My Maine Job

Tomorrow we move down the lake a few football fields to Loon Landing. Pam will make several trips over dirt roads with our stuff while I will paddle down the lake at the head of a two kayak, one paddle board flotilla. We have enjoyed our two weeks at Summer Dreams. The weather has been great, aside from the fact that the past three days and the next two have featured much hotter than normal temperature, which for Maine means upper 80’s and humid. I know enough about what is happening back home in Richmond and many other parts of the country to be careful about complaining about 88. But, keep in mind that there is no air conditioning up here. However, we do have a clean and refreshing lake to jump in anytime we want maybe 30 feet from the cabin. Once we arrive at Loon Landing the distance from deck to water shrinks from 30 feet to three.

I am firmly entrenched in my Maine summer reading. Each year when I come up here I devote myself to reading for pleasure instead of work. 

I picked up a couple of these at Hope Thrift, the rest I bought at the most adorable book store in all of Maine, Camden’s The Owl and Turtle. I’ve finished two of these already, three to go, plus another book that I had to order from Owl and Turtle which should arrive soon…

That’s Christopher Buckley, Bill’s son, who writes the kind of satire that has always been my favorite—unflinching and hilarious. Can’t wait. By the time August the 20th rolls around and we have to head back home I’ll have finished probably eight books, or roughly the same amount of books it takes me the rest of the year to read.

In Maine my mind is undivided. The only competition it has comes from puzzles and card games. We have been here two weeks and the television has been dark. I got a notice from the worried algorithms at Apple telling me that my screen time last week fell 51%. That, on top of a 35% drop the week before.

One more thing, this morning I teed it up for the first time in what seems like months. Got the 6:30 tee time at Rockland Golf Club. I rented a set of clubs and bought some golf balls and a bag of tees. On the first hole I lost two of them while carding an 8. Wasn’t sure that the 6 balls I had purchased would be enough. However, my play did improve and I played the remaining 17 holes with the same ball, shooting a respectable 91. 

My only birdie attempt came on the par 3 10th hole when I hit a 5 iron 176 yards to here and then left the putt on the edge of the cup. I plan on playing twice more and will keep you posted on my scores. Hopefully they improve, but even if they don’t, walking five miles and playing a round of golf in two and a half hours is its own reward!