There is a definite chill in the air here in Maine. There isn’t any ice or snow yet, so I’m not at all unhappy with the change. This summer has, once again, been a wet one ………… living in the woods, I will take rain over drought any year!

I did something unheard of this week. I got in my car (new car, not the old gas-guzzling truck) and drove all the way down to Belfast, Maine to visit my snowbird friend. I hadn’t seen her since 2019 although we message every day ……… and I have truly missed her. And, I have missed Belfast.

Before I married, I lived about an hour from Belfast. I would drive down at least once a summer, have lunch, compare knitting notes, and generally bitch about life. Since I’ve been here, the one-hour drive has become 3 or more …………… and this year they decided to repave every little road from I-95 into coastal Maine.

I took off at 7:30 and I got to Belfast at around 10:45. And then I remembered that Belfast is one hilly place. My lungs and my legs complained. I drove all the way there and didn’t have the wind to walk up and downhill to go into the shops. Which was a good thing, actually. We went to a sort of garden shop. They were selling organic cotton somethings …………. couldn’t figure out what it was but it was 40″ x 20″ and they wanted $140 for it. I left it there ……………… seriously.

We had a great lunch at Rollie’s. The food is GOOD! Of course, I would think any food in a restaurant was AWESOME because my spouse is always on some kind of diet or the other, or else his innate cheapness takes over and he refuses to eat out because we have food at home ………………..

It was an absolutely beautiful day and well worth the 6-hour drive. I enjoyed seeing the coast and the Penobscot Bay. I wasn’t so thrilled to see the Penobscot Narrows Bridge on my way back home ……………… as I was SLOWLY trying to find my way back to I-94 N from Bucksport!

I don’t like bridges. I remember Dad driving over old wooden bridges in Illinois or Indiana or wherever he could find one to scare the crap out of me ……………. maybe I fell off a bridge in a former lifetime?

So I saw the bridge to my right as I came down a graded road with one of those little truck signs going down an incline. And I said please God don’t make me go over that thing ……….. and about 2 minutes later I was going over that thing. That’s when I realized I missed the spouse. He would have been driving and I could have shut my eyes …………………..

This is my second day home since the big excursion ……….. another day off for me. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to and I hope you all have the same privilege! Here’s to life in PLACE!!!!