In Pursuit Of Maine: December 25, 2015 - The Smallest Amount

Friday, December 25, 2015

December 25, 2015 - The Smallest Amount

Just a little more now, the tiniest bit here and there. It goes unnoticed, really. It’s like the touch of a feather. Did it really happen? Maybe not, we say to ourselves, and on we go with our busy day. Friends to see, meals to cook, houses to clean, and children to care for. There’s just so much to take our attention away from what is really happening. It’s this business of living that makes us forget about this business of life.

Only for a moment.

But it comes now, slowly. A few seconds here, a minute there, another minute elsewhere. The days grow longer in increments so tiny that, without special instruments or a fine-tuned awareness of nature, we simply never notice. Oh, we notice when the days are long. And we notice when the days are short. But we never pay attention to how they got there in the first place. We miss the secret.

Mountains are moved by an ever-so-slow pattern of receding cold. Surely a small amount of water cannot carve out an entire canyon? Surely encroaching ice cannot build a mountain? Surely a flashing moment of sunlight cannot bring life to an entire planet? But I say that it can, and it does.

The tiny wing beats of a small butterfly echo throughout the universe forever and ever.

"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.