In Pursuit Of Maine: October 3, 2015 - I'm Almost Gone

Saturday, October 3, 2015

October 3, 2015 - I'm Almost Gone

I’m almost gone now. Height and stately beauty left decades ago; I can’t remember how many now, but it’s not important. I’m not sure why it ever was. The birds of prey have long since left their perches within my boughs. The frogs and bats and squirrels have left for a better home, too, and rightly so. Even most of the insects have finished with me. For a long time I stood as a grim reminder to others of what’s to come, but that’s gone now, too.

Almost not here.

I watch the world as it watches me dissolve. Usually it is too busy, though, so I just enjoy the process of un-becoming. I don’t miss the leaves that were my hair because this beautiful moss grows upon me now. My insides have softened and poured out, and the mushrooms have borrowed those parts. In return, they dance for me in the moonlight, their little umbrellas twirling around and around me. Those roots I sent so deeply within the Earth a long time ago have gone back from whence they came. I can’t remember why I thought they were so important back then, but I wish them well in their journey.

I have almost completed myself. I am at the best part. A few more rains and snows and seasons, and I will finish the crumbling. Then the last of me will drift off along the forest floor and into the winds, and I will finally be free.

"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.