Old cedar walls

Where the highway runs along the shore, there's usually a strip of weeds, then a scramble over rocks, then an obstacle course over logs (never in the same place for long), then the shore itself. In a slightly wider patch, an old fisherman's shack sits gently disintegrating. A crumbling skiff alongside is labelled "Rod and Reel". (On the landward side of the highway, a small RV site bears that name.)

I passed it on foot the other day and stopped to look at the ancient cedar shake siding.

Wind and spray have removed most of the paint and chewed away at the edges of the shakes. The brown line is rusty barbed-wire fence.

On the landward side, out of the reach of salt spray, half the paint still remains, but it's being colonized by green lichens. The roof is bright with green moss.

Cedar shakes are locally produced, and snug and durable in all weather conditions. Current producers mention a 50- to 100-year lifespan due to cedar's resistance to rot.