A belated summer in Maine

For whatever reason I didn’t get around to posting about the week we spent in Maine in August over my 50th birthday. This year we managed to rent a house that was on its own 4-acre island. We had our eye on this house when it was for sale a few years ago because the possibility of letting Lucy run around on four acres was so appealing. When it came up as a rental we didn’t hesitate for a second.

We’ve never really been able to have an off-leash experience with Lucy outside of a few fenced yards. We were curious how she would act. Would she stick by us, would she disappear for hours at a time. Turns out she did both. She did stick by us and kept tabs on where we were and would come when we called or whistled. That is until she discovered that the island had squirrels. If we couldn’t find her and she wouldn’t come when we called, all we had to do was follow the sound of distressed squirrel and there we would find Lucy staring, waiting very patiently under a tree. And when that happened no treat in the world could entice her away. Proof that keeping her on leash for the last nine years was the right thing to do. It was an absolute delight to watch her being a free range dog. She loved every second of it.

I loved every second of it as well. Since it was my birthday week and we had invited friends to join us, including three teenagers, I decreed ahead of time the prohibition of audible electronic devices. My own intention was to unplug as much as possible so I also decreed that no one was allowed to bring up anything that they read in the news. We could talk about current events but I really didn’t want any kind of updates about anything others had read online. (Turns out this was the week the Cheeto tried to buy Greenland. I remained blissfully ignorant of the whole mess.)

The house itself was amazing. Lots of fun books all over the place to peruse. I had brought plenty of my own to read so I didn’t read any of their rather good fiction collection, but I did enjoy looking at some of the vintage non-fiction they had on science and engineering. Some of those books had been in the house a long time. And, as you will see below, they had the perfect spot for jigsaw puzzles.

The island was in a protective cove and not at all far from shore. It was only about a three-minute boat trip from the town landing. And at low tide one end of our island was only about 30 feet from shore. But it still felt plenty oceany with lobster boats and those fantastic Maine tides.

Lucy in her life jacket headed out to the island with our friend Sarah.

One of the many places for scoping out squirrels.

One of about six bookcases in the house.

The perfect table for puzzles. Great view and tons of light, and fantastic breezes.

Tide is about a third of the way out in this shot.

We took a giant pot lined with seaweed to get six giant lobster at this lobster pound.

The sound of the lobster boats checking their traps is lovely background noise and very evocative of Maine to me. A similar sound of a truck in front of my house does not elicit the same warm feeling.

Lucy doesn’t often snuggle up like this. A rare moment I am trying hard not to disrupt.

Peaches for a cobbler and scallion for the chickpea salad.

With all the good food I made that week, hot dogs on the grill was probably my favorite meal. Of course I had also made a killer potato salad, but charred dogs on squishy white buns is one of the best things in life.

It’s a little blurry in this photo, but I am pretty sure it is A Reckoning by May Sarton. If you scroll down a few posts you can read all about that.

Lucy is in her life jacket but doesn’t really want to leave.

Lucy commenting on the insanely stupid wait for lobster rolls at Red’s in Wiscasset on the way home.

Kim Shedd December 2, 2019 / 8:48 pm

Happy Belated Birthday. Looks like a wonderful Mainey place to celebrate it.

LikeLike

TravellinPenguin December 2, 2019 / 8:57 pm

Lovely! Lucy looked so happy.

LikeLike

Susan in TX December 3, 2019 / 5:04 pm

Happy belated birthday! It looks like absolute perfection. :)

LikeLike

Claire (The Captive Reader) December 4, 2019 / 2:01 am

That looks absolutely idyllic. What a wonderful way to celebrate! Happy belated birthday.

LikeLike

JacquiWine December 4, 2019 / 2:39 am

Many Happy returns, Thomas – albeit a little belatedly. It looks as if you had a wonderful time. Gorgeous pics, especially those featuring Lucy!

LikeLike

Liz Dexter December 4, 2019 / 3:13 am

Happy birthday and what lovely pictures – thank you for sharing with us!

LikeLike

Brona December 8, 2019 / 2:46 am

What a magnificent way to celebrate 50! Happy belated birthday and thanks for the virtual trip to Maine – it looks beautiful.

LikeLike

Sarah Faragher December 17, 2019 / 2:55 pm

Life off the leash = heaven. I love that out of all the places you’ve been, you wanted to come back to Maine for your birthday. (Maine, it’s like that.)

“That was the place you were homesick for, even when you were there.” – Ruth Moore

LikeLike

Cal Gough February 4, 2020 / 7:24 pm

Talk about belated birthday wishes: here it is February 2020 when I got around to catching up on your blog for the past few months’ worth of posts (that’s the only way I can keep track of the worthies on my blogroll, which is obviously a bit too long). In any case, this place y’all rented in Maine seems such a perfectly/conveniently located spot. If you would be willing to share with me the rental details, I would very seriously consider trying to book it for (wait for it) my 72nd birthday, or my 73rd one??? That photo of you reading on the bed in front of the window was particularly inspiration-laden!

LikeLike

Leo Simpson June 7, 2023 / 7:32 pm

Lovely bllog you have here

LikeLike