I’ve made it clear that I love it in Maine, haven’t I? It is peaceful, beautiful and almost everything I want. I recall most of the times I had to leave at the end of the summer season. It used to be after just a few weeks’ vacation up there. It was time to get back to work, and driving off the island at the end of one of those visits made me feel pain. A tear would come to my eye as I tried desperately to get a last look at the ocean and a last sniff at the sea air.
As I got older, I started spending longer time periods on the island. Leaving still hurt, even if it was at the end of a month, or two months in Maine. I knew that the drive “back to civilization” would be hard, but it got easier as I got farther from the island and re-entered civilization. Of course the opposite was always true – the drive up to Deer Isle just got prettier and prettier as I got closer and I could almost feel my blood pressure go down as I crossed the bridge and then the causeway from Little Deer Isle to Deer Isle. The windows always went down over that causeway and I’d get my first full inhale of the sea air. Boy that felt good. When I was working, that journey made feel renewed.
Now I am retired. (boy it has taken my quite some time to get use to that word). I can spend as much time as I want up in Maine. This year (2022) I was there from May till mid-October. I helped my son with his kayaking business (www.ospreysecho.com) and I hiked with the dogs, read books, kayaked in the islands, worked in the garden, and participated in meetings over zoom. When I finally drove off the island, it still felt bittersweet, but not as painful.
I think about why that may be. Partly it’s because I now see value in being around more people, being able to do more things like play tennis, socialize and work. Every once in a while I need a dose of this off island, I guess. Mostly, however, I don’t regret leaving because now I know I can go back any time I want. Leaving isn’t as traumatic as it used to be – knowing that I wouldn’t be back until the following year/summer. It makes me more relaxed about leaving.
But I still miss it.
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