Mainelife...thru the eyes of someone from away

The End Of A Long Run?

Gosh, we surely hope not.

Frisbee's Market in Kittery Point, Maine has been selling groceries and sundries at the same location since about 1828.  Now, it's in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, doors closed, by court order.  Frisbee's is the place where you can get penny candy for the kids and a nice bottle of wine for dinner.  It's a place where you can ride your bike to, get a cold soda and enjoy the view of Portsmouth Harbor. It's also the place where you take Lucy, the Mini Cooper on her first Saturday in Maine (August 2005). 

The Frisbee family says that the store (and their restaurant, Cap'n. Simeon's Galley--the "Cheers" of Kittery) is the nation's oldest family run business.  At one time, the family owned the town wharf, but deeded it to Kittery in the 1800's.  Frisbee's Market has survived the Great Depression and economic downturns for almost 200 years, but mounting bills, combined with the recession and credit crunch have left the owners unable to find financing or investors. 

On Monday, the Frisbee family called Gov. Baldacci of Maine for help. Within a few hours they received a call from the Finance Authority of Maine, who is going to try to help the family keep the business. 

Off The Grid in York County

The part of Maine we call home isn't considered to be part of Maine by most of the rest of the state. 
York County is officially part of the Boston television demographic, our neighbors commute to Boston, and our seacoast towns are called The Gold Coast by Downeast Magazine.  It takes more than two hours of driving for us to get to the state capital of Augusta, and that's not even half way up the state, geographically speaking. 

In our little village, in this rough economic time, we're still seeing new development, houses selling for more than $1,000,000 and the Stonewall Kitchen store is packed with tourists who think nothing of paying $6.50 for a small pot of jam. 

I only point this out to set the stage for what I'm going to tell you next.  Carolyn Chute, Maine's second most famous living story teller, lives in York County, not so far from us over in the hills to the west, near the New Hampshire border.  But she and her second husband, Michael Chute, live off the grid and lead a life unlike most York County residents and polar opposite to those of us who live east of the Maine Turnpike. 

They live in a small two building compound at the end of an unpaved road with no running water and an outhouse.  Mr. Chute is illiterate (I point that out, not to judge, but because I find the irony delicious. The mate of a writer doesn't read or write), and like his wife, he is an artist.  He sculpts and draws.  He's a high school graduate who has worked in a junkyard, sold firewood and snowplowed to earn money, and who made it through our educational system without learning to read. 

Ms. Chute, who wrote what is considered to be a classic of American literature, The Beans of Egypt Maine, on a typewriter, lost a child at birth because the Chutes were too poor to afford adequate medical care.  Her books tell the story of the rural, working poor who are beaten into despair and anger by continuous poverty. She grew up middle class but dropped out of school and has made a conscious decision to stay out of "the system."  Recently she founded The 2nd Maine Militia, or "Your Wicked Good Militia".  It's  progun, anti-corporate lobbying and campaign contributions, and opposed to tax subsidies for big business (and yes, she's holding an AK-47 in that picture).

Her newest book, The School on Heart's Content Road,  published on November 11. Ms. Chute says that she doesn't write to make a political statement, she just writes to tell what people are experiencing.  Some might call her an eccentric, but here in Maine, there are many just like her. Artists and activists who choose a life untethered from the system and living off the land by choice, not always by necessity.   Ms. Chute's work advocates for those who live hand to mouth by necessity. 

 

From the Archives

Beautiful Kezar Lake, taken in October of 2006. 

The job that pays the mortgage has had me working like a mad-woman, immersed in really big spreadsheets, responding to the Economic Crisis, and managing new direct reports and it's left little time for photo-taking.  Not to mention, our bad fall weather (warm, rainy and really windy) had the foliage in less than prime condition this fall. 

We're off to Cushing for the weekend and I hope to snap some good photos tomorrow before the rain moves in and the Buckeyes kick-off against PSU in the Battle for the Big 10.  

Then I'm headed to the heart of McCain Country Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon for the work week, returning late Friday night to what I fear will be RG in a Halloween Candy Coma (he's a one for the trick-or-treater/one for the house kind of guy).

Blue Hill Kind of Weekend

We headed up the coast this weekend to Blue Hill for the Blue Hill Harvest Festival (blowing off our usual ox sandwich and bean hole beans at the York Harvest Fest).  It was a spectacular fall weekend in Maine, with our first two frosts, crisp temperatures and gloriously blue skies.

Blue Hill isn't far from Cushing, but the terrain on the peninsula is very different from ours. There's very little farm land. Instead, blueberry barrens cover most of the land.    This time of year,  the leaves are a bright crimson. 

The Harvest Fest included the high school jazz band--who were very, very good and  a tent featuring $4.00 lobster rolls.  We had two--just doing our part to help the fishermen (more on that in a minute).  There were art exhibits and a wine tasting.  We tried a very good ice wine and a not-so-good sparkling rose'. 

Along the way, we were encouraged by the overwhelming numbers of Obama signs.  Down to York, McCain is winning the yard sign poll by a large margin.  Like our area and many other parts of the country, Obama signs seem to disappear in Blue Hill. 

As I mentioned in the last post, we're seeing fishermen pulling in their traps at the time of the year that much of Maine's lobster is caught.    The situation is dire:

The economic infrastructure on shore, from bait and boat building to grocery stores and children in schools, is dependent on the health of the lobster industry, said Hoskins.

In his statement Oct. 17, the governor said he has directed the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Department of Marine Resources and the Finance Authority of Maine to meet with financial institutions and agencies to expedite measures to help families in tough financial straits.

"This crisis involves thousands of families spread along the coast,” Baldacci said. “We’re talking about the very lifeblood of many small towns.”

For the state of Maine, the impact could be huge.  There are 7, 435 commercial lobstermen and 3600 of them employ a stern man.  Lobstering's related industries employ more than 5700 people in the state and the annual catch is worth more than $300 million. 

Columbus Day Colors

Yesterday was the first Columbus Day in a long time that wasn't rainy, windy and icky.  Traditionally, it's the height of fall foliage color, but this fall has been one of weird weather and warm temperatures.  A tropical storm, a hurricane, and a few other high wind days have left some trees bare, others still spring-time green and a few who are wearing the traditional reds, yellows and oranges of October. 
All in all, it's a mixed bag for foliage aficionados. 

Saturday

Yesterday turned out to be the kind of Saturday we always used to have in York, before we started spending most weekends in the mid-coast.  I'd almost forgotten how satisfying a day it is.

We started the day with the raising of the OSU flag (Big Night Game Against 'Sconie in Camp Randall Stadium) and a walk at Long Sands at sunrise (which is becoming late all of the sudden).  We passed the University of New Brunswick Hockey team walking back from breakfast.  They stayed in town on their way to play U Mass and Boston College in exhibition hockey.  The length of Long Sands up and back is almost exactly 3 miles.  We do it in 50 minutes, provided we don't stop and talk, but that almost never happens. 

After the walk, a game of doubles at the club, with some political discussion, book recommendations and recipe talk during the change overs. 

Back at home, I put the herb garden to bed for the winter.  It's a bit early, but both gardens have been neglected this summer, we've had a light frost and  and the combination isn't very nice looking. In the process, I discovered that as mint is prone to do, the mint had spread a lot.  It smelled wonderful as I ripped it out, but I could hear the hostas thanking me for removing the trespassers.  I put up some oregano, basil and sage to dry, and pitched three wheel-barrows of silver mound, day lilly, and assorted stuff.

While weeding and cutting, I thought a lot about Christina and the horrible way that she died, how rare is is that I don't know any women (or men) who are victims of domestic abuse, and how all too common it is that smart, strong women become trapped in relationships with abusers.  I thought about how the other assistants never liked Christina's boyfriend--too controlling they said.  I thought about how I never really considered what that might mean.  I thought about how upset Christina's closest friend at work was when she decided to move to Texas with her boyfriend.  At the time, I assumed it was simply losing a close colleague to distance....I think that there are a lot of "shouldas" in life and there's probably no way that this shoulda would have made any difference in her life, but this one carries a heavy load and it's going to be a while before it's shaken off. 

The rest of the day was filled with inside chores like laundry, cooking (a batch of unintentionally hot 6 alarm chili--I loved it, but it made RG miserable), and watching college football. 

Ohio State sneaked out Camp Randall with a win--the first time we've won at Wisconsin in this century.  Terrelle Pryor mixed flashes of brilliance with typical freshman play but my, oh my is he going to be a good one.  His 11 yard TD run to win the game was highlight reel worthy. 

If You Don't Like the Weather....

....wait five or six days.
We used to say "wait five minutes" but for much of August and September that's not been the case.  We've been able to string together a couple of patches of good weather, but mostly it's just gray and rainy and gray and windy and gray and humid around these parts.  Our foliage is getting battered and knocked down before it's even had a chance to change colors. 

For amusements during these rainy times, I've been reading Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman (kindle version, of course).  It's set in the early 1980's in North Dakota in the very small town of Owl.  It's an enjoyable, but I wonder if much of what I like of it is  because it's very much the story of my high school years.  There isn't much of a plot but Klosterman is a pop culture observer with a fine eye and ear and his observations are spot on. 

And there's new music:
Black Kids--especially I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You
And there's not new music:
Duffy--especially Mercy, which reminds me of the best of Motown and makes me bop everytime I hear it.

Linda Greenlaw Released from Jail

Good news.

Linda Greenlaw has posted bail and has been released from jail after being arrested by Canadian authorities for fishing in Canadian waters.  According to the article, she headed back to sea to resume fishing and taping her NBC show "Sword." 

Ironically, because of the arrest, Greenlaw missed most of Hurricane Kyle. 

Preparing for Kyle

Downeast and midcoast Maine are now under Hurricane and Tropical Storm watches respectively, while down south here, we're under a coastal flood and high wind warning.  If Kyle hits the coast of Maine as a hurricane, it will be the first to make landfall here since the 1960's.  The Weather Channel has even sent weather tracker Jim Cantore to Lubec to report on the situation (his presence, if history serves, will make this a non-event).

RG has headed north to the camp to move the boat over to a secure berth up river at the marina and move the kayaks from the float up on land above the projected flood mark.  He's got supplies, a trusty Coleman battery-powered lantern, his wellies and his slicker (I'm at home as I've got a doctor's appointment that I can't miss).

Seas in the Port Clyde/Cushing area are forecast to build to more than 20 feet--small for some parts of the Atlantic, but huge for our little part of the Gulf of Maine, and winds will be 50-75 mph. 

Here in the south,  I'm cleaning out closets and hoping that the power will stay on and that we'll get the Battle of Ohio on TV today (GO Browns!!) while chewing Gaviscon like it's my job (I've got a fire in my belly and it's not fueled by picante sauce).

UPDATE: Downeast, it's an event, but not a hurricane.

Fellow Mainer and famous author/fisherman, Linda Greenlaw, was arrested for fishing within Canada's 200 mile limit.  She was filming a TV show when she was arrested, and I can't wait to watch this episode. There's got to be more to this story than we now know. 

Above is a picture of Linda's lobster boat taken in August of 2006 off Isle au Haut (I've blocked out the name and lobster license number for her privacy).  She was not on this boat when she was arrested.

Greenlaw used to swordfish out of Gloucester, MA as the captain of  the sword boat, Hannah Boden. The Hannah Boden was the sister ship to the Andrea Gail, which sunk in the Halloween Nor'easter of 1991.

I was living on Cape Ann, not far from Gloucester, at the time of the storm, and the days after the storm were excruciating for all of us. Waiting for word from the Andrea Gail, knowing that there most likely wouldn't be any.... it was a rough week.  Gloucester, Massachusetts has lost more than 5,000 men at sea in its 300 year fishing history, but it's always a horrible time--especially when there are no survivors and no real knowlege information on how loved ones were lost.

I've always had an admiration for Linda Greenlaw, a woman in a man's industry, who was one of the best captains fishing at the time. She was the last to have contact with the Andrea Gail. She survived a 100-year storm through good judgment, brains and an iron will.  And now she writes pretty good books.  What's not to like about this woman?