How Long Have You Lived In Maine?

Native Mainers often look askance at those of us “from away”... not in a malicious way, but more like a friendly rivalry. It's akin to the feeling I had last summer when a visitor came into the coffee shop and I found out the lady of the duo was an alumnae of my university. She graduated 11 years after I did, and she did have the wisdom to pick such a great school, but after all, my graduating class WAS better than hers... that sort of thing.

Since we don't go around with name badges hanging around our neck displaying the year we moved to Maine, if you want to find out if someone is a “native” or “from away”, you have to ask them... which is why I'm frequently asked, “How long have you lived in Maine?”

I think I've found a way to eliminate this question. It all started a while ago at our local used book and knitting shop – “WORKS”.

A delightful lady came in on a Sunday afternoon, and some idle chit-chat ensued. During the course of our dialogue she mentioned that she and her partner lived in Brooklin, Maine (about an hour's drive from Searsport), and they had been cooped up inside their home for 3 days due the harsh winter, and HAD to get out-and-about. They decided to head towards Belfast (the next town over from Searsport), and see what stores were still open for the winter. That's how they ended up at “WORKS”.

I idly asked, “How long have you lived in Maine?”, to which she replied, “5 years”. This is key, so hold onto this information.

Later in the week, I called some friends of mine to see if they were going to be at the weekly “coffee klatch” at the local Dunkin Donuts shop. They replied they would, since they had been cooped up for 5 days inside their house, and that was long enough and they needed to get out. They have lived in Maine for 2 years. Another piece of relevant information.

Finally, a week or so before all of this, I was taking my dogs out to do their daily “chores” in the midst of a snow storm. A neighbor walked by, bucking the wind and snow, and toting a couple of grocery bags. I yelled to her that it was a nasty time to be going to the grocery store. She replied, “Hey, why let a little winter weather hold you back.” She was born and raised in Maine.

I've been here for 40 years, and I go outside the next day after a snow storm.

So here's the correlation... the longer you've lived in Maine, the quicker you go outside after a winter storm.

If you're born and raised in Maine, you go out IN the storm. If you've been here a long time, you go out the day AFTER the storm. If you've been here for 5 years, you wait 3 days... only a couple of years, you wait 5 days.

So, I concluded, all you have to do is ask a person how long they've been cooped up inside their home, and you can tell how long they've lived in Maine. Pretty good, huh?

I mentioned this clever theory to a friend of mine, who is a native Mainer. After I finished my story he looked at me for a few moments, and said quizzically, “So let me see if I've got this straight. You've developed a way to stop asking someone a question, by asking them a different question?”

Hmmm, I thought to myself. He may have something there. “Yes”, I meekly replied.

He immediately quipped... “Ayuh, you're definitely from away.”

You CAN Teach an Old Dog A New Trick

I got a call the other day from my friend, Kevin, in Florida. He used to live here in Searsport, but moved a couple of years ago to a warmer climate. We chatted about old times; he mentioned receiving my Christmas card, and stuff like that.

Well, during the course of our conversation, Kevin told me about a good deed he happened to perform. Where he lives in Florida they have a “Goodwill-type” thrift store called St. Luke’s. Kevin likes to drop in every now and then just to browse, and for some reason, on this particular day, he wandered over to the duffel bag section. Kevin is NOT the athletic type, but decided to check out the duffel bags, anyway.

I’ve done that. I browse for something I don’t really need, but decide to look it over because “it’s calling my name”. What I usually pick out never gets used for the intention I had in mind, and 6 months later it’s in the annual yard sale.

Anyway, Kevin saw a lot of ratty looking bags, but a nice leather one caught his eye, and he took it home. How can you lose when it only costs you a couple of bucks.

When he got it home he cleaned it out, and a VERY nice ring dropped out. At first, Kevin thought it was a class ring from high school or college, but it turned out to be a National Championship ring for a member of an ASL Championship Softball Team.

Well, it’s not a Super Bowl or World Series ring, but he figured whoever used to own it, lost it, and would probably like it back. Now, here’s where Kevin’s “Good Samaritan” story gets interesting.

Kevin is TOTALLY averse to computers and high-tech gadgets. That’s OK… there are lots of people like that.

Lord knows, we’ve tried to bring Kevin into the 21^st century, but all efforts failed. Our mutual friend, Charliy, once set up a Yahoo email account for him, so he could go to the library, and keep in touch with his out-of-state children and grandchildren. It’s NEVER been used.

Well, it seems one of Kevin’s grown children gave him an I-Phone, and he actually USES it to make phone calls. He even learned how to do “Google” searches on it. Kevin figured now was a good time to learn how to use “Google”, and he set out to find the original owner of the championship ring. He was successful.

Sadly, it turns out the owner had passed away within the past few months, but he located his surviving daughter. She was THRILLED to get the ring back. They thought it was stolen by a cleaning lady at the motel they stayed in during the National Championship tournament. She said it is the perfect keepsake for her to have of her dad.

So, you see… you CAN teach an old dog (Kevin) a new trick (Google)…. But the story doesn’t end here.

Back when Kevin lived in Searsport, wherever he went he always had his dog, Finn, with him. Finn was an adorable and VERY loveable dog. My friend, Charliy, used to say that Finn was really the “brains” of the outfit. If it wasn’t for Finn, Kevin would be getting into all sorts of trouble.

Whenever you saw Kevin driving through town, you saw Finn, sitting next to him in the passenger seat… erect, just like a human, staring out the windshield. Charliy used to say it was really Finn driving the car. It was a British car, and Finn drove, and Kevin was the passenger.

Since Coastal Coffee Shop is closed for the winter, we tend to gather, sporadically, at the Dunkin Donut shop on the outskirts of town. When I told this “Good Samaritan” story at Dunkin’s, Charliy just shook his head in disbelief. He thought Kevin could really have an I-Phone... and he really could have learned to use it for phone calls… but “googling” on it… “Naw,” Charliy said, “I bet it was Finn.”

If It Bleeds, It Leads

I’ve taken to listening to my internet radio when I go to bed at night. I have a Logitech device that is about the size of the old-fashioned table-top radios, and I can listen to anything that’s live-streamed over the internet. It’s a refreshing alternative to the fare that’s on TV.

One of my favorites, is listening to 1010 WINS news, “All News, All the Time”, out of New York City.

Last night their lead story was about a funeral in Ridgewood, NJ for Michael Feeney. Michael was a 10-year old boy, who suffered from a rare form of bone cancer. During his fight with this disease, he received many honors, but the best one was being named the honorary Police Chief of Ridgewood, NJ for a day. His spirit and pluck inspired an awful lot of people.

The funeral had a full police escort, a flag-draped casket, and bagpipes. He was laid to rest the same way he lived his life – in style.

The fact that this story was the lead was what touched me. There is an old saying in journalism – “If it bleeds, it leads”. Freely speaking that means that the news-hungry public prefers guts, gore and violence, to “feel good” stories. That’s not very flattering to us, as a society.

WINS went away from this tenet. They could have used several other more conventional lead stories… a shooting in the Bronx… a DUI fatal accident on the Long Island Expressway… a mugging of an 80-year old woman in Brooklyn… but they didn’t. They chose a heart-warming, and tear-inducing story of a brave 10-year old boy.

Here is where the surprise came for me.

I sent an email to WINS telling them how much I appreciated their using the funeral as their lead story, instead of something more dire or gruesome. I got back the “automated” thank you message, along with instructions about how to follow them on Twitter and Facebook. I’m a Facebook user, so I signed up, and their early morning posting was about the “overwhelming response” to the Feeney funeral story.

I guess my fellow citizens are not as ghastly as many editors think. Maybe we really DO like good news over bad news. I’m sure the old adage, “If it bleeds, it leads”, is still going strong, but at least for one day a news agency went against “conventional” wisdom, and it paid off for them.

Some folks told me it was because the story came right after Thanksgiving, and others said it was because we are in the Christmas season. Maybe that’s true, but I don’t care. It happened. I guess there’s hope for us as a society after all.

Rolling Up The Sidewalks

Now that Coastal Coffee has closed for the season, the only thing left to do before winter fully arrives… as in a foot of snow and sub-freezing temperatures on a daily basis… is to roll up the sidewalks.

In real life, wouldn’t that be cool if we could actually do that. We could store them in the Town Maintenance Garage for the winter, and roll them out again in the spring. No chips, holes, or cracks.

Anyway, for those of us “die-hard” coffee klatchers, we now meet once a week at Coastal Coffee East – aka – Dunkin Donuts. The local branch of that chain is located about a mile outside of town, so on good days, I walk there, and on not-so-good days, I get a ride from Tim and Karen Rose. Tim and I share a fantasy football team this year, so we go over our strategy for the upcoming weekend, then chat about any local news, and then have a 3-handed game of cribbage.

Once in a while, another one of the “locals” wanders in, and they join the klatch.

That happened last week, as Charlie Snowdale, aged 97 and getting younger every day, stopped by. If we had a “Cribbage Master of Searsport”, Charlie would surely be it. He’s physically slowing down a tad, but his cribbage mind is still as sharp as ever. We asked him to join us in our weekly cribbage game, and he quipped, “I thought you’d never ask.”

Charlie and Karen took on Tim and I, and they were beating us handily. Surprise, surprise… LOL. As the game neared the finish, though, Tim and I staged a furious comeback. After my second deal, Charlie and Karen were in the dead hole (one point away from winning), and Tim and I were only 2 holes behind them.

Charlie had the next deal, and I reminded Tim to save “pegging” cards, because the dealer is mathematically guaranteed at least one point, so we had to “peg out” to win the game. This worried Karen a bit, and she asked Charlie what was their best strategy for keeping Tim and I from winning. Charlie calmly replied, “Don’t worry, Brian will cut me a Jack” - worth 2 points, and a quick victory. Well, the odds of that are approximately, 420 to 1, so Tim and I weren’t worried.

Charlie dealt, and I kept a king, deuce, four and a six. Pretty good cards for getting a “pegging” victory. I then cut the deck, and it was a jack. We all laughed heartily. What a great way to end our exciting game.  That’s why Charlie is the “King” of Searsport cribbage. He finds many, many ways of defeating you. Charlie is truly an inspiration to all of us “youngsters”. As the temperature continues to drop, our love of a good game of cribbage with not… and Charlie Snowdale will continue to give us “lessons”. It’s a great way to wait for the sidewalks to be rolled out again.

Suits You To A Tee - Tee Shirt That Is

Well, Coastal Coffee House has closed for the season. We are now officially in “winter mode” here in Searsport. For the die-hard coffee folks, we will change our venue to Coastal Coffee East – better known as Dunkin Donuts.

The final day was Veterans Day. It went out in grand style. Thanks to Karen and Tim Rose, we had a nice “Thanks Veterans” cake that we served to anyone having coffee that day, and as a special treat, a former Marine, “Old” Charlie Snowdale (97 years old), sang the Marine Hymn all by himself…. No assistance needed. Way to go, Charlie!

An older lady came in that day. She was traveling through Searsport, spotted the “Open” flag, and stopped for a quick cup of coffee to go.  She sported a sweatshirt that said, “I See No Reason To Act My Age”. Several of us commented how much we liked her sweatshirt, and she thanked us for noticing. I mentioned a tee shirt I’d seen earlier this year on another older person. The front sported, “When I was a kid I wanted to be older”, and on the back you saw, “This is not what I expected.” Our customer said she DEFINITELY  wanted to get one of those…

The most interesting tee shirt this season, however, involved a shirt AND a baseball cap.

A gentleman had on an LSU (Louisiana State University) ball cap, and a bright red tee shirt with “Bama” across the front. He mentioned that he is an Alabama graduate.

As a side note, I noticed that every time he mentioned “Alabama”, he parenthetically added, “Roll Tide”. I have a hunch that Alabama has a state law that states anytime a ‘Bama grad mentions the school without saying “Roll Tide”, they lose their driver’s license for a month, or something like that..

Anyway, he went on to explain that even though he was an Alabama alumni, his son chose to attend LSU, and was going to be a junior this fall. Well, I exclaimed, that must have sprouted a few testy discussions when he picked that school to attend. “That’s nothing”, his wife replied, “I’m an Auburn grad”.

Now, for those not familiar with college football rivalries, the Alabama-Auburn rivalry is akin to the Hatfield-McCoy feud. It’s downright NASTY.  She continued, “When we started dating, it took me a month before I told my parents he went to Alabama, and after he proposed to me, it was several weeks before I stopped taking off my engagement ring whenever I went into our house.”

We talked a little bit about the various side bets that are taken each year when the schools play each other. That’s when I found they have an older daughter who graduated from Florida State. Talk about rivalries… this family has the mother-lode of them all.

During our chat, they told about the various side-bets they have each year. It all has to do with which teams win various football games, and the bets are about who brings what to Christmas dinner, and stuff like that. I forgot all the ins and outs of the various wagers, but they seemed to have made some bitter, BITTER rivalries into a lot of playful fun. I don’t know how they did it, but I’d like them to take a trip to Washington, and teach their family “trick” to all the members of Congress.