I'm in a Maine State of Mind

Rush hour commuting is always painful, especially on Mondays, and particularly awful on rainy Monday mornings. I boarded the train this morning with a dozen of my fellow wage slaves for the slog into Pittsburgh, downtrodden commuters pushing ear buds in, burying their faces in their papers and steeling themselves for another day at work. I was particularly depressed because although I was commuting to work in Pittsburgh, I was deeply in a Maine State of mind.

You see, less than 48 hours earlier I had been sitting on the edge of the pond where our family home is located, enjoying sunsets such as the one I snapped to the left. Days were spent working on the house, and getting it ready for winter, but you really can't call it work when the loons were singing, ducks were quacking and a large golden eagle meandered down the lake looking for something to eat. Throw in a lovesick bull moose calling forlornly for a girlfriend, and it was a relaxing week to say the least. No cell phone reception, no phone in fact, no television or internet- just a quietly burning fire, the gentle lapping of the waves on the shore and the haunting cries of the resident loons. I gamely took a bag of books to read, and ended up reading none of them because I was in bed asleep around 8 pm every night. Up early for breakfast and then endless, but enjoyable, hours of scraping old paint, adding new and getting the plumbing system drained and ready for the brutal Maine winter to come.

I felt sorry for my fellow passengers this morning. At least I have such a place to reset my soul once in awhile. The deep quiet of the north woods makes you realize just how completely we complicate our lives with 24 x 7 cable news, I Phones and all of the other accoutrement's of life today. It is a good thing to unplug and enjoy the simple joys of a sunny day, the incredible colors of autumn (which is a good month ahead in Maine,) a quiet paddle in a canoe and the entertainment provided by the local wildlife. I browsed through the pictures on my phone repeatedly with a smile on my face, completely oblivious that we were nearing my stop. I quietly packed up my gear and headed out into the madness of the city streets.