In Pursuit Of Maine: September 27, 2015 - There Will Be No Funerals

Sunday, September 27, 2015

September 27, 2015 - There Will Be No Funerals

The creek bed has dried up, and the ferns surrounding it are all turning brown. The cattails have all burst open, and most of the grass has lost its color and turned to straw. Everything is dying now, but there won’t be any funerals. There won’t be any somber processions of dark-colored cars and ladies in black veils. There will be no tears. No one will regretfully pat another person on the back while lamenting the past.

The end is near.

Instead, there will be a celebration! The trees will put on their finest gowns, and the grasses will comb their beautiful blonde hair and sway in the scented winds. Good food will fill platters in swollen abundance, and the aroma of parties and plenty will be in the air. People will run about in fields and go for hayrides. There will be costume balls and bonfires and secret rendezvous in the night.

After all, what is there to mourn? Death? What fools we humans are not to see the joyous rapture of death all around us in nature, which we ourselves celebrate without realizing it! There are no funerals and no sorrow in nature because death is a dream. It’s just a doorway, a transition into the next thing. We can see it so easily with the changing trees and the dying grasses and the soon-to-be frozen landscape. And we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it will all come back in its time for another round of celebrating, another round of life. Why should we think that it is any different for us?

"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.