Above is a picture of the top of my new well, with earth-moving equipment that shows it wasn't hand-dug.

Question: Should I install a pump or a dipper? The pump can cost $900, if I am reading the brochure frm Bison Pumps in Houlton correctly. But wouldn't a wooden bucket just float on top?

Readers, I am seeking recommendations. What are the pros and cons?

If you would respond, I would be appreciative.

Thoughts on the Common Ground which concluded Sept. 23, starting with the mundane. Above are photos of some scenes on Sunday.

Signage was better this year, and motorists didn't get lost. The parking operation was much more organized, and it was easy to get in and out.

Single admission was up $1 to $10, but that is doable. The food prices were reasonable, too, with my crabmeat sandwich on a whole wheat bun costing $8. It was huge, tasty, and worth the cost.

The tent hosting wildlife adventures was most interesting to Your Scribe, but I don't plan on any winter camping along the St. John River in February. It's incredible to watch canoes being built out of wood, though I still say the plastic-composite will last a lot longer.

This is one of the few organized events in Maine that has a booth lobbying for recognition of Cuba. I like that. And we should support Cuba, too, because the Europeans, Chinese and others are setting up shop there now awaiting the death of Fidel.

Those sheep dog exhibtions are fabulous, as is the team that explains the training of the dogs and their actual work in the field. The Fair, incidentally, has a no-pets rule. It if didn't, it could devolve into chaos.

I like the emphasis on bicycles but Maine will never be a bike state . . .I also liked the demonstration by stonecutters. For some reason, though, my camp doesn't have many stones for the cutting.

I skipped the wellness presentations. I tripled my life insurance last month and my subconscious told me it was all right to pursue more hedonistic activities.

The Fair is a Mecca for knitters and weavers. There were a dozen tents and booths demonstrating the material and skills necessary to create lovely socks, scarfs and sweaters. Some knitters and weavers seemed tired of answering (dumb) questions, but it was late Sunday afternoon when I observed this reticence . . .

The guy on stilts made me nervous. He was fine in the fields but annoying walking through the food lines.

The exhibition of farm animals was great, in part because the stalls and corrals were clean and manned by volunteers. Many fairs have a passive approach to cleaning up after their animals, but Common Ground had teams that monitor cleanliness.

There were numerous presentations focusing on energy, water and shelter. I picked up a Bison Pump brochure with my new well in mind (more on that another tilme), but I learned a pump would cost about $900 more. That's too much. Plus, I don't have electricity which most of the Bison units require.

Though the fair is run by organic farmers, the longest lines for food seemed to focus on French fries, onion rings and Italian sausage. Hunger can make a visitor revert to (bad) old habits.

After attending the Farmington Fair (in scenes pictured above), here are a few thoughts:

It's refreshing to see so many farming families taking part, bringing animals, produce and crafts to be viewed and/or judged. To read the mainstream media, it would appear that the farmer has disappeared. Central Maine may be home to small agricultural operations, but there are many families still involved. That said, farmers must have some soul-searching moments as they try to deal with all the debt that is involved in buying provisions, acquiring equipment on credit, keeping animals healthy and getting in the crop on time.

I liked the trotters and pacers, and you can get right up to the fence to watch them racing along. There were hundreds of animal vans on the grounds, suggesting it is a major undertaking for participants to actually get involved in the annual fair.

A day at a rural fair suggests to me that universal health care (or healthcare for all, on a yet-to-be-determined pay scale), is all but impossible. I'm not joking. A high percentage of these rural fairgoers smoke. Most are overweight, and judging by the amount of fried dough and pizza that is consumed, it is easy to see why. And considering the farming is one of the most dangerous professions in the state, it seems unlikely that a health plan can be devised that would create a break-even pay plan to cover the ailments that will accrue to this slice of the population.

A visit to a historical exhibit brought light a book I had forgotten about - or maybe never knew: "The Paper Plantation" by Ralph Nader. It was written in 1973, and condemned the corporations that owned the paper mills for polluting the state's rivers and streams. Plus, they often kept workers earning a minimum wage while they profited from Maine's resources. (An aside: "The Paper Plantation" can be purchased for $2.25 on Amazon while his more famous book, "Unsafe at Any Speed" about the Chevolet Corvair, costs $60 today on Amazon).

It's a new ballgame now, of course, since many jobs in the paper industry have disappeared. But Maine has much cleaner waterways, and cleaning up has been of benefit for the tourist industry as well as locals who like recreation. The corporate execs always complained that cleanup costs were "too high." Now many wood-products jobs are going overseas. Maybe they would have gone anyway, but it has been a rough transition for rural blue-collar drivers and woodsmen whose economic futures are disappearing. I guess Mr. Nader's efforts at reform cuts both ways, in economics and in politics (re: the 2000 election that cost Gore many votes, including 97,000 in Florida).

A month ago Your Scribe was motoring on the Old Canada Road, which goes from Skowhegan to Canada.

Pictured here is a fine (albeit modest in size) monument to the journey of Benedict Arnold. He fought for the colonialists before becoming America's best known traitor, and led a small army up the Kennebec and Chaudiere rivers in 1775 to attack the British at Quebec.

He started about this time of year, and he had to build 200 bateaux and canoes before he left. Most of the bateaux, hastily made of green wood, sank.

Because they were traveling north as the winter approached, they had a terribly difficult time as recounted in Kenneth Roberts's wonderful book, "Arundel." Diseased, exhausted and short of manpower, they attacked Quebec Dec. 31, 1775, and were repulsed.

Arnold was a prominent Yankee general at that time, but in 1780 he switched sides and tried to hand the fort at West Point to the British. The plot was foiled. He managed to elude capture, and settled in London. He was a merchant there until his death in 1801.

My other reason for being interested in this area is that many Canadians came south on this route in the late 19th and early 20th centures to work in the mills of Maine. Unlike most European immigrants, they often went back to their homes for visits and R & R.

During Prohibition, there was a lively commerce in moving whiskey down this thoroughfare because Canada had not banned alcohol.

I learned about the Old Canada Road when talking to French-Canadian immigrants for my book, "Quiet Presence: Stories of Franco-Americans in New England."

It was published in the early '80s and I still get letters and emails from those looking for extra copies. There aren't any, I regret to say.

The Old Canada Road near Caratunk is developing into a growing tourist area, for many canoeists and rafters enjoy sport on the Kennebec near the Forks.

When I think of the upper Kennebec, though, I don't see hedonist adverturers navigating a historic and beautiful waterway. I visualize the struggling army of Benedict Arnold - and I wonder how they made it from the coast to Quebec in the dead of a cold winter.

I know we have tough outdoorsmenn in Maine today, but those guys were REALLY tough.

Your Scribe plans to attend two fairs in the next week, the Farmington Fair in Farmington and the Common Ground Fair in Unity. Farmington is the 16th-22nd, and the Common Ground is Sept. 21-23.

Farmington is the old fashioned rural fair, with events such as ox pulls, racing of pacers and trotters, colorful kiddie rides and "games of chance."

There are also several large exhibition halls where farming families exhibit their wares from jams and jellies to sewing and knitting to carrots and pumpkins.

I must report that the most well-attended event is the demolition derby, which I do not plan to witness.

My favorite spectator activity is team penning, in which a team of three on horseback tries to drive chosen cattle into a waiting pen.

Being a devotee of history, I also like the halls that have old farm machinery, and pictures of farming families who operated them. I am always wondering how people in Maine survived the winters a century ago.

The Common Ground Fair features the organic "modern" farmer and homesteader. Last year's event was disappointing, however.

It rained, and a muddy fair is a hassle-laden fair. Also, the food stands were inefficient and ill-equipped. I know it doesn't sound very "back to the earth" of me to complain about long lines and sold-out kitchens but in the end I am a consumer and the MOFGA crowd that runs the annual event needs all the visitors they can get.

My favorite area is the stove and wood-cutting sector. Last year I was intrigued by a mega wood-burning stove that, located outside the residence, creates enough heat to warm the whole house. An owner would expect to burn 10 cords or more per year.

Since then, I have read that complaints have been filed on the state level about the amount of smoke they can generate for (annoyed) downwind neighbors. I will be interested in learning whether this promising contraption actually can be implemented.

It's a good time of the year for those who want to sample Maine life through their own eyes, ears and taste buds - rather than through a car window or TV images.

Summer, with its wonderful August "drought," is coming to an end.

Here are some things that I would do if it were starting now:

I'd take a plane ride over the wilderness of western Maine, in a lake-jumper like the one above. Maine is almost 90 percent forest (they say), and I'd like to see the state from the air.

I would travel to Jackman, in search of moose. It has been more than decade since I have seen the huge, loveable animals and based on the number of car-moose collisions, Jackman could be the spot. There were none to be seen when I was at Moosehead Lake this summer.

I would plant more annuals. I keep telling myself that I have a camp, not a cabin in the suburbs. Still, I miss the color that annuals will bring. I am planting bulbs this fall.

I would go to a few more SeaDog games. I went to one, and it was great. Certainly it is cheaper and more manageable than a trek to Fenway.

I would make better use of a chainsaw. I keep complaining that the local woodsmen don't fulfill their contracts but there's nothing to say that I can't go out and knock down a few trees.

I would begin looking into solar power. Granted, I need to remove trees but this might be a better option than a generator or Central Maine Power.

I would put up the bluebird house. It has been sitting on the porch for three years, and I really must get that out onto a post at the edge of a clearing.

I would spend evenings watching lightning bugs. After a big rain in May or June, there are hundreds of fireflies on my porch and in the front driveway. I would revel in their presence, because they are not around for long.

Kevin the Well Digger is ready to start looking for water.

Your Scribe called him this week, and asked if trying to locate water in a so-called drought would be a counterproductive idea. If the water table is down, will it be harder to find?

But Kevin said no. "If it's there, I'll find it."

I am reluctant to report that Kevin doesn't guaranteee the well. "I dig a hole, and if there is water there, you have a well."

One advantage of the dry weather is that Kevin is willing to take his machine into (the perimeter) of the forest. Two outdoorsmen before him, Bob the Woodsman and Gary the Energetic Logger, never did start taking down trees as contracted because they said the woods was too wet.

(An aside: Gary has started a firewood business, with a big sign at the intersection of Routes 2 and 27 in Franklin County. Perhaps he will want some more wood if the business goes well).

One positive aspect about Kevin's work is that he does not buy the stone or tile for the well until he finds the water. Cost will be about $3,000 if he does build the whole well but I don't know what it will be if I only have a deep hole.

Nor would I know what to do with just a deep hole. (An aside: One of my economic mantras is "The U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal." But I don't think there is much coal in Maine).

It will be good to have water at the camp. I am planning a bigger garden next year. Plus, if there was a fire-related emergency, water would be essential.

I am going to see if Kevin will take down some more trees. Because of a clear-cut across the road, the Blue Mountains of western Maine will be in view if we can just knock down a few poplars.

I am looking into solar power for the camp. Right now, there's not enough sunlight to make that possible. Leveling a few trees will help.

Here is the river in Franklin County upon which I do my canoeing: The Sandy River.

Canoes are a great deal. I bought my Old Town for about $700 in 1992, and it is still a flawless vehicle. We leave it by the river all winter, and yet it still is in perfect shape each spring.

The canoe has also been to Round Pond (ocean), Long Lake, the Kennebec River and Great Pond, to name a few.

Not much changing of the colors yet.