Paradisical Maine
I recently finished James Michener's Hawaii while on vacation with family in Maine. It's a long book, so I've been thinking about Hawaii for a while now. From Michener and the images and pictures on television and in magazines, Hawaii appears to be quite the island paradise. I got the impression from Michener that while Hawaii was partially made that way by the industry of humans over the long course of history, the paradise of Tahiti might be even more dramatic, and Bora Bora the finest jewel of them all.
This has certainly piqued my interest in visiting the Hawaiian islands. I imagine that I'll get there before too long.
With that all in my mind, what I realized in Maine, was that it is really quite the paradise of its own.
Where the mountains meet the sea. There are over three thousand islands off the rugged granite coast, with a couple beautiful beaches. This summer I finally rode a schooner on a two hour tour of Penobscot Bay. A number of years ago my parents took a amazing camping trip where they joined a group that rowed dories to different islands off the coast and camped on them.
The Maine summer grass on lawns is naturally lush and full, with a lot of clover, and one could spend whole summers barefoot. In fact, I have. Summer proceeds like this: Strawberries and black raspberries. Maine blueberries. Blackberries. All except the strawberries grow wild and plentifully.
The plant life is vibrant and includes in abundance such standouts as sugar maples, tiger lilies, and dandelions. The summer air is fragrant with the smell of the modest milkweed.
Tall trees cover the hills that grow into mountains and ponds, lakes, and other wetlands are present in abundance over the land. (Mosquitoes find Maine to be a paradise as well.)
I can't say enough about the joys of abundant Lobster but to say that it's amazingly tasty and healthy and I could enjoy it every day for weeks on end. In fact, I have (every day of a two week vacation in 2003).
I'm focusing on the spring and summer here, but fall and winter have their own charms.