Leslie

For those of you that live in Maine, you MUST read Cathie Pelletier's The Funeral Makers. Laugh out loud funny specially for somebody from "The County" as we used to call it.

orangemirror

Yeah I went to that a couple of years ago.
The wife loves all that stuff. Actually I've noticed that Americans really love all the 'fall' stuff. Maybe I'd enjoy it more if the cider actually had alcohol in it?

Juswus

thanks for the tip

sime303

Cheers, I'll be checking that out too.

SagenOnion

I will take a gander at this one too.

We own a cottage on a small lake up in "The County". They are a peculiar breed for sure. The kids up there go back to school early in the summer so that they can have 2 weeks off in September to pick potatoes

Leslie

Yes, I remember harvest well. Who says child labor is illegal?

My Dad's family is from Caribou and "camped" mostly at Big Madawaska.

I wouldn't imagine anybody but folks from The County would appreciate Pelletier's writing but Google tells me she's internationally acclaimed.

This is me standing on the frozen Madawaska:

Juswus

FAB pic!

Leslie

I have a nostalgia for Maine. Lot's of idyllic childhood memories. I'm also glad that we left. Strange, huh?

SagenOnion

Cute picture

We like to spend a good amount of the summer up there as we got lucky and can literally jump into the water from our deck. No 75 foot setback like it is now.

My kids find picking their noses hard work, God help them if it was potatoes!

Ordering the book on Amazon..its Prime eligible so will be here in a day or 2. I will let you know if I find funny or not.

Juswus

I think it would be an amazing place to grow up. But I can see how it loses it's appeal once you get to a certain age.

Juswus

ahhhh...that sounds bliss

SagenOnion

I imagine it would suck the big one. Sweet FA to do up there.

Pure, unadulterated bliss. To sit on the deck at night looking out over the water at a sky that is so full of stars due to no light pollution is truly wonderful. With a cold beer and an MP3 player I need nothing else.






Except a ciggie....old habits come crashing back every so often and up there, in that relaxed environment, it is even harder to stay off them.

Leslie

Yeah, we could jump right in from the boat dock too. That's how it was for everybody back then though.

Even if you don't find the book funny ... you will recognize the characters. Being from Caribou we looked down on the people from the Allagash (local pronunciation would be HALLagash) as unsophisticated inbreds. LOL!!

Leslie

Not really. For us kids it was a wonderland. There was plenty for adults to do as long as you liked being outside and/or drinking. It just became so economically depressed when Loring AFB closed it made an already harsh life virtually untenable. My parents were always moving around the country anyway so I doubt we would have stayed forever.

SagenOnion

The kids that mine have hooked up with up there seem to think that mine are awfully sophisticated because they come from the South.

Drinking outside is still a big pastime during the summer before moving the sport inside during the chillier months.

I think you were lucky to leave...many, most, of them can't.