The state’s coast and inland woods have inspired many of the country’s greatest writers, from Henry David Thoreau to E.B. White. With Nature of Maine Pens (mainepens@hotmail.com) you, too, can become intimately connected with the state’s natural wonders through a simple stroke of a pen. Eleven years ago Stuart King, as a side project to teaching, wanted to start a company with strong ties to the state where he was born and raised. Unable to fully separate his thirty-five year career, he created a business that crafts pens using materials directly from Maine’s woods and waters. They are handcrafted and turned by hand on a lathe using crushed clam shells, mussel shells, lobster shells, golf course grass, moose antler, pine cones, as well as moose and deer scat. (We said it would be an intimate experience.) Purchase Nature of Maine Pens online at lupinecottage.net from $31–$35, or from Lisa-Marie’s Made in Maine stores in Bath and Portland.