Integrity is Destiny

A good night’s sleep has done wonders for my disposition. Although I am still disappointed about the lake house, I am less so and the feelings aren’t as raw. I have also had time to reflect on a few things, a few second thoughts about what happened that have brought more clarity.

First, many times in my life I have been disappointed about some outcome which I had convinced myself was a disaster only to later learn how lucky I had been. With the passage of time comes new information that make you profoundly grateful for unanswered prayers. I have said as much to my kids at various times when they have been upset about one thing or another—“Just wait and see, someday you will thank God you didn’t get that job because a much better one came along!” Its easier to hand out that type of sage wisdom to others than to accept it yourself.

Secondly, I have discovered what I have always known to be true—everything in a properly operating system of human interaction depends on personal integrity for success. Let me explain. Yesterday in this space I threw a lot of shade at the regulatory scheme of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and while I take none of it back, I didn’t mean to trash all regulation. In fact we were huge beneficiaries of a governmental regulation yesterday—housing inspectors. The town of Liberty, Maine insists that all homes, new or old, be inspected by licensed building experts before a purchase. It was just such an inspector who saved Pam and I from a world of trouble and expense. He explained his role to us this way—“When I inspect a house I do so as if I were buying it myself. I am working on your behalf here, trying to insure that the property you are buying is safe and properly built according to the building codes of this County.”

But, what if he were corrupt? Suppose Todd was in an unholy alliance with the builder to look the other way on violations and short cuts in exchange for payoffs and bribes? All the best intentions of regulation would be rendered useless if not for the personal integrity of Todd. My dad once told me that “integrity is destiny.” Perhaps nothing he ever told me has been proven more true more often than that statement.

So Pam and I are grateful that somewhere years ago somebody came up with the idea of building inspections, and that when we needed one, we got Todd, a man of integrity.

Dodging Bullets

Winston Churchill once said, “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at with no result.” Less famous and far less celebrated people refer to barely avoiding something disastrous as, “dodging a bullet.”  This morning Pam and I had an experience which combined dodging a bullet and having your dreams crushed simultaneously. Put another way…this morning’s inspection didn’t go well.

The events leading up to the inspection had been tumultuous. We discovered the deleterious effects of a little known regulatory change implemented in April of 2022 that made the purchase of second homes far more costly and difficult, which featured among other things exorbitant points and higher interest rates. The purpose of this regulation was to discourage the purchase of second and third homes by people who already have homes in favor of those who have yet to buy their first. It was also enacted because of a home shortage in the land and to prevent the rich getting richer in the real estate market. Which is all very well and good except for two salient points. One, what first time home buyer will be buying a lake house in Maine as their first home? And two, this regulation—as thousands of other regulations in the past have—misses its target by a country mile. The real rich pay cash for their second and third homes!! But, I digress.

This unpleasant discovery caused lots of soul searching on our part but we finally crunched the numbers again for the 89th time and made peace with this new reality. The last hurdle to clear was this morning’s inspection. Todd greeted us stiffly at the door and proceeded to go about his job with diligence and an eye for detail. I would learn later what I suspected at the onset…Todd was ex-military. As we followed him around the exterior of the house we kept hearing him use phrasing like  that’s a cost cutting move, and I wouldn’t have done it this way, and that won’t do. After nearly an hour of this he kindly took Pam aside and suggested that if we decided at any time that we had seen enough he would cancel the rest of the inspection and only charge us for his time. This is known in the inspection trade as a fire engine red warning flag!! Tiffany turned to us at this point and made our decision far easier with this blunt assessment, “I’m sorry but I just can’t let you buy this house. It will be a money pit.”

So this two week white knuckle thrill ride is over. We have dodged a bullet. We are also very disappointed. In many ways we had already taken possession of the place in our hearts. But so many red flags had crept up over the past several days we both knew that there was a chance it wouldn’t work. When that worry becomes reality its hard to take.

But take it we will. Its not the end of the world. We will be back in six weeks for our fall trip, and as long as On The Water In Maine stays in business we will continue to rent every summer and fall for as far as the eye can see. Maybe something else will pop up when we least expect.

A Culinary Recap

Our time here is drawing to a close. Friday we will hit the road for good old Short Pump. Now seems like just as good a time as any to memorialize our culinary greatest hits of Maine 2023. The following photographs represent some of the highlights. There were lots of old favorites but also some new places we discovered this year. As a result of all this deliciousness, there will be just a bit more of us returning than there was that left—an annoying souvenir, but worth every calorie!

There was soooo much more, but I only have so much bandwidth here at Loon Landing!

My Decision Making Process

Its been nine days since our contract was accepted for the as yet unnamed cabin on Lake Saint George. I’m told I have three more days to back out of the deal without consequence. The inspections take place on Tuesday morning, the day before the deadline. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t apprehensive. This is a big decision with long term ramifications for us both now and in the future. For therapeutic purposes I will flesh out the battles raging in my head on this gorgeous Sunday morning in Maine.

Ever since I wrote the last tuition payment check for my kids’ educations in 2011 I have been playing catch up on saving for retirement, trying to make up for the years that the higher education locust devoured. The fruits of that effort have been considerable. Now I find myself within striking distance of some sort of retirement, although what that will look like is yet to be determined. In the back of my mind over the past five years I had also been making plans for the purchase of a lake house. But, with each passing year the prospects of us ever finding a place that satisfied all of our criteria seemed impossible. Both Pam and I had for all intents and purposes given up. As is often the case in life, as soon as you stop manically longing for something, the thing shows up on your doorstep.

Enter the cabin on Lake Saint George. The list of positives is impressive:

Stunningly beautiful lake

Three bedrooms

Two full and spacious bathrooms

Brand new construction

Private location

A full acre of land

Only 38 minutes from Camden, 26 minutes from Belfast

The list of negatives contains only two items that I can think of:

More money than I ever planned to spend on a lake house

Doesn’t sit thirty feet from the water’s edge.

That’s it….basically a money thing. Because not only is the cabin more expensive than I had planned, it will require additional upgrades over the next few months and years. First thing will be the construction of a proper deck off the back. Then an expansion of the cabin’s minimalist dock. Then landscaping of a safe and beautiful pathway down to the water. Finally, we will finish off the basement which will include the addition of a half bath. All of these things will add to the cash outlay required to finish the place to our liking and specifications.

Which brings me back to what I said earlier. Why have I been squirreling away money like a…like a..well, a squirrel for the past 12 years? For my retirement. And, what is retirement? Its not just saving so you will have money to live on once you stop working. Its also saving for what kind of life you want to live once you get there. For us that life will always include Maine and providing a sanctuary for my family, a place for us to gather to relax and recharge, a place to make memories, together.

So when I consider it all, the unruly witches brew of positives and negatives, I come to this conclusion:

My life has always been intricately linked to risk. I chose a high risk occupation. I chose to pursue that occupation as my own boss. Even riskier. During my life I have learned that money is nothing more than a tool. Its never been a goal, only a means to an end. I could spend money on a whole host of things with lesser purpose than a lake house in Maine. I can afford this place, despite all of my concerns about the cost. If I buy it and five years later come to the conclusion that it was a mistake, it won’t be the first one I’ve ever made. Besides, five years from now a lake house with three beds, 2 and a half baths, a lovely deck, beautiful landscaping and a grand dock sitting on the cleanest lake in Maine could be sold at an obscene profit.

So, unless Tuesday’s inspections reveal that the cabin was built on the ancestral burial grounds of the Penobscot Indians, or worse the entire place was built with inferior materials from China…we are all in.

Naming the Place

Today marks the end of week five. A week from tomorrow we will be on our way home. The next seven days will fly by, filled with inspections, dreams and doubts. Everything we left in Short Pump is waiting for us, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Our time here has been reliably restorative, as always.

In Maine I cast off  things. Although I am still connected to my business, I have detached myself from its daily grind. This detachment has worked wonders for my blood pressure and anxiety levels. Every day I check my messages—which is not entirely true. Actually, I have checked them every day since Kristin left for her own two weeks on a lake in Minnesota. When she was minding the store, I let her do the checking.

I have cast off reading the news. For me this has meant no daily internet trips to the Drudge Report, The Wall Street Journal, or the Washington Post. Not being reminded every single morning, afternoon and night of the manifold failures of mankind has also been a boon to my emotional well being. During the hour that I normally consume the news I have been drifting slowly across the still waters of Quantabacook doing this…

Each day I catch at least one fish like this. The rest of the time I paddle along marveling at the beauty of the natural world until I start feeling the pain in my left hip that warns me to head back to the cabin.

Pam and I go on outings from time to time, into Belfast for lunch, Camden for breakfast and shopping, or to do some sightseeing. A couple of days ago I suggested we take Lucy into town, grab some sandwiches from The Deli and eat our lunch on the grounds beside the library overlooking the harbor. Unfortunately, everyone else within a hundred miles of Camden had the same idea. Nevertheless, it was worth it. This was our bench and our view…

In the evenings the television is quiet, with the rare exception of watching the livestream of our church service, one episode of a show Pam and I like and a couple of times when Pam stayed up late to watch an episode of The Bachelorette, after I was safely asleep. But most nights we have settled into a routine of sorts. Dinner happens later here than at home. Sometimes we don’t sit down until after 7:00. Then, Pam takes her paddle board out for her sunset cruise. When she gets back an hour or so later, we settle into the comforting agenda of Pam’s cross stitching project and my novel reading—eleven and counting. Since the cabin purchase went down Pam has dropped the cross stitching in favor of surfing the internet for decorating ideas and desperately trying to settle on a name for the place. Some of her suggestions have been hysterically funny—The Gay Loon Cabin—just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Last night she blurted out, “What about Birch Landing?” I thought it was beautiful. She got the idea because of the big tree that leans out over the lake near the dock which we think is a birch tree. The appropriateness of the name awaits arboreal confirmation! Besides, naming a lake house that we don’t even own yet and hasn’t even passed inspections seems a bit premature. Still, its never too early to hide these things in your heart. I wrote the following line in one of my novels a few years back:

“The privilege of naming a lake house falls to the person who cries at the closing.”

Its Pam’s job.

Lucy’s Advice

Our last guests left for home yesterday. Its just Pam, Lucy and me now. The warmer, stormy weather of early July has given way to nearly a week of traditional Maine summer weather, mid-70’s sunshine with virtually no humidity. This morning it was 53 when I awoke at 6:00. Tomorrow morning I’m told to expect 50. I’m not sure I will ever become accustomed to this scene in the early morning…

I never want to get to the place as a human being when this doesn’t thrill me. If I ever start to take beauty like this for granted it will be time for me to assume room temperature and make room for someone younger and less jaded. It no longer seems fashionable to say but I believe that all of us should be grateful to live in such a beautiful country.

Progress is being made with the lake house. Inspections have been scheduled for Monday morning at 9:30. On that same day we will meet with a contractor to discuss decks, docks and finishing the basement. Meanwhile Pam has a zillion decorating ideas doing battle inside her adorable head and now has Wayfair on speed dial.

So, here’s the plan. We will leave Loon Landing for the last time on Friday morning the 11th of August heading back home where I will return to my profession with greater clarity and focus—since I will be doing it a few years longer than previously thought. I will work for six weeks with vigorous purpose. Then, on Thursday the 21st of September, Pam and I will leave Richmond with both of our vehicles packed to the gills with every Maine-themed item Pam has accumulated over the past forty years. We will arrive at our brand new empty lake house on Friday the 22nd where we will commence a three week getting to know you staycation. The time will largely be spent acquiring enough basic furniture to make the place presentable for prospective renters for the 6 weeks next summer we have allocated for them. Pam will have three full weeks to place her stamp on the property. My time will be spent buying yard working tools and putting them to proper use on our large sloping slice of the Maine woods that meanders from our back door down to the lake. By the time the three weeks are over we will have blisters where we didn’t even know we had skin. I will be much poorer. Hopefully all of the physical labor will help us shed the extraneous weight that this six weeks have added. It occurs to me that there may not be a bed to sleep on when we arrive. What am I thinking? No doubt Pam will have made the purchase and arranged for its delivery the day we arrive!

Since we signed the papers I have had a couple moments when I’ve thought, “What in the Sam Hill are you doing, Dunnevant? Just when you were about to celebrate being debt free for the first time since you were 19 years old, you go and buy a lake house—at 66 years old!!” Usually, I share these doubts with Lucy. When I do she looks at me like I’ve got two heads and says…

“Stop being drama queen. You got this.”

Still Pinching Ourselves

Ever since our first four week stay here in 2016 we have dreamed of having our own place. Over the past seven years we have probably looked at over five thousand candidates on Redfin and Zillow. We have taken tours of a dozen places during our yearly treks to Maine. Nothing ever had the requisite magic that we were looking for, or if it did it was either way out of our price range, two hours away from Camden, or on a tiny uninspired lake. Pam and I had gotten to the place where we figured that we would just rent for the rest of our lives, not an altogether unhappy option. But there was still a longing for ownership, a place of our own that we could shape into the perfect escape, not just for us but for our family, the living and the ones not yet with us.

Over a year ago Pam saw a place on Redfin that she was interested in but I was not. It was too expensive and brand new and very much not my idea of what a Maine lake house was supposed to look like. Then the price was lowered, a couple of times and Pam was intrigued enough to send Tif a text last week, “Why is this place still on the market while the place we walked through yesterday already has an offer despite the fact that it’s a hundred years old and on a puddle of a lake?” This inquiry led to us making the 22 minute drive to Lake Saint George to check out in person what we had been examining on our computers for months. Five days later we have a contract in place pending inspections, closing date sometime in the middle of September. We could not be happier but it feels very much like a dream.

Our last two weeks here will be filled with a thousand details. There will be the inspections, obtaining quotes for dock improvements, landscaping and deck additions. Pam’s brain is filled with ideas about everything from soup to nuts. The kids are all thrilled and have already floated ideas of month long work from home stays next summer. I can already tell that this adventure will be non-stop work for the next several years, exactly the type of thing I have been searching for—a new challenge. 

I will post no photographs of the house now. There is much to be done. But I will post the money shot that clinched the deal. All Pam and I have ever cared about in our lake house quest has been…the lake. You can repair and improve cabins. You can’t repair or improve a lake. This one is breathtaking. Lake Saint George has every single thing we have always looked for in a lake, and seeing as how we spend 80% of our time either in it, on it, or staring at it, this view sealed the deal.

So, now we begin this new adventure with a combination of excitement and gratitude with a bit of fear sprinkled in. A huge debt is owed to Tif Ford for her patience, toughness and wisdom, and to Keith and Caroline May for the inspiration of their beguiling Loon Landing, without which we would never have even entertained the idea of a place of our own. When we pull onto Brierley Lane to leave in two weeks it will be with a lump in our throats at the thought that we will never stay at Loon Landing again.

But, we will be just down the road, a short drive away secure in the knowledge that we already have two incredible neighbors.