A Living Magazine - Grounded in Maine - Day 28 - Visiting Melinda: Backroads

Melinda made a wonderful breakfast...

Turkey bacon and blueberry, almond flour waffles.

I walked downtown to work at the library and she picked me up in the late afternoon for a drive around the Route 29, East Boothbay area. As she has had the cottage for many, many years, she has also loved exploring the backroads around the nearby peninsulas. She and her kids would go on nighttime "pajama rides," and she herself enjoyed visiting the dozens of coves and inlets to watch sunsets, relax on the benches and just think, or bring visitors to these places that the tourists miss... 

Murray's Hill boat landing.

Although I'd enjoyed doing this same thing back when I had  "normal" life, either with old girlfriends or on my own, much of my memory for this area had faded. It was great to have a guided tour. In general, since returning to Maine, I had been seeing all of my native state as if for the first time. Walking had given me the slow street level experience, even when riding in a car, the renewed sights, sounds and smells of Maine had been punctuating my time here with a reborn appreciation...

Here was something no tourist would have stumbled across.

This unique structure was built by a novel architect who then sold it and built himself a bigger house.

The bigger house.

We gently navigated the narrow winding roads that we both agreed were more like paths, through thick woods, along riverbank marshes and abutting fields, finally ending up back at the cottage. I felt compelled to get some rustic images...

Real shutters; the kind that can actually close over the windows.

Personally, what I think makes this place so comfortable is the decor and furniture. For me, staying here beats any kind of hotel. A person can truly relax. The evening light through the windows, defracted by stained glass and filtered through fir trees is simply unbeatable... 

Melinda has so many talents, interests and hobbies that I thought it would be impossible to be bored. She has a friend who has a studio and gives classes for adults and kids. One of these activities is making watercolor prints from carved wood blocks. People are able to paint with their own choice of colors and then apply the images to thick paper. These prints can be framed or used as greeting cards. I thought they were quite lovely...

A great idea for Christmas cards too!

I can't help looking forward to dinner time, or "suppah," as Mainers call it. With Melinda's deference for healthy food and my constant appetite, the circle of deliciousness was complete...  

Barbequed chicken cold cuts, mozzarella cheese, on gluten free bread, with a salad of young greens,

topped with fresh blueberries. Some chips rounded it all out.

After we ate, the conversation began to flow again. When you make a friend who shares so many interests and philosophies, then visit her for a second time, each discussion can stitch you closer. Such was the case here. Counterintuitively, minor misunderstandings, along with their resolutions, kneed the bubbles out of the dough. You learn what agreement and compromise can do to enhance the flavor of the shared bread of harmony.

I must reiterate that once the conversational journey begins, time seems to lose meaning. The hours pass and glancing at the watch is always a surprise. That was the situation on this night. Midnight came and went. 

When the inevitable winding-down came I decided to take a short walk around the neighborhood just to meditate on the day. In effect, this is what I did at campsites with my pacing and Spark-communion. It would become a nightly ritual here; one that I believe I will continue with my upcoming visits. The walk was illuminated by the full moon... 

When I returned, we said good night. I went back to my comfy bed and slipped into my ever-growing pattern of densely packed and vivid dreams.