Maine-ly Perfect

Aaah, Maine. The entire state deserves a gold star.
Nothing quite says summer like a lobster roll and some clam chowder at our favorite Booth Bay eatery, The Lobster Dock. The girl behind the counter deserved a gold star for making us feel better about the 20 minutes we stood in front of the big board, surveying our options. It's hard to choose when you get somewhere but once a year and look forward to it the rest of the days.

"I've seen people take longer..." she sympathized. "It's a big menu."

Vacations are fabulous but not without their challenges, not the least of which is the idea that every moment should be fabulous, picture perfect. There is so much on which to decide, so much you imagine should be wonderful and so many of your regular worries and stresses that you have brought with you, your baggage in your baggage.

It feels as though all should drain away except the beauty when you are looking at some of the misty watery vistas of Maine, and yet... The "shoulds" are what we "should" get rid of. Somehow I feel as if I should be magically sporty and fearless when faced with the outdoorsy adventure opportunities of Maine and, yet, my most treasured moments are spent in the bookstore at Booth Bay, or the candy store, at the flea market or one of many favorite antique stores, reading on the porch, looking up to see the clammers digging in the mud down the hill, with my children running in the grass catching fireflies. (OK, they are usually inside watching cable, but we won't talk about those moments:)

I have in our few short days here given out a fair number of gold stars to sunny Mainers, cheery even in the rain and humidity. "Is it the 27th or 28th?" asked the adorable older woman working at the co-op art gallery, trying to write the date. "I want to make sure I don't miss even one precious day..."

She is so right. There is so much to appreciate here, so much beauty to behold. We should and will in earnest try to leave our neurotic New York selves behind...I think it might require lots of lobster and a fair number of trips to the DQ.