Many months ago, more than a year even, my sister moved to Maine. To make a long story short, she went there to visit a friend and just fell in love with the place, enough to move there. She soon bought a house, so old it makes my 1883 house look almost youthful. It's from 1830 or so, and she's just loved it. It wasn't long before she started talking about me coming out for a visit, and I loved the idea. Then along came my 50th birthday, and Margaret very sweetly gave me the gift of a ticket to visit her.
I confess that we were giggling a little - this was the 2nd trip I was given for my birthday. And they pretty much could not have been any more different from each other. From one sister I was given a mad dash to Disneyland, with lights and noise and colors and laughing and screaming and also exhaustion and blisters. From another sister I was given a very quiet and still trip to Maine, with walks and alone time and lots of conversations, time on the ocean and time exploring a lovely little town. Both were just wonderful and so completely the opposite.
I was so grateful for the chance to go see Margaret as it had been a couple of years. The dates that worked ended up being just before her birthday, so I decided that before I went, I'd knit up a gift I've been wanting to make for her. Behold, Frog and Toad:
Ever since I saw this pattern, I knew I had to make it for Margaret. There is just so much about our childhood in these little characters. I think about this a lot, that Margaret and I are different in so many ways, but she is also the only person in the world who has my same roots, who speaks the same language of childhood that I also speak. I was so happy when Frog and Toad were finished - they were more adorable than I had hoped and I was so excited to give them to my sister!
The travel out to Maine was pretty interesting - it began with an early morning flight which consisted of me walking what seemed like at least a mile to get to my gate, but the gate only led to a ramp, which led to the tarmac, which led to a bus, which drove us to a teeny little plane. It was so small, we didn't even bring our carry-ons onto the plane. They got loaded up underneath. It kind of felt more like a prison transfer than the start of a vacation. It was the oddest way to start the trip.
What made me laugh was that the plane was absolutely full to the brim, except for one seat, which just so happened to be next to me. Also I was placed in the one row with extra leg room. Did I feel guilty? Well, yes, a little bit. But not enough to swap seats with anyone. It was just luxurious. And what's more, after a 2 1/2 hour layover in Chicago, I was once again on a very full flight with just one empty seat....next to me. Again. A vacation miracle!
We got out to her car, and that is a far as I could get before I just couldn't wait any more and made her open up her birthday gift. Here's her reaction, which couldn't have been any more gratifying:
She had also very kindly preordered some dinner for us, which we picked up, then ate as we drove the hour and a half to her little town of Rockland. It was so fun to see Margaret's space, her home, her cats, her art, her kitchen, the nutty layout of her house, her sweet barn, so full of possibilities. I loved being there.
Margaret's town is right on a bay called Penobscot Bay, which is super exciting for me since we are the proud owners of an actual Penobscot canoe. So cool to be there. We did a lot walking along the shoreline of the little Rockland Harbor there.
On our walk we wove our way through a little farmers market. Of course I made a bee-line for the yarn. I did not buy a single skein of yarn. Aren't you proud of me? What I did buy was a sample of very curly wool that will make a great replacement for a beard on a knitted Santa that I'm not satisfied with. The best part was that as soon as I picked out the wool, the woman who was selling it handed me a little card with a photo of the sheep the wool came from. I believe the sheep's name was Delightful, and the woman told me all about her, and how before she was shorn you couldn't even get your arms around her, she was so huge.
Ok so I can't actually remember the order of anything we did, so I'll just look at what photo comes next in my post and tell you what was happening. For example, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local shop. Margaret got scallops, but I felt that it would be basically sacrilegious to not get a lobster roll. Oh my gosh it was so delicious. And I'm not a person who just dies over lobster. But I would have eaten two if I had let myself.
Margaret still had plenty of work to do while I was there, and it was actually kind of nice to have no demands. Like one day, when she had to work, I just climbed back into my very comfy bed which was in a chilly room and had a massive down comforter - no better combination, if you ask me - and proceeded to take a two-hour nap. Other times, I'd sit in her living room and knit, which always resulted in getting a cat on my lap. Little Alice is a very affectionate cat. Wally allowed my presence but wouldn't really snuggle with me.
One morning we drove up the coast to the quaintest of quaint towns I've ever seen - Rockport. Not Rockland, Rockport. It has a little coffee shop that Margaret just adores and we had a great time getting breakfast there, then walking a bit and driving a bit.
In the very foresty neighborhoods near Rockport was a sort of public park type place that had an outdoor chapel that was just so peaceful and lovely. We walked up to it and just sat quietly for a bit, worshiping the ocean and the trees and breeze and salty air. What a treasure of a place.
Oh and the roadside Markets! So charming it was almost tiresome. Just kidding. I loved them so much and Margaret kept laughing at me because I exclaimed so much over them. I mean seriously, just look:
These were two different markets. The second was the market for one specific farm, and it had such gorgeous produce. They also sold warm apple-cider donuts and Jamaican Jerk chicken. Margaret bought vegetables and I bought donuts. Naturally.
Margaret surprised me with a couple of very ocean-y experiences. On Saturday morning we met up with friends who go rowing together. I guess people can just sign up to go rowing. She's been doing a lot of this and really loving it. It was so fun, except for the part where I learned what "crabbing" is - when your oar catches in current and the handle knocks you off your can so hard that you end up on your back with your arms and legs flailing in the air. It only took one such incident to understand why it was thusly named, and I'm proud to say that I only went crabbing once. I mean, it actually happened multiple times, but I popped my oar out of the water fast enough each time that I only landed on my back once.
We were lucky enough to see a lot of wildlife. There were seals (sea lions? I can't remember) all over the place, and they were very curious about us. I also loved rowing out near to the loveliest little lighthouse.
The bigger surprise was that afternoon - Margaret had booked tickets for us to take a 2 hour sailboat ride through the harbor and out into the bay. It was such a lovely sail boat. Sadly, there was no wind. So we couldn't actually use the sails much. Luckily there was a motor so we still got to tootle around a couple of small islands, find more sea life including porpoises and bald eagles. Also, I got to raise one of the sails. I was very cool.
On my last evening in town, we enjoyed dinner with one of Margaret's favorite new friends, Danna. Danna is a jeweler with a charming little shop on the main street through town, which just so happens to be dotted with many many charming shops. I especially loved the bookstore. Danna is very vibrant and funny and personable. I can see why Margaret connected with her right away. That was one of the things I was most impressed with - she has worked hard to meet her community and gather them together. She goes to rowing events and zumba classes and movie nights, and once a month, hosts a soup night at her house where she invites pretty much everyone she knows. I got to be there for soup night and really enjoyed meeting her friends and neighbors. With Danna, we went and ate delicious Indian Food from a hotel looking out over another harbor. I felt like I was in Anne of Avonlea.
The trip of course flew by too quickly. It was such a treasure. Here's me on the plane ride home, which was not quite as magical as the trip to Maine. Not only was I not alone in my row, but I was lucky enough to get seated next to the chattiest person I have ever met. EVER. Two and a half solid hours of hearing the personal details of this person's life. I can now tell you quite a lot about her and can truly say that I wish her the best, though I needed a nap on my flight out of Chicago.
So thank you, Margaret, for gifting me with this treasure of spending time with you, seeing your world and letting me take some of it home with me in my heart! I hope it happens again - next time with Troy. I think he'd absolutely love it there. You can tell it's a pretty great place when I got sick of using works like charming, quaint, lovely.....I need a thesaurus.
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