The side of the house looking towards the lake.
Lupin growing along the lane. Because of our trips to Maine, lupin are my favorite flowers. We've never really gotten them to grow anywhere else though, which is disappointing.
Seafood! Hi Mr. Lobster.
I took this picture of the living room when my best friend Amanda and I spent the night here on our road trip across the country. The furniture has since been replaced, but I can still picture Nana sitting in the chair on the right, doing her crossword puzzles. When I was a kid, I would stare at the wood paneling in the guest bedroom and pick out which wood knots looked like eyes. And since we didn't have much in the way of electronic entertainment (no computers, only a handful of TV stations, a VCR with a few tapes), we put together massive puzzles and played Hand and Foot and read books and found other ways to amuse ourselves. I have a random memory of dancing around on that oriental rug to "Billie Jean"...were we listening to the radio? I have no idea.
Is Maine the same now that Nana and Papa are gone? Of course not. But the very fact that I still want to go back there time and time again suggests that there is a little magic in the place itself, that it holds all the happy possibilities of creating new memories with a new generation...of living a better, simpler, happier life. With my family being scattered around the country, Maine is one of the few shared experiences that we have. I hope we can hold on to that.
Pablo the penguin.
