measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I really needed that! A full weekend up in an area where I had no internet access, no cell phone access... and no daily life insanity. If only Maine weren't so far from my job-- I'd move there in a heartbeat. The lifestyle is just so amazingly slow-paced, relaxed, and friendly. Erich's mom commented how she'd been writing a check, forgot the date-- asked someone, and even they didn't know. It doesn't matter up there. And people TALK to one another up there. They wave. They will chat pleasantly with people they've never met in stores-- I found that out first-hand as I bought postcards in the general store of Wiscasset. Talking to strangers... one of those things I never thought twice about as a child or teenager. Now it's this strange, weird custom that simply doesn't exist in my everyday life. The "how you doin'?" commercials for Budweiser are a fitting image of what life is like around Boston... with the out-of-towner who actually picks up on the conversation and runs with it. That guy's from Maine. I'm convinced. We stayed at the East Wind, which is a local B&B inn in Tenants Harbor. It's a cute place-- I definitely would love to come during the late summer/early autumn and sip a drink while sitting on the veranda, watching the evening boats come in. It's just that type of place. The East Wind has a big black dog that was found in one of two spots-- outside barking and greeting guests, or plopped on the couch in the entry parlour (with a pillow on the back of the couch that said "if you want the best seat in the house, move the dog" over him). We drove around on Saturday, just looking at all of the old, cute little houses around the villages of St. George, Camden, etc.. Some of the local lobstermen could be pointed out easily by the large stacks of lobster traps and colored buoys piled up by their garages. A few people were out working on traps. A kid sold Kool-Aid on the corner. Flea markets were everywhere. Boats of various sizes rolled in and out of the harbors. It was New England Americana at its best. And I reveled in it. Breathing the salt air. Feasting on lobster rolls, fried clams, hot dogs cooked in peanut oil. Diet? What diet? *snort* I arrived in the office today feeling refreshed and revived. The air up in Maine definitely gave me some inner energy. I can see why wealthy people at the turn of the 20th century went up to the country for the fresh air on their holidays... it really does do wonders for health. I need to do this at least twice per year. Just for the retreat and refreshing. Ahhh..... 11:32 a.m. - 12 May 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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