My venture and love of Maine began as a young 4th grader when my parents wanted to get rid me for the summer because my older brothers were already gone to camp in Maine…and they wanted a free from kids house… so there i went..….. except i landed there and was deeply homesick and cried to come home… but No way.. i was to stay for two months… learn to suck it up and get with the program…

so i literallty went step by step to get through the days until the distilled moments became like a different rhythm.. one that i didn’t know would grow on me..

walk down a trail to your bunk… trying not to trip on all the roots in the ground.. it became a fun game… the smell of morning dew.. the light lowering at nite on a lake,and once in awhile a dusk skinny dip… lightning bugs shimmering all around.... the walks down long winding roads just to get to a candy store with your bunk, where youd buy those small wax bottles with colored sweet juice… ….. small seemingly non- moments became some of the best memories of a life time

years later i ventured to Maine regularly, having a sister- in law that lives there…and two newly found friends ( now 22 years later) who live in different areas of the state.. and a brother who has a home on an island..

Maine= Summer= Decompress to a slow movement.. tick tok .... things in slow motion…... whether taking a drive and getting lost …the biggest decision is go left or right.. lobster rolls or steamers… high or low tide…country drives. the one and only town store… all the houses with laundry flying in the wind.. beaten down barns and lots of buoys and fisherman, …wild flower fields. flea markets, picking rocks, dives in a pond… whoopie pies.. how many i can eat in one visit and how many i can carry home…cemetaries.. collecting berries and making jam……hunt for a moose…. the old salty dogs i’d chase for a portrait and conversation,.. the search and count of trailers,. the small insignificant but most delicious moments.. signage everywhere... .. boats afloat on grass sitting on cement….. sitting somewhere in quietude with a book.. or just staring into beautiful open space.

maine is one of those places that is beautiful from the outside, but has a tempo and a tune all of its own.. and if you dont get it at first, just wait a minute and you will in time… live for the seconds. …the unexpected .. barns filled with vintage books, so much discovery.. and mostly about yourself because you can actually hear your heart beat and thoughts.. now this is coming from a new yorker.. two worlds apart yet so different and so complimentary.

there i am. there i was. it just is.. you just are.. be….. you go by the seat of your pants..revel in the moments.. some days are just …..ok here is morning.. here is nite.. yep found some wild mushrooms on the side of the road. oops i left my glasses on the hood of the car and i just ran over them… yep legion halls announcing a bean dinner and bingo… yep .. get your tarp or taaaarp.. let’s get in the caaar ., which way… this way… —those accents are so damn endearing..

maine is. there you are. there you go.. there we were…yep that’s maine..