Maine Memories
I first saw this house more than 50 years ago, when I visited my Great Grampa Skelton at 491 Main Street in Lewiston, Maine. I remember at least one photo in which he is sitting on the steps with me and my sister, and I can't be any older than 5, and now I'm 56, so there you are: 50 years. We used to drive up to Lewiston from Massachusetts for Thanksgiving gatherings so big they made the local newspaper one year. Every inch of the house was used for eating, with us kids sitting at card tables in the parlor. We'd roam the top floor afterward, hiding in weird little closets, enjoying the scary vibe.
I'm enjoying these memories here in the RV at a campground in Freeport, Maine, but at the time I took this photo today I had no time for contemplation. Main Street is a very busy roadway these days, and the parking lane was not designed for motorhomes. I parked it a few houses away, and Darlene and I walked up to see 491, take the photo, and then race back to the Southwind before someone bumped it. I had hoped to show the RV in front of the ancestral home, but it just got too complicated.
I'm feeling another memory on my feet tonight. With the cold weather arriving each night, and being this close to the flagship store of L.L. Bean, I found myself obsessing about the wool sock slippers we used to wear as kids. We called them mucklucks, and I found them online under the cozy name of "fireside slipper socks." I bought a pair in charcoal gray, and they have my feet humming with long-remembered warmth. They will be just right for padding around inside the Southwind.
Our appointment at the Whited Ford service center today in Auburn was disappointing in that it will take more than a week for the part to come in that will enable us to use the cool automatic leveler legs. Tonight we're glad to be on a level site at Freeport Village Campground, otherwise we'd be horsing around with yellow plastic blocks that you have to drive up on one side or the other to get level. Tomorrow we're headed to Augusta and points north, toward Québec.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
posted by Len Edgerly @ 8:03 PM
