In Pursuit Of Maine: February 6, 2016 - Oaks

Saturday, February 6, 2016

February 6, 2016 - Oaks

Perspective is everything. Looking up into the tall oak, I am a tiny brown leaf, lying on the ground, covered by snow, revealed by sun, and then covered by snow again. Looking up into the tall oak, I am a tiny creature sheltering under his mighty limbs. Even in winter, he shelters me in his embrace. All within his reach are safe. Looking up into the tall oak, I am given encouragement. I am told, “You, too, can grow and be great.”

The protected ecosystem under an oak is magical. The ground is soft when not frozen, and fresh and crisp during winter. The scent is still lovely, even when the air desperately freezes my skin. Some of the gnarled roots poke up through the soil, forming an impenetrable network, an umbrella shielding the underworld. It is not unlike the umbrella of the summer leaves, which shields the overworld.

The oak dips its feet into one world and its branches and twigs into another world. The trunk, shrouded by scratchy skin sometimes hard as metal, carries on the secret communication between the two worlds. Each enters the other through the hidden passageway. This is what oaks do, and as a creature who lives underneath an oak, I share in the magic.

Staring up into the overworld.

"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.