Maine: The Way Life Should Be

It was a glorious Memorial Day weekend here in Maine, the kind of weekend that reminds me why I moved here 15 years ago (although I’ve also come here for summer vacations since childhood).  Great weather, with sunshine and temperatures perfect for working in the garden, barbecues in every back yard, and heartwarming parades in most of the small towns and cities. Today it’s raining… but that’s OK. It’s back to work for most people and a rainy day probably makes it a little easier to return to their working lives. Most are not as fortunate as I am, with a commute that’s just up two flights of stairs to my office.

Summer is here, not officially of course, but here nonetheless. The summer enclave at the tip of my little island is bustling again as more and more seasonal residents arrive to open up their summer homes.  We have just one year-round little grocery and cafe, but in summer a second one opens from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  It’s usually so quiet here that it’s always fun to see the island come alive with people coming and going in the little shops and our tiny post office, catching up on all the news from over the winter. The crew on the bridge are keeping busy, gearing up for July 4 when they usually let more than 100 boats through the passage between the mainland and the island.

At a barbecue in New Hampshire over the weekend, someone asked how I could bear ever to leave Maine, even for a day.  She’s right…it’s not easy!  Even on a rainy day like this one, with fog rolling in and the lobster boats huddled together at their moorings, Maine has an awesome beauty.  Time to head back down those two flights of stairs, heat up a kettle of chowder, and enjoy life the way it should be.

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