7/2/07

Notes from Maine—Sunday July 1

Just had to share some wonderful things:

At dinnertime today I walked over to Agnes’ (the lady from NJ) for dinner—tide was out and the all the huge rocks of the cove exposed (for those of you who don’t know, this part of Maine has an 11’ tide, so much is exposed when the tide is out!) ---there on a BIG rock was a bald eagle, waiting patiently for fish—herring—which leads me to last night..

Lily and I often walk out Agnes’ road, which is the old Steuben wharf—dating from the late 18th century—so last evening because the moon was full, pale gold and brilliant, we walked out to admire the light on the water—as we walked along the side of the cove, I heard what sounded like waves lapping gently-only we don’t get much lap way up in this cove and there was no wind at all—then I began to look closer—the tide was clear in and the surface of the water was BOILING with herring—brit, my neighbor Ray, the fisherman says they are called== young herring. It was like a pond full of Koi at feeding time only not quite so frantic-- every now and then there would be splash or plop or roiling that WAS frantic—Ray says that happens when seals or large fish come under the school of herring and start feeding ---it was an amazing sound and sight!

Saturday I celebrated the 4th a bit early with my new suitor, Warren. To say Warren is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, brightest bulb in the chandelier….is to be kind, but he was so pitifully happy to get out of his group house it was worth it. Sat AM we went to Cherryfield—about 20 minutes north (REALLY north, not east) of Steuben, to see their parade—a very cute affair well attended on a splendid Maine day—blue sky, puffy clouds—about 60—65 in the sun. The parade went right by Frederick and Richard’s antique shop—these are the two old men who are my neighbors.

Highpoints were a fabulous bagpipe unit kitted out in lovely blue plaid kilts and the whole affair—no sporrans, though ( the purse in the front.) Also the horse unit—I was hoping to see Alicia Fish, but she chose not to ride—my neighbor, Shae Lynn ( I think that is the spelling) was riding-=-she is 14 and a wonderful girl—good friend of the Fish girls. And of course the Shriners—Anah temple from Bangor in their mini vehicles—the first wave had car-sized fishing boats of all kinds and a light house—pretty cute. Then there were the miniature 18 wheeler trucks—miniatures of the trucks of the companies sponsoring them—including my Dead River Oil company—they were pretty cute, too—and then the now de riguer go-karts with grown men roaring around and then zipping up and over a truck with tracks on it---it moves, they zip—Lily nearly fainted from the noise of those—all with their red fezzes on.

There was also a terrific community band that played on a truck—all ages, and GOOD. I wished the girls had been there to see the local princesses—the best was the one on the end of the platform on the truck who was about 9, round as a pumpkin and nearly as homely—hair skinned back in a ponytail, wearing a yellow chiffon princess dress with sash saying she was a princess—with a look on her face that was –well, both ecstatic and totally robotic and she waved her right hand as parade people are taught to do—again, totally robotic—it is hard to describe how funny she was.

There were all kinds of food stands and few other things—lots of noise and music jammed onto one little street in one little town.

Warren and I returned to Cherryfield in the evening to participate first in the monthly meat raffle at the American Legion hall—yes, meat raffle—no not, girls….meat. Pounds and pounds of meat, one set of lobsters, a picnic basket and several wads of money. Very simple--- you buy a “paddle “ (paint stir stick painted red with a number on it) or many at a buck a pop, some lady spins a big gaming wheel, and whichever number comes up wins that lot of meat, lobster etc. or else half of the take,, whatever was at stake. We didn’t win anything, of course—I was trying hard for the Porterhouse steaks –

Then we stepped outside and got barbecued ribs at a stand that Anna and Jason would have recognized as the Cherryfield version of the one Jason took me to in Christiansted in Feb—GREAT ribs!! About 4 pounds for $12 –fries and the inevitable white bread….

Then back inside for a Karaoke dance evening, which Warren was VERY excited about. (Warren has a GIANT belly and is unprepossessing at best to look at , so I was a bit nervous about his enthusing all the way there about how eager he was to dance….) Well, another unforgettable experience—about 25 people came—sitting at folding tables on either side of the middle of the huge hall—the middle was the dance floor. It was BYOB so some arrived with beer as we did, some arrived with 8 packs of rootbeer and jugs of Hawaiian punch.. ….. mostly the crowd was large middle-aged ladies in t shirts and saggy knit pants, a few couples. Warren knew several of the women, who are or have been caretakers at his group house. The best was the couple with the 4’8 woman and the 6’guy —she resembled the Michelin man—seriously—she weighed about 200 lbs—one tire for boobs and one truck tire for middle—and she was in a sort of stretchy dark evening dress with spaghetti straps and gold sparkle over a t shirt and with tennis shoes—the dress was a bit too long so the shoes were not much visible. Long stringy dark hair –they were the ones with the rootbeer and Hawaiian punch—and they had so much fun dancing…he had to bend clear over so they could dance holding on around each other’s necks!!! The “DJ” was a local lady with her computer Karaoke set up—

And like all Karaoke crowds, some could sing and some couldn’t –one of the older middle aged ladies was TERRIFIC—and some cleverly changed lyrics to suit their purpose—the lady who could sing did Coal Miner’s daughter and changed it to fisherman’s daughter. Everyone loved that! It was sort of oldie but goodie music—and Warren turned out to be a terrific dancer—especially to country and Western music—so we danced quite a bit—then went out at 9:30 to watch the 20 minute fireworks across the little river—and then home.

Warren has plans for us to hit every dance and event for the summer—I am certainly not intending to do that, but we did have a nice time. All day his only conversation was to ask me about every 7 minutes how I was doing, and then to comment on the weather ( how hot it had been last week) how much he hates his home, how grateful he was to be out of it for a day—until the ride home, when we got to talking about the moon—you could literally see the valleys and hills on the moon—and he announced without much preamble that he did NOT believe we were alone in this universe—whereupon my opinion of him rocketed up~~!! He told me he had witnessed a pretty significant UFO incident as a teen in his hometown of Cutler, which I gather is down the coast a ways—and he decided it was pretty real and therefore we humans could not possibly be the only ones inhabiting space. YAY for Warren.

And since I am hunting culture, I did two other things this week—Thursday went down to Prospect Harbor—about 20 minutes west and then straight south down the Schoodic Peninsula—to hear a group known as Acadian Consort—at a GORGEOUS inn that had pounding surf across the road—and the event was in a restored barn with white walls and beams showing and the most amazing 14-18 inch old, dark floor boards I have ever seen.

The trio== violin player, Irish pipe/banjo player and harp/ percussion guitar player—did “folk” songs and were earnest and awful. The violin player never seemed to know what to play and the harp player—who talked and sang, too,--could never—I am not exaggerating here—find the right note when they sang……the pipe/banjo player was fair, but outnumbered. I was so mad at myself for sitting clear through their endless, 27- piece program—but I had paid and it was a small crowd –couldn’t really walk out.

The next night more than made up—I went to Winter Harbor—which is across the bay from Bar Harbor and further down on the same peninsula as Prospect Harbor. There was a coffee house—a venue for professional folk singers. Mary had introduced me to coffee houses in MA and I love them. I was not disappointed. I heard the Tim Rowe trio—fiddler, guitar and bass guitar (electric instruments all—any of you ever seen an electric violin??? Pretty weird!!) –these guys, who are true professionals and perform all over New England and even farther ( they will be in Milwaukee in September) were TERRIFIC. Very energetic—they sang sea chantys and other similar music about ship wrecks and sailors and a few other things thrown in—one Acadian piece, Danny Boy, etc. These events always have fabulous home made desserts, coffee, tea and soft drinks. This one was held in a wonderful old hall that the people from away—and probably some year-round people --have clearly restored for all – there is a major arts festival there at the end of July which I am looking forward to.

Agnes and I will no doubt return to Bar Harbor for the 4th—it was a good celebration last year despite the fog…..

And I am so excited because Ray promised I could come along as he and his family sail his boat back this week from Southwest Harbor to Milbridge or another place—SW Harbor, for those of you who don’t know—is one of the villages on Mt. Desert Island (Where Bar Harbor is) and has a deep water dock, which Ray uses when fishing for sea cucumbers and eels. He wants to show me what Mt. Desert and the peninsulas look like from waterside. How fun will THAT be???!!!

More after that—Happy Birthday Anna and Chris Mundie—and Happy 4th to all.

News alert to all who enjoyed Casco Bay: Chebegue Island just succeeded in declaring itself independent of Cumberland Township (which is what Clapboard was part of .) The people on Chebegue said they wanted their town to “remain a viable, healthy working class community and not a seasonal playground for the wealthy…!!! It one of only 13 year round island communities, down from over 400 in the late 1800’s. Good on them, I say.

Forgot to say I also hiked one of the trails in the Petit Manan ( yes with an N in the middle) Wildlife Refuge, which is in the town of Steuben, a few miles away. For anyone who loves scenery and wildlife this is a MUST--- WOW!! Giant granite ledges, terrific views of Dyer’s Bay—which looks right into the ocean, and amazing flora of all kinds—it was terrific.

And to assure all of you I am not just enjoying local culture and scenery, I have submitted a 3,000 word article to an adult ed journal that invited it, reorganized all the files I brought, put 25 entries into my bibliography software—a HUGE job since I lost most of my bibliography several computers ago….and am working on outlines for a paper and a short article for some folks in Ohio. I also submitted proposals to the Wisconsin ESL conference in September, which, if accepted I will get paid to do.

And just took the kitty to the vet—lots of tests for lots of dollars to see if it is realistic to try to save her—she can’t eat—mouth is swollen and sore---she has a chronic abscess on her left cheek, she is painfully thin and so arthritic….. vet wouldn’t really concur on euthanasia until we checked to see if she could come out of all this.

Good news is that it will cost less than half here to have Lily spayed later this month compared to what it would have cost in Wisconsin—and she doesn’t have to spend the night, either—so, as Mormor used to say, what I lost on the roundabout I will make up on the swing…..

Still staggering from the $58 in roaming charges form Verizon for calling in Canada—isn’t it teeth-grindingly annoying how a $59 plan turns into $150/ mo?????

Love to all again. Mama/Robin ( AKA Roibin)