In Pursuit Of Maine: May 2, 2015 - Growing

Saturday, May 2, 2015

May 2, 2015 - Growing

It never ceases to amaze me how things just grow on top of things. Don’t have your own space to grow? Well, that’s okay, just grow on top of something else! The ground is full of living critters. The tree grows on the ground. The birds grow on top of the tree. The fungus grows on the side of the tree. The bugs grow on the fungus. The bacteria grow on the bugs. Everything just lives on top of or inside of everything else.

Some things cooperate in a symbiotic relationship. Other things have more of a parasitic/host relationship. But none of the things seem to care. They just grow all jumbled up and keep on growing, dying, and growing again.

Except for humans. They do all of the above, of course. The difference is they either don’t know it, or they know it and they don’t like it one bit. It doesn’t matter, though, because it all just continues to happen whether we like it or acknowledge it or not. Life is a single thing--just one thing--that was “created” long ago. We don’t create it ourselves. We just continue it as it keeps on rolling. We are participants in the show.

Life just keeps on growing.

"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.