Karin,
What a beautiful, heartfelt letter you wrote me. It sounds like Mark and you are finding your magical, slow living pace in Maine, for which life in Maine is made for with its woods, lighthouses, villages, farms.... The strange thing is Mark and you are the only people I know living the life I read about in books that inspired me to move there.
It is smart to take your time cleaning out your house and deciding what to keep or give away. Living minimally is about what you deem enough and being happy with what you have, no matter what that is. You'd be so proud of my minimalism: I'm down to six supplements daily, and I cut, color my own hair, and do my own manicure and pedicure; I've never looked more beautiful. Thank you YOUTUBE....
All is quiet at the Y. I'm glad you enjoyed renovation days. All those different ethnic foods they served sounded delicious. What happened to Sabine? Is she no longer exercising there? I always admired her moxie--even at 85 walking to the gym every morning regardless of brutal winter Maine weather. Yes, I loved my Y days and chatting while hiding behind halls and walls while others gave us the stink eye. John and you made my Maine life extra happy.
Thank you for the hummus recipe. Let me know how it turns out. I love garbanzos.
It is touching how you reread a book your sister once recommended. I'm sorry for your loss; it must still be so difficult.
Speaking of Danish things, I saw a Danish series, Seaside Hotel, on PBS Masterpiece with 10 years of episodes about life at a seaside inn before the world wars. I couldn’t get enough.
No doubt you are the Owl Queen given homage in the most mysterious, early-morning hours of your Maine Woods (I Googled the sounds of your owls… WONDERFUL).
Here's a quick personal 2022 review. After I moved to Northern California last year, I fell in love with taking road trips out West because they baptized me in the fires of driving on wild, scary, open, American roads, and I came back undone, exhausted, invigorated, inspired, energized (I’m learning to take the good with the bad, like a good cowboy or Indian). This year, I also went to Scotland because life kept sending me signs until I bought the ticket. Scotland was an invitation to overseas travel and reminder that the world and its people are still wonderful, post Covid. Anyway, I came back and wrote a short story set in Maine and Scotland. I don’t know if it’s any good because I gave it to a friend who never mentioned it.
I’m now in the Christmas spirit. Every day I have the Christmas Hour/s by drinking a cup of Taylor’s of Harrogate Earl Gray (my new go-to tea); watching a classic Christmas movie (the other day I rewatched The Apartment with Shirley MacLaine, one of my favorites); reading a couple of chapters from book ("Wild Sargasso Sea") assigned by my book club; enjoying pictures of islands in Maine with accompanying nature poetry (picked up book at second-hand store and fell in love with Maine all over again), listening to Rod Stewart’s 2012 Merry Christmas, Baby CD (also purchased at second-hand store for $1.00; he now sings the songs of my Christmas, 2022); looking in bird book for birds I've seen around town. At the marsh last week, I saw a male Wood Duck with “the palette left over after all the North American birds were painted”; and gazing at stars every night (lately, I’ve been gifted every night with haunting Redwood Forest scents I have to Google to figure out. Once after at a hailstorm, it was floral oak moss. I've also smelled sacred California cedar, spicy Redwood lilies...).
Also, I found a gathering of hummingbirds sipping at a bird feeder in town and thought… FAIRIES.
Thank you for your friendship. You are one of my Maine treasures.
Merry Christmas!
Barbara
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