Acclaimed Maine author Richard Russo described Maine as a serious place masquerading as a summer paradise. How perfect a description.Mainers must put up with a lot to live and work here – a high cost of living, high taxes, a paucity of good paying jobs and long, harsh winters of often mythic proportions.
Myriad summer visitors to Maine’s lake regions leave with a wonderful feeling about Maine. What a place! They recall loons calling to their mates from across the pond, moonlight shimmering on a cobalt blue lake, forests of cathedral pines, spruce and hemlock filled with mushrooms, berries and strange things like fiddleheads, fishers, and moose. And how about the new family of mergansers skipping across the surface of the lake? Magical? Yes.
However, after getting hit with another snow storm of 25 inches of snow this past Sunday it’s almost hard to remember those gorgeous summer days. I say “almost” because even when the Maine winter is at the height of it’s fury, when voluminous amounts of snow and ice are being heaped upon us, I can still remember the summer.
Experiencing summer in Maine is like that first girl friend that you never quite got over.
It’s almost like God made this deal with Mainers:
“If you live through Maine winters, I will reward you with the most gorgeous of summers that I can create.”The less divine locals put it another way, “If you can’t take the wintah, you don’t deserve the summah”.
Strangely enough, the skiers and snowmobilers tell me that Maine is a winter paradise, too. I guess if snow, ice and freezing temperatures is what one seeks, that is probably so.
But for me, I eagerly and patiently await the return of the loons.