Beyond the South End

What I Did on My Vacation

 

If I were still in grammar school this would be my report as to my activities in the summer of 2012. Some of these items which I will star like this * will have their own separate stories. Look for them. I also have pictures and video I need to extract from my blackberry which may take a while. Please be patient.

While I was staying at my Aunt Virginia’s cottage in Spruce Head, I made a note or two every day so I could remember what to mention in this story. The first item on the list is blueberry pie which my neighbor next door to me on the island, Tom Budai, made and which I enjoyed immensely. I spent a fun evening in Tom and Suzanne’s rocking chair eating Tom’s pie. It was delicious. Thanks, Tom. Here’s a picture Tom took of me that evening.

 

 

I did get to eat some more of my favorite Maine foods while I was home like lobster over at sister-in-law, Kay’s house in Thomaston; an Italian sandwich; chocolate sugar covered doughnuts; a crabmeat roll down at the Keag store; and fried clams over at Moody’s with cousin, Mary Sue. I also picked some wild blackberries down at the cottage. They were all over the place and I enjoyed eating the big dish full I collected every morning with my breakfast. And don’t you know I gathered up several bags of good ole’ dry Maine beans and brown bread, which I sent back to Georgia along with the books I bought at the Island Bookstore in Spruce Head. Oh yes, I also hit up Wasses Wagon, for the best hot dogs in the world, two times.

I have birds and animals on that list too. I enjoyed watching the cormorants. Not sure if they were really but they sat out on the rocks and spread their wings to dry every day. I believe I also saw some osprey one day. There is said to be several nests in that area. Icabod the Crane, which is what we name every successive crane to come along over the years, came to visit a couple of times. I also enjoyed watching the antics of a bunch of ducks who were fishing in Seal Cove and the successive seagulls who were trying to steal their fish from them. One duck got the better of a seagull when it dove and came up under the seagull under the water. That guy all of a sudden flew straight up out of the water. It was quite comical to watch as it happened more than once. I also heard the sandpipers over on the beach to the right of my cottage. They come every year in August almost on schedule, like the famous swallows of Capistrano.

I also had daily visits from Lily, a spaniel from down the road at Snows. Sometimes her brother, Sam, came along with her. When their daddy goes out to haul every day, they roam the area and visit everybody. They are really sweet dogs.

It’s hard for me to get down over the rocks to wade in the water with my cane. Therefore I made a “walking stick” from the branch of a fallen spruce tree in the woods. However, I couldn’t get over to my favorite “beach glass” site, so I decided to gather up some dry periwinkles instead. I discovered that periwinkles are just like snowflakes; no two are alike. I did get to wade a couple of times which is something my doctor wants me to do to strengthen my legs. Lily stood up on the big rock we call the whale and watched me as if to say, “The water’s too cold. I’m not coming in there. What are you doing in there anyway?”

As for walking up and down that darn hill to get to the cottage, I have Tom and Suzanne to thank. They let me park over at their place so I could just walk through over to my place. It made it easier to carry stuff in and out too. Thanks, friends. Tom also retrieved a loose lobster buoy in the cove for me while he was out in his boat. I gave it to a friend of mine who is collecting them.

Some of things I got to do while I was home was:

Volunteer at the Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors Show*. I enjoyed watching the dogs perform at the Boatyard Dogs* event. I also met up with my friends Eleanor Richardson and Kendall Merriam, fellow southenders, who were signing books at the show. Here’s the poems Kendall wrote for me in his books I asked him to sign. For his poetry book, The Light Relaxes into Evening, “For Sandra S. Here on the edge of fog a southern Maineiac buys books of her homeland.” For his book, The Illustrated Dictionary of Lobstering, which I plan to make good use of: “For Sandra, a true Southender, but she has never eaten one lobster!”

Some other things I got to enjoy while home was the Class of 59’s monthly breakfast at the Brown Bag. Here’s a couple pictures from that day. We had about 20 people show up that day. I also met up with Don Pomroy and his lovely wife at the breakfast that day. He’s an old southender and a big fan of this blog. It was nice to see him.

 

 

Judy Post and I chatting at the Class of 59 breakfast at the Brown Bag.

 

Some of the gang at the Class breakfast left to right: Dottie, Lynda, Faye and Violet

I got to see two performances of the Mid Coast Community Band* in which sister-in-law, Kay, plays the tenor sax. Brother Harlan, her husband, also used to play in the band. Hearing them perform always makes me feel closer to him. Many other Sylvesters have at one time or another, played with that band too. This is the 25^th anniversary of that group. They have published a book as a fundraiser called “…And the Band Played On”. I urge you to purchase one from any band member to help support this great community band.

Another highlight of the trip was attendance at a Roller Derby match at the Rockport Recreational Center. Our very own Rock Coast Rollers* performed very well that night and I enjoyed the action immensely. The story on the Rock Coast Rollers has already appeared in the Member Story section of the Courier online. I’ll run it here also. I also ran into my Facebook friend, Tim Sullivan, while I was there. It was nice to meet him at last.

The last event of the summer was the picnic* I held for some friends down at the cottage. We had a wonderful time on a beautiful day in Maine.

So if you have been watching, here’s some other stories to look for: The Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors Show and the Boatyard Dogs; The Mid Coast Community Band; the Rock Coast Rollers; and the picnic at the cottage. I’ll try to get these stories all in by the end of the month. If not, look for them next month.

On the last night of my vacation at the cottage it was clear so I turned out all the lights in the house and did some serious star gazing out of the picture window. It’s a sight I don’t get to see here in Georgia with all the city lights. The stars were bright and awesome that night and I still hold that picture in my heart and will continue to do so until I can return to my beloved Maine.

Thanks for listening.