Security vs Adventure

We finally had a dreary day of clouds and rain. The high temperature was only 70 and with a stiff breeze and clouds this afternoon it actually felt chilly. I had to break out long sleeves and an actual pair of pants and socks with shoes! We spent a couple hours in Camden having breakfast at the Deli and doing some shopping at The Smiling Cow. The rest of the day has been spent doing the usual rainy day things, which for Pam means laundry and some kind of craft, for me it means reading and napping. I did happen to catch a fish off the dock about an hour ago which was a big thrill for Lucy who loves nothing quite so much as giving fish and good sniffing and licking. Tonight’s dinner will be a smorgasbord of leftover/mismatch items we can scrounge up out of the fridge. We are both fine with that since our time at Loon Landing is drawing to a close. Tomorrow we will begin packing everything up for the cross-lake move to Fernwood on Saturday morning. 

For some reason this morning I started thinking about a seminar I attended probably over thirty years ago now in Atlanta, Georgia at a meeting of the Million Dollar Round Table. I signed up for the two hour event reluctantly since I’m not a big fan of motivational speakers. But a few of my buddies were going so I tagged along. The man’s name was Jim Rohn and I had never heard of him. Obviously, he made an impression on me because here I am a quarter century later writing about it. He said a great many note-worthy and helpful things, but this morning only one of them came to mind. It was the one thing he said that resonated the most with me…and still does. But I’m wondering if now that I have retired its still sound life advice.

Mr. Rohn was speaking to a crowd of 2000 businessmen and women. He did so for over two hours without notes or a podium, just him in a nice blue suit and a microphone. About halfway through he began talking about what he considered to be a great divide in the business world and indeed the human experience and that is the conflict between security and adventure. Human beings crave both things in equal measure. Because of our desire for comfort and safety we strive for security. But there is something strong within the human heart that longs for adventure as well, and the adventurous life is tethered to risk, which we are conditioned by society to avoid. Then he said this, or words very close to this, (thirty years is a long time!), “Here’s what changed my life…the day that I discovered that everything about life is risky, the very moment I was born life became risky. Security is an illusion. Don’t seek security, seek adventure! if you think trying something hard is too risky, wait until they hand you the bill for not trying. Its better to live 30 years full of adventure, than 100 years safe in the corner.”

Every bit of that rang true with me. I had just made the decision to go into business for myself. I had given up every secure thing I knew to be my own boss. No employer-provided anything. No salary, no guarantees, just me and my ability to succeed, and I was all in. For me it turned out to be the right decision. I had the personality type for it. I had the right combination of determination, cockiness and balls to pull it off. But it was costly. The price for all that independence was high levels of stress and anxiety, much of it unacknowledged, that took a toll. Still, if I had a chance to do it over again—I would. For me, I just couldn’t have succeeded working for someone else.

Now, I’m retired. The anxiety and stress associated with having to constantly produce has vanished. I no longer wonder where my next payday is coming from. I know exactly where, and for the first time in my life I know exactly how much. It’s such a strange feeling! Is now the time to introduce security into my life? Most of me says—absolutely! But there’s another part of me which actually misses the rush of unpredictability that came with the business. The truth is I still want a level of adventure. At some point down the line my body won’t be able to cash the checks that my mind writes, to put it another way, adventures are generally a young man’s game. But that doesn’t mean that 67 year olds can’t play too…right?

One of the many things I’ll need to work out in retirement.

Dominoes

Each morning around 6:45 or so I walk down to the dock and cast my line into the clear smooth water. I’m not expecting to catch anything, it’s just something to do while I think. Lucy comes down with me but even she doesn’t expect me to catch anything either. She’s there because that’s where I am. It’s just one of the many soothing rhythms we fall into here.

So, what do I think about on the end of that dock? A little bit of everything. Sometimes its inconsequential minutiae like why is it that I like Tony Soprano so much despite the fact that he is basically a sociopath. Other times I recall fond memories from my life. But lately I find myself consumed with the future. Suddenly I am faced with the prospect of major life decisions that will need to be made, decisions that arise when you retire and welcome a grandchild into your life—both wonderful things—but also game changers. The hard part is that any one decision you make has a ripple effect on every other decision that you have to make, like a row of dominoes before you. There are lots of moving parts to our lives now.

The First Domino

-We have lived in our house for nearly 30 years now. It’s paid for and we love our neighborhood. We just rebuilt the kitchen. If we sold it today we would have a nice pile of cash. With that cash we could buy or build a new house with a first floor bedroom—which I am told is a must-have for people of a certain age. Or, we could stay where we are, continue the upgrade process and do battle with stairs for the rest of our lives.

The Second Domino

-With the arrival of Silas, our life and priorities seem to have been completely altered overnight. It is killing Pam not to be close to him, not to be able to help with his care, to be a bigger presence in his life. It’s a six hour drive, not conducive for dropping by with a pot of soup when one of them gets sick. We could buy a condo near them for peanuts so we would have a place to stay that would accommodate long visits. There are very nice 3 bedroom 2 bath condos in Columbia we could pick up for less than 300K, but we would have to furnish it. I suppose that when we weren’t using it we could rent it via AirBNB, but it would be in Columbia for crying out loud—a place that offers nothing but 100 degree heat and Gamecock football—not exactly a tourist destination! Then, what happens when my son and daughter-in-law have a child? Then there’s the prospect that our kids will move to other cities. What would we do then?

The Third Domino

- We are still looking for a lake house in Maine. Every time we are here we are reminded of how much we love this place. We could make the buying easier if we just lived here year round. With the proceeds from the sale of our house in Short Pump, we could buy a lake house large enough to accommodate our growing family for years to come. This delightful prospect brings with it two problems. The first is that we have built a life in Short Pump. That’s where most of our friends live. That’s where our church family is. That’s where both of our extended families live. If we lived in Maine, instead of being six and nine hours away from our kids, we would be two days of driving away from our kids. Also, there’s the little issue of Maine winters, which would make dealing with stairs feel like child’s play!

There are two possible solutions to this dilemma. The first would be for both of our kids to move closer to us, somewhere within a three hour drive. Problem solved. The second solution is for one of my novels to hit it big, the resulting financial windfall allowing me to buy condos in Columbia and Nashville, a lake house in Maine and buy one of those stair-master deluxe model II’s for our house in Short Pump.

But you know what I don’t think about at 6:45 in the morning at the end of that dock? Stuff that doesn’t matter.

Recon Mission

Yesterday I played golf again, the first 6 holes in dense fog, the rest in brilliant sunshine. This time I played with two other guys, Al and Chris. I met Al the first time I played and he gave me his number and told me he had a standing tee-time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:30, and if I wanted to join him to call…so I did. Oddly enough, Al is from Fairfax, a retired educator. The third guy in our group, Chris, was a guy that Al met on the golf course five years ago just like me, and they have been playing in Maine ever since. Chris is from Long Island. Now I have both of their numbers and we have a group chat set up. Chris’ vacation has been cut short because his daughter has cancer and he needs to be with her at an upcoming doctor’s appointment. I found this out on the 18th green. I’m honestly glad I didn’t find out about it earlier because I would have been thinking about it non-stop. I can’t imagine what I would do if one of my children had cancer. I think of friends I know who have dealt with the death of their kids and I can’t even fathom the pain and sorrow of such a thing. So I’ll be praying for my new friend and his daughter this week.

I actually hit the ball great yesterday. My short game is horrible, and I had a well-deserved 7 and an even more well-deserved 8, but I ended up shooting an 89, three shots better than last week. 

So, when I got back to Camp I walked down to the dock where I was greeted by Lucy, who had obviously been for a swim. But then I saw Pam..who had also been for a swim—something that never happens before 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon. Then she said, “Guess who fell off her paddleboard?”

A word of context…

I bought my wife a paddleboard for her birthday several years ago and she has put hundreds of miles on that thing every year on the lakes of Maine. She is a phenom on the thing. The only time she has ever fallen was one time when she was showing off doing Yoga moves on it! She told me this story. There’s a submerged fallen tree just on the other side of the point of this cove. I know it well since I have caught several fish there. It’s a long tree and in places it’s barely submerged at all. So Pam was out with Lucy and started going over the top of the fallen tree when she glanced down and thought, “whoa, that’s not very far under the water!” She braced herself for a jolt, but she cleared it without any scraping noises. Just about the time she relaxed, the fin on the back of the paddleboard struck the tree, sending Pam flying into the lake. Lucy immediately came close to get a close look at the mayhem. Pam was able to save her very badass hat but unfortunately her expensive subscription sunglasses are now amongst the sticks, clamshells other detritus that lies at the bottom of the lake. My job this morning is to do a recon mission at the site to see if I can locate the sunglasses. Lucky for us, the lake water here is as clear as glass. If its down there I will find it. Then, I will be her hero. Swimming up here in the morning is—how should I say this?—invigorating. 

Special Friends

The past four days we have had friends with us staying in the guest house. They are dear friends who we have known for many years. Actually, in missionary circles, especially at the International Mission Board, they are pretty big deals, or were, since like us they are both recently retired. They had recently sold their home in Richmond, packed up and moved away from us to be closer to their children in Alabama. They are currently homeless, living with one of their kids, looking for a house in the miserably hot conditions of Birmingham—something I could have warned them about had they cared to ask my opinion. Anyway, on a whim, we thought maybe they could use a break so we texted them an open-ended invite to come up and stay with us a few days, to escape the heat and relax. They have visited us here before but it had been a while. They accepted in world record shattering time.

Despite their celebrated reputations, the hummingbirds were unimpressed.

Lucy was nonplussed.

But we had a blast.

As you can see from this photograph, Leigh Anne didn’t have any trouble navigating her kayak. She and Pam took many adventurous trips around the lake together. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of Gordon. My one and only regret from our time with them over these last four days was that I didn’t have my cell phone camera with me when Gordon attempted to get into his kayak to go out with me on our first fishing trip. That photograph would have been pure gold…Gordon, wobbling, wobbling then getting dumped into the chilly waters of Quantabacook. Despite the absence of photographic evidence, I will always have the memory! While I freely admit that he caught more fish than I did, At least I remained fully upright in my vessel at all times.

If you’re lucky and live long enough, God will bless you with special friends, the kind who you wouldn't hesitate to call in a crisis, the kind who can be counted on to say “yes” to a last minute spur of the moment idea. These are the people who don’t care how you’re dressed, the kind that you never need to impress, or be impressed by…the kind of people who let you be yourself. 

Get yourself some friends like this…

The Funny Thing About Time

We arrived here on a Tuesday almost two weeks ago. About two days later I drifted out of any normal, human understanding of time. It happens every year and for some reason it always surprises me. This year it seems more intense. Maybe it’s because I’ve retired so I am no longer as trapped by the calendar as I was before. All I know is that time loses its meaning here. Let me attempt an explanation.

I wake up every morning before Pam. The sun rises around 5:10 and there is no way to block its light through the sliding glass door of our bedroom, which is only six or seven steps from the water. There is a lovely little sheer curtain that gives the illusion of privacy but is useless against the morning sun. So, there is morning and I enjoy the quiet, the stillness and the chilly temperatures.

There is a mid-morning here too, when the sun rises in the sky and begins to dominate the lake. This is usually when I venture out in the kayak or Pam takes out her paddle board. Sometime during this mid-morning the wind picks up. Some days it’s gentle, other days it blows like a gale. Sometimes we get caught out on the lake when it changes and the gentle lake we enjoyed when we left the dock just two hours earlier has turned into a beast on the return trip. 

There’s also a dependable afternoon on this lake. These are the warmest hours of the day. We eat some lunch, but it’s never at the same time from one day to the next. We eat lunch when we are hungry. At some point during the afternoon I take a nap. All the windows are open so there’s always a breeze drifting  across the bed. I enjoy the deep sleep of a carefree mind.

There is a delightful evening here. The sun sets a little after 8 o’clock. The wind dies down. We have dinner either inside or out depending on how cold or warm it is. I usually cook something on the grill. I fish off the dock between 8 and 8:30 every night. Almost always catch something during that thirty minutes. Then we watch the sunset. 

So, there’s morning, mid-morning, afternoon and evening here.

But somehow they don’t all add up to a day.

We both ask each other —what day is it?— what seems like several times a day. The truth is that neither of us knows. We have to glance at our watch to answer the question. Sometimes I think…are you sure?  The reason we lose track of the Gregorian calendar is that it doesn't matter. What difference does it make what the name of this actual day is? It’s not like we have any appointments. Each day that we have woken up these past two weeks there has been nothing planned for the day. We decide what we will do when inspiration comes. Often the weather dictates our plans. Generally speaking, if it’s gorgeous outside there’s no chance in the world that we will leave the lake. If the weather is less than ideal…overcast or too cold or too hot, then one of us will suggest a possible plan for heading this place or that. Then the other one will say, ok, let’s do it…and that’s that.

For the next few days it will be a bit different since we will be hosting friends. And for what it’s worth I have a clear awareness that tomorrow is Tuesday only because that’s the day they will arrive. I think they will be leaving on Friday, so those two days I’ve got down cold! The rest of the time will just be a blur, an amorphous block of time that we spend living in the moment in Maine, where the days have no name and the hours hold no power.

Finally, a Rainy Day

It finally rained yesterday. A heavy series of intense downpours accompanied by lighting and thunder, sending Lucy scurrying to her safe space in the bathroom. We used yesterday’s poor weather as justification to actually leave the lake and go into Camden for a while. I picked up fishing reinforcements at Maine Outdoor Sports, then we putzed around town for a while. Walking through the streets of Camden, Maine always has a sedating effect on me, so I stopped at Zoot for a hot cafe mocha.

Before the rains came our day started with watching our church’s service on YouTube. No, it’s not the same thing as being there, most often a very poor substitute. But when you’re 850 miles away from your church family, its a blessing to be able to get a glimpse of them all together. 

A couple days ago on Pam’s birthday, one of our neighbors up here, Gil Bryant, knocked on our door with a gift for her—an overflowing pint of fresh raspberries he had picked at his house! I am here to tell you that you haven’t tasted raspberries like the ones that come from somebody’s back yard in Maine. Ever since, Pam has been scouring the internet looking for baking ideas. She settled on something called a raspberry tart which includes Pillsbury croissant dough, raspberries and semi-sweet dark chocolate chips. Pictures to follow!!

This morning the wind is up, which always happens the day after rain at the lake. So far there are no whitecaps, so not as bad as the other day. Pam will spend most of the day getting the guest house ready for Gordon and Leigh Ann Fort who arrive on Tuesday. Looks like their three day visit will be blessed with perfect weather—bright sunshine, high temperatures in the middle 70’s all three days!

Finally, my favorite picture from yesterday…

Celebrating a Birthday

The last couple of days have been stellar. Yesterday we woke up to white caps on the lake. This morning when I poured my coffee it was 52 degrees outside and crystal clear. I had to put on long sleeves! Anyway, I played golf yesterday for the first time since last July. There is no excuse for this sad statistic. I am retired after all. My course of choice is the Rockland Golf Club with its views of mountains at one end of the course, Chickawaukie Pond on another, and glorious Penobscot Bay on yet another. One of my favorite holes (and one of the few that I actually parred) is #16, an uphill 390 par 4 which played dead into the wind which I reached in regulation with a tidy little nine iron.

Despite the long layoff, extremely windy conditions, strange rental clubs, and a troublesome blister that I developed on my left hand—which are all the excuses that I can come up with at the moment—I managed to shoot a 92. The best thing about this round of golf was the fact that I was finished at 9:30 in the morning, which meant that I had time to run into Rockland and pick up these beauties from the ridiculously fabulous Ruckus Donuts.

For the uninitiated, these guys are huge, nearly four inches across. The flavors clockwise from the top left are: strawberry shortcake, raspberry crème, blueberry lemonade, and chocolate espresso crème. The occasion for this decadence was the beginning of the weekend of Pam’s birthday. Today is her actual birthday and it will be filled with all of her favorite things. Dinner tonight will be at Fresh & Co in Camden, one of our favorite restaurants of all time. Shopping will take place.

So, next Tuesday two of our dearest friends are flying up for a last minute, spontaneous visit. They have been up before and are the kind of people for whom a lake house in Maine is perfectly suited for their vibe and style. They are only staying for a few days, just a little getaway. Like us, they are recently retired. We get to play host. The only thing more fun than laying around at a lake house in Maine is laying around a lake house in Maine with friends. Of course since they’re staying rent-free I will be trying to get Gordon Fort to pick up the check at every opportunity that presents itself. Wish me luck!

Lucy’s Mental Health

Our golden retriever loves lake life. She is never happier than she is on Quantabacook. However, the fact that Miss Lucy is happy here does not mean that she is…well. You see, our girl has, for lack of a better word…issues. What follows are but three examples of the sort of thing that we have been dealing with for the eleven incredible years of her charmed life.

A few nights ago in the middle of the night the smoke detector in our bedroom began to emit three squeaking beeps at an extremely high volume. The long story is that it was either a battery issue or a malfunction. All was well. But Lucy was having none of it. She immediately ran from our bedroom, taking up refuge in a tight ball on the rug in front of the shower stall in the bathroom. She was still there when I woke up at 6:30.

On another night (why do all these things happen at night?) Lucy was sacked out, dead to the world, sound asleep on the rug in front of the fireplace. Suddenly, off in the distance, someone, somewhere set off a firework. I use the singular here because it was literally only one muffled boom. Lucy’s head immediately lifted off the rug, ears back, and although she was still clearly half asleep, she staggered blindly into the bathroom to take refuge on the same small rug in front of the shower.

Back at home, when I feed her breakfast she insists on me sitting down before she can eat. I don’t have to even be in the same room, but I must be seated or there will not be any breakfast eating happening in the Dunnevant house. Don’t ask me to explain this phenomenon. It is what it is. Well, here in Maine, Lucy has added a new twist to this particular neurosis…she now refuses to eat until both of us are seated! So for example if it’s just me and Pam is still asleep in our bedroom…nothing. We must apparently both bear seated witness to her breakfast eating ritual.

So, there you have it. Life with an adorable, beautiful, hilarious golden retriever is nowhere near as easy as we make it look.

One Flaw

I am sometimes accused of over-hyping Maine, of glossing over the state’s shortcomings. This is a fair observation, however, alert readers will notice that I never—ever—come up here in the winter, so I can only describe for you what I see. Summers here are just better than summers wherever you happen to be, that’s all.

But, in fairness, it must be admitted that summers in Maine are not perfect. I mean, they would be if not for one thing…

Yes, the dreaded deer fly—bloodus suckious—the bane of all hikers, bikers, runners and walkers in Maine from approximately June 1st through September 1st. I already know what you’re all thinking—We have deer flies here, they aren’t unique to Maine. Bless your heart….thats like someone from Nebraska saying to someone from the Florida Everglades—We have mosquitoes here, what’s the big deal? The deer flies of Maine are supernaturally mean, angry and relentless. One of the reasons we spend so much time at or on the lake while we are here is because it’s the only place the deer flies leave you alone. Well, thats not entirely true. I don’t recall being bothered by them while in town, for example. Primarily, the woods—including any trail or road which may go through them are where they thrive. Since I like to take long walks, this can sometimes be a problem. But, Mainers have devised a solution, a tool for the fight. This baby—

Meet the Bug-Zapper Deluxe 2000. This cross between a tennis racket and pickle ball paddle comes wired with electrical current, which with the touch of a button will come to life sending fly killing electricity surging to the racket head. When properly swung it lights up the deer fly and emits a delightful buzzing sound to let you know that the job was done. I can attest to the fact that no sound is quite as satisfying as the Zap-o-Death. Just a couple days ago I carried this baby along on my 3 mile walk through the dirt roads of Quantabacook and I lost count at 45 kills. Of course the drawback to this device is that now I run the risk of developing bug-zapper elbow simply by going for a walk.

Since I believe that God created the heavens and the earth and everything therein, I am left with the task of finding a reason for the deer fly’s existence. I have come to the conclusion that God created the deer fly for one reason and one reason only—to keep the good people of Maine humble. Because, were it not for this bothersome insect, the summers in Maine would in fact be perfect, which would make Mainers too proud. And as we all know, pride goeth before the fall.

The Magic Chair

There’s a special place in this camp. It’s upstairs in the main house. There’s a comfortable chair with an enchanting view of the lake. To access this special place you have to climb a steep ladder. 

There are two lovely twin beds up here, along with a small chest of drawers. I climb up here to do my morning exercises. Then after dinner, after the sun finally sets, I come up for inspiration. You see…in the ten years that we have been coming here I have written parts of three different novels sitting in this chair. It’s not the only place I write while in Maine. But, whenever I’m feeling blocked, this is the place I come to. There is magic in that chair. I bring a snack and a small can of Ginger Ale. I close my eyes then open them and look out the window at the lake and…poof…unblocked.

The only trouble is that the chair is a rocker and when you use the chair as intended, it has a squeak, not a loud and obnoxious one, but a squeak nonetheless. Pam, who is usually sitting down stairs right below me on the sofa doing her latest cross-stitch project, will sometimes complain about the noise. When she does I try to sit still while I write, something that isn’t easy to do. After a couple hours of productive creation, I will climb down the stairs until next time.

It is just one of the many magical details of Loon Landing, this small but elegant escape from the harsh realities of the world. 

A Big Day and Bad News

How’s the weather been? Although this question gets asked a lot where Maine is concerned, the truth is that it doesn’t really matter. Each kind of weather brings its own delights. But so far there hasn’t been any rain. Every morning has been cloudy with a bit of fog across the lake. Haven’t been treated to a sunrise show yet. The temperature in the morning is around 60. We sleep with the windows open. Its wonderful.

As the day progresses, the fog goes away and the clouds start to thin out. By the time the afternoon arrives the sun comes out for a few hours. The temperature tops out at 75 or so. There hasn’t been much wind to speak of, just a light afternoon breeze that dies down with the sun, leaving the lake still and calm for sunset. Pam takes her paddle board out around 7:30, golden hour.

Today is a big day up here. First there’s the annual Strawberry Festival in Lincolnville Center starting at 10:00. Last year we made the mistake of waiting until the afternoon to go and when we arrived literally every last strawberry was gone! We will be there bright and early this year. Then there’s the Arts and Book Fair in Camden. The first time we went was around ten years ago just after Labor Day on our last day in Maine. It was bright and clear, 72 degrees and as perfect a day as it is possible to have. Today it will be partly cloudy, but this event is always fun. So, after strawberries, we will drive into Camden and buy more things we don’t need and have a blast doing it.

Unfortunately, this beautiful place has made national news for a horrible reason. On Crawford Pond, about 15 minutes from here, a local woman has been murdered, last seen on her paddle board near 100 acre island 8 days ago. Several years ago we rented a place on Crawford, hiked that beautiful island, all six of us. Now, the entire place is a crime scene. The good people of Union, Maine are beside themselves with fear and worry. It feels like a violation, not just of an innocent woman, but of this entire community, this way of life. People don’t get murdered here. These are communities where people come to get away from the kind of world where people kill each other. To have one of their own struck down while enjoying the beauty of a place like Crawford Pond feels outrageous and grossly unjust. So, now news crews are up here for all the wrong reasons. 

Here’s my favorite photograph from yesterday..Pam on her paddle board.

Status Update on Lucy

I thought I would give everyone an update on Lucy, since it’s always the most popular question people ask me about Maine—How does Lucy like it? Well, Lucy loves Maine, but she is also a fanatic for her routines, and any change in location causes her much angst. It takes her a couple days before she feels comfortable with the new environment. First off she has to find her—spot—that one location that she claims as her private safe space where she can establish her dominance. For Lucy, its usually the sofa…

For this purpose we always bring her favorite blanket from home to protect Carolyn and Keith’s sofa. She prefers the exact spot on the sofa that takes up the maximum amount of space, making it difficult for anyone else to sit down. She allows it, but usually gives whoever sits with her the side eye.

The second issue is always—where to put her food and water dish. One would think that a dog could eat and drink from a dish set practically anywhere, but in Lucy’s case, not so. If it’s not just right, she will not eat. Oh, and even once we find the correct spot, she ain’t eating unless the two of us are sitting down and settled, and that is non-negotiable. Yeah, I know…weird.

The one thing she loves the most is swimming. Yesterday she jumped in for her maiden voyage with her brand new swimming vest with zero hesitation. Then a bit later she did one of her other favorite lake activities—accompanying Pam on a paddle board adventure…

When they returned from this paddle Pam noticed that Lucy seemed a little slower this year. Yeah, probably. She’s eleven now, slowing down a bit. But she still loves it.

Then there’s another favorite activity—fishing. Yesterday morning the two of us were down on the dock and I caught the first fish of the season—a smallish largemouth bass. Lucy was ecstatic, and sniffed and licked the thing to death. Later yesterday afternoon I was out there by myself doing some fishing, thinking Lucy was asleep in the house. I suddenly hooked into a pretty nice sized fish and was reeling it in when it jumped out of the water and wiggled off the hook. Immediately I heard an indignant growl/whine of disapproval from the house, turned around and saw Lucy standing at the screen door—judging me. I mean, it’s hard enough to catch fish without having to endure my dog’s deep disappointment!

So, I think its safe to say that Lucy has settled in and is living her best life.

We Made It.

We made it, a very low stress 14 hour drive with no accidents, backups, no construction delays and very little rain. My back held up, the hamstrings made it through without incident and the car ran like a top. It’s 854 miles and I’m stiff and sore, but compared to other trips up here, this one was easy.

We have unpacked the car, organized everything to suit us, and Pam even made a preliminary trip to the Hannaford’s in Belfast to pick up a starter-pack of groceries. Tonight, I picked up a pizza from Fraternity General Store while Pam made a salad. I washed it down with my favorite Maine beer—Baxter Stowaway. After dinner we walked out on the dock and watched the sun set. It was 70 degrees with a cool breeze on our faces as we watched the show…

In the morning the sun will rise around 5 am. It will be 60 degrees or so. I will take my coffee on the deck by the edge of the water. At some point I will take the kayak out for a spin, check out the water level down at the dam, pay a visit to Summer Dreams, then paddle over to the Eagle’s nest to pay my respects. We might head into Camden for a bit, or not.

I will go for my first swim tomorrow. The cold water will take my breath away, but I will quickly adjust, and when I come out of the water I will feel like a new man. Lucy will swim with me. We bought her a new swim vest and she is anxious to try it out. All the other dogs will be jealous because she will be stylin’.

So, there you have it. Vacation has begun. It’s here, wish you were beautiful.

5 Days

In five days we will turn left off of state route 131 onto Brierley Road in Searsmont, Maine. We will drive down the curving dirt road for about a mile until we arrive at Loon Landing. We will slowly emerge from the car after a two day, 14 hour road trip, bones cracking with each aching step. The first thing we will do, before unpacking anything is walk around to the lake side of the house, because we want to get our first look at this…

It was last fall when we last stood on this spot. So much has happened since then. I’ve retired. Pam has retired. We have a beautiful new grandson. But this place still holds our hearts with a tender grip.

For six weeks this lake will be our home. It will not disappoint. It never does. Just ask Lucy. She thinks that this is what heaven looks like.

She may be right.

A Milestone

So, a couple days ago this happened:

The Tempest is almost 15 years old at this point, so admittedly that’s a long time, but this is pretty cool. Over a million times someone has read one of my over 3000 posts. In the early days it would go months without attracted a thousand views. Now every now and then I’ll get a thousand in a day. I’m not sure what exactly this accomplishment says about The Tempest. Probably the most likely lesson is—stay with something long enough and eventually you’ll hit your number. There's something to be said for persistence.

However, the larger lesson for me is that I have had lots of fun here since December 30th 2010. Whether or not you have is, in the final analysis, beside the point. But, thanks for reading!