Meet Me in Maine

I am now home from Maine, which proved itself to be a blissful escape from the city and my regular schedule. Thank you to my wonderful friend Karen who lent me her seaside home as a writer's retreat and to all the great people in the town of Brooklin, Maine who took me in and treated me so kindly. Between long stints at my computer, I was able to sneak out for walks in the woods, take short kayak adventures to pine-covered islands and experience the full beauty of Maine's wild seacoast. I left Bangor airport with three live lobsters in my carry-on luggage and a wistful longing to return someday.

The place that Maine occupies in my head has shifted from just another one of the New England states to a very separate, wild, American place that is far enough to be out of mind for most East-coasters. Plus, it has its own very separate culture, language, and cuisine. The tourist appeal is real, but it's still a huge, vastly unpopulated place that is remarkably beautiful and comfortably old-fashioned. Thank you, Maine.

Running Away

Although it might seem that I'm always on the road, I actually work at home. At my desk or at the kitchen table or sometimes on the couch. Sometimes I get distracted by things like the internet and my hungry pet fish so that it becomes very hard to write serious stuff.

Now that September has swung into center stage, I'm gonna try to be a bit more serious. Which is why I'm disappearing for the next two weeks--from my home, from Washington, DC, and from the internet. Nobody really knows where I am, but it's really beautiful there/here and I'm gonna get tons and tons of good writing done.

Catch ya later-
AE