In Pursuit Of Maine: April 1, 2015 - Periwinkle Snails

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

April 1, 2015 - Periwinkle Snails

Some creatures carry their skeletons on the outside of the body instead of the inside. It actually makes a lot of sense. There’s a permanent home available for the soft part of the body--no need to search for shelter. There’s safety from the wind, sun, and predators. And there’s room for art, room for decoration. A finely spiraled shell is a sight to behold. What a snail lacks in physical beauty of its soft part, it more than adequately makes up for in its shell.

Soon the rocks on the shores will be covered with shells, many of them from the tiny periwinkle snail like that shown in the picture. Many will contain a living creature, but many will also be the remnants left from a creature long dead. We can fashion them into wind chimes, jewelry, etc. The ocean is always abundant year-round, but winter weather prohibits its joys. Now that spring is here, we will be walking among the snails again (and feasting!).

It’s yet another sign that the warmer weather is coming.

The delectable periwinkle snail.

"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.