In Pursuit Of Maine: April 19, 2014 - An Old Barn

Saturday, April 19, 2014

April 19, 2014 - An Old Barn

Someone built this old barn a long time ago. It now stands just off the River Road (Route 128) in Woolwich, but I'm quite certain that the barn was built long before the road was since it's far too close to the road and no one would put a barn that close. The wood is all hand hewn, and the fieldstone foundation is crumbling and falling into ruin. I don't know how old this barn is, and no one uses it anyway. It just sits there year after year on the road. I often wonder about who built it, though. Was it one person or a group of people? Was there a barn-raising party and a celebration afterward? How proud the new owner must have been to own such a large and fine barn. He must have felt very secure knowing that his animals were safe in his well-built barn. It's all gone now, though: the owner, the builders, the animals. Yet the barn sits on the side of the road, a silent sentinel of times gone by, of people who lived and died in Maine. I know it will be there long after I'm gone, and this makes me happy.

"The Plain Maine Cookbook" is my own collection of vintage Maine recipes that will immediately bring you back to a simpler time, a less confused time. These recipes are more than just comfort food. They're family food, traditional food, simple food, plain food. One bite and you'll say, "Ah, yes! I remember my grandmother used to make this. I had forgotten all about it!" Recipes for whoopie pies, funnel cakes, fried fiddleheads, haymaker's switchel, coffee can bread, glogg, and much more are in these pages. There is even a recipe on how to render lard. So open the door and go back to some simple, time-tested foods you can prepare easily. You'll find that you save money and waste less by "making do" with commodity cooking. What's in the pantry or in the garden is what's for dinner.

"So You Want to Move to Maine" is an invaluable little book in helping people to make a permanent move to Maine. It will save you a ton of time because all the initial footwork is done for you, including 100 links on how to find work and living quarters, getting your driver's license, pet requirements, programs for people with disabilities, programs for senior citizens, getting married in Maine, hidden taxes and expenses, hospitals, health insurance, handling a real winter like a pro, etc. Stop being "just a number" or another face in the crowd. Walk away from the rat race. Become boldly individualistic and make your mark in life. You can still do that in Maine, one of the last holdouts of ordinary, old-fashioned, kind, and decent American living.

I’ve chosen 37 unique fairy tales that will be loved by both adults and children as they can be read and interpreted on many levels. But if you are looking for only sweet tales that end in joy and fairness, you may want to pass this book by. Some fairy tales are simply “dark,” and that is because sometimes life is simply dark. Not always, of course, but often enough. Sometimes the hero lives; sometimes he dies. Check out my book, “Fairy Tales of Maine,” in the photo link below. If you are brave, you might just meet yourself in one of these tales.