It’s a Team Effort
Yesterday a dear friend took me on a short video tour of her office…an affluent space painted bright white, filled with creative people doing important things. But I couldn’t get past how “indoors” it all was…in my world I forget (and have perhaps never really known) that while others covet a balcony or a window view, I shift picnic tables to get out of the wind or into the right mixture of sunshine and shade.
As an example: This morning George our mechanic texted to say that he’d made blueberry muffins this morning and there were two with my name on them in the workshop (George has blueberry barrens). Deb (part of the office/gardening team) reminded me to stop and look at the peonies that Norma purchased for our new garden by the frog pond…full bloom beauties. Steve brought ice coffee to the middle of the garden so that we could plan out which peas should climb which trellises. I guess you could say that we’ve been “#cottagecore” before “#cottagecore” was a thing.
Last week we gathered for Clean Up Weekend…our traditional means of jump starting the camping season, always the week after Mothers’ Day. In case you haven’t heard about it, we trade campsites for help with the chores. The format is always the same: a huge to do list on a big white board, lots of good food and smiles to share and at the end of the day we pour Mermaid Water liberally (pineapple juice, rum and Malibu with lime) and salute the amount of work that was accomplished by so many willing hands. Steve and I are always humbled by the outpouring of support. When we wave goodbye to friends, there’s always a feeling of groundedness that can only come from being surrounded by a village…nothing feels overwhelming anymore. Clean up weekend is the 21st century version of a barn raising or quilting bee.
While all of the activity was swirling around in the park, one of our big concerns was that no one disturb the nesting mallard duck who had claimed the Rec Hall porch all to herself…it made perfect sense because she had soft bags of leaves to nest on (we gather them in the fall to use as bedding for the flock), it was warm and out of the rain and our fountain ponds were close by for fresh water and algae nibbles. She sat on those eggs for 27 days and we were on the other side of the porch when all seven of them hatched. We were so proud you’d have thought we had something to do with the miracle! Momma duck let the hatchlings rest for about 2 hours before she nudged them out of the nest and onto the deck and within 20 minutes they were in the stream swimming like they’d done it for ages…I haven’t smiled so much in ages!
Looking towards the future, planned campground activities are taking shape now that we know that pandemic restrictions have lifted…but in deference to all, we’re choosing to celebrate summer 2021 outside and with socially distanced activities. It was a hard decision but we’re going to hold off on the lobster bakes until 2022 BUT we will be doing other food related celebrations with details to follow in the weeks to come. We’ll still be playing with fire though…Nate Winters will be teaching raku pottery this summer as a family activity. And you know about the Fiber College Touchstone Retreats happening every month…right? The proceeds of the retreats benefit the Makers Guild of Maine projects like the fiber tool and musical instrument lending library.
Tomorrow we will begin to enjoy the rush of folks coming for a Memorial Day weekend camping trip. As I sit here typing on a picnic table in 80 degree sunshine, it’s hard to internalize that it’s still just May…as I articulate these thoughts, Steven reminds me that he know’s full well how warm it is because he feels like he’s a month behind with mowing already…how does that happen?
