out"?

"In order to provide funds for enforcement of boating laws, should the state charge a license fee for floats and docks on great ponds?" Only 28 percent said yes, which is good. This is one area in which the tax collector need not get involved.

But here's one where the voters would favor state assistance. "Should the state use its power of eminent domain to acquire more boat access sites?" 59 percent said yes.

"Do ice-fishing derbies hurt the quality of Maine fishing?" 73 percent said no, though I am not sure they have many facts on their side. Still, it's a very popular activity for those in rural areas where activities are limited in winter.

And here are two questions that reflect a desire to calm down the activity of powerboats:

"Should we have more small waters where no outboard motors are allowed?" 72 percent said yes.

"Should more lakes and ponds have restrictions on the maximum horsepower allowed on boats?" 77 percent said yes.

And here's one that the oft-undernourished deer might like: "Should winter feeding of deer be prohibited?" 73 percent said no.