“There stands the city of Bangor, fifty miles up the Penobscot, at the head of navigation for vessels of the largest class, the principal lumber depot on this continent . . . sending its vessels to Spain, to England, and to the West Indies for its groceries.” –Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods, 1862
I don't think the vessels said anymore, but there is an international airport, a Target, a AAA office, good restaurants and microbreweries~! I went down yesterday to do the address change for my driver's license at the AAA office and to make final reservations for my trip to London next month. I also had a list of errands, I made a list and checked them off. Unfortunately I did not get a visit in my friend Lin but will be going down a couple more times before I leave for Boston on the 21st.
Yesterday was cold but sunny. The sun warmed my cheeks as it flooded into the car. the drive was easy and of course so very little traffic. The mountain was magnificent and the range so defined in the bright light.
I like being a ridge runner, as a young woman living in the Driftless Land
in Southwestern Wisconsin, I lived in a hollow in a valley. I was less confident to imagine navigating the vastness from the top of the ridge and liked being nestled into the valley. Now I open up, feel grounded and full as I enjoy the vastness of the horizon. There continues to be ways that this area reminds me of home - it is different and then there are the some of the sames - the Amish carriages and stands to buy food and goods, open land with many deer looking up wondering what you are doing driving by, and the building all in different life stages from majestic old and new to falling down and abandoned.
"The Driftless Wisconsin area is geologically unique in many respects and is called “Driftless” because it lacks drift. “Drift” refers to the material left behind by glaciers: an aggregate of gravel, boulders, and other telltale residue.
A lack of drift indicates that an area was skirted by the most recent passage of glaciers. This dodging of the glacial bullet often leaves a landscape that looks radically different from the areas surrounding it – and that describes Driftless Wisconsin to a “t.”
I will have to find some references that describe the natural geography around Patten and see how it compares to the above reference to the driftless land.
All of this rambling, exemplifies how grounded I feel here, this stage of winter where often I am "shack happy" has lessened seeing that I have a new shack!
I am eager to have people visit, and it is fun to begin to have my out of state friends begin letting me know when they want to come for a visit.
Today I am tackling a few more organizing tasks. Trying to get the guest room and studio a little more ready for me to begin to work once again with my felt, my collages, all my "stuff" and be a maker again! I am mesmerized by the absolute whiteness with only outlines of trees and buildings to break up the magnitude of snow.
February is close to being done. I have little expectation that much will change except for the light in March. I have hope, but I don't want to feel the pain of too much spring expectation. I am imagining I will still see soon in May!
But for today I am glad that the snow stopped falling already this morning, I don't know if more is expected or not. I will walk to the post office and stop by the grocery. I will continue to listen to the classical station. And I will move around a few more things making me "shack happy" in a very good way.
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