February on a Small Maine Island

With the sun shining, everything that’s good about living in a remote corner of Maine comes into clear focus. This morning, for example, I took my usual two-mile walk around the island, ending up at one of our two tiny cafe-stores to buy the newspaper. Although clear and sunny — really a gorgeous day — it is also bitterly cold, and many of the local lobstermen

A Maine lobster boat at anchor at the end of a day's work.
A Maine lobster boat at anchor at the end of a day’s work.
were inside drinking coffee and waiting for things to warm up a bit before heading out.
Their pickup trucks were lined up nose to nose outside the cafe, a couple with the engines still running, and every one with the keys still in the ignition. Although I’m used to seeing this, for some reason this morning I was very aware of how lucky I am to be living in a place where you can confidently park your vehicle, keys and all, and enjoy your day without a worry about your car or truck being stolen. No great philosophical awakening here….just a quick reminder that I’m pretty darned lucky. it was a fortuitous start to my morning (and I’ll have to remember it tomorrow when another 8 inches of snow are predicted and we’ll all be back to grumbling about the weather).