An Out-of-Cottage Experience

Today we actually left the cottage. It was pretty chilly and a little downcast, but we went to lunch at 44 North, an old haunt. I was kind of shocked--no lobster rolls. There are a few new restaurants in town, so we'll have to try the others, too. We tried the WiFi hotspot outside of the library. Though spotty, it works if I get desperate, or McGraw-Hill does.

I had a clam roll and it was so overflowing with clams that I had to eat them outside of the roll (which is okay, my paleo friends). Yes, they were deepfried. There were a lot of angry drivers on the road, even in these tiny two-street towns, people are in a hurry and are a bit on the road rage side. I don't remember that in other years.

Though there are new stores in Milbridge, there are closed antique places everywhere. People here make us feel like we are in the 1% and that is very depressing. I was having an off day, set off by an angry driver in a red truck, people who look like they could use a decent job, overcast weather (I guess). it also depresses me to see these clammers out there in the cold, bent over for hours twice a day (low tide). I want to go out to help them. I know how to clam. Look for the holes in the mud, dig down below the hole (shells are sharp), and pull it out. A license is required, however, and a clammer (except commercial clammers I think) about a peck a day (12 pounds). When the clams are brought home, they are put into sea water with corn meal. The clams eat the cornmeal and spit out the grindy sand.

Also, the forecast is for an 88-degree day tomorrow, 80 the next two days, and then it drops down to 75, 74, showers, 70, showers, 68. Today, I was so cold when we returned that I actually laid down on the couch with a quilt wrapped around me. We didn't want to close the windows, but we ended up doing that because it got pretty cold. The sound of the wind through the trees was luxurious enough to tape and play on a hot summer's night in Phoenix.

We drove through a little town called Cherryfield (the Blueberry capital of Maine). There were blueberry bushes all over the place. We went into a general store/antique store/crafts store/flea market. The owner had a long white like the ZZ Top people and he was part hick, part philosopher, part town savior. He was trying to save the old train station, offering his huge lawn as a place for them to move the station to while they were refurbishing it. We (Bob and he) had a very interesting conversation about bringing back the passenger railroad to smaller towns across America. However, since the tracks have been torn out in many small towns, it would be an expensive proposition. Someone (many someones) wasn't thinking. The wild flowers were all along the side of the road and the lupines were especially brilliant.

When we were getting ready to return to the cottage, I thought I saw an eagle. Bob pulled over and said, "I think it's an osprey." Well it turned out that we were both right because, suddenly, there was a fight flight between an eagle and, you guessed it, an osprey. By the time Bob got his camera out and his zoom lens on the camera, the birds were too far away. Damnit! (Bob's word, not mine).

Later, Bob went to the only supermarket in town. Very small and a Hannaford at that (my mother's favorite grocery store in Albany, New York). Bob said that the checkout girl was a laid off elementary teacher. When he told me that, I got even more depressed. So, we are having soup or chili for dinner. I'm topping that off with a cup of pomegranate tea before we go to bed.

And the fog rolls in
Tomorrow, it's supposed to be hot. Since there has been a strong breeze every day, I'm hoping that it is not that HOT. If it is, however, I'm sure we'll be off on some adventure as these cottages are not very well insulated (against the cold or the hot). They have not been weatherized and are mostly seasonal. Perhaps it will be a boating day--again, that depends on the wind.
Talk to you tomorrow.