It was the day of a dump run. Yes, we call it a transfer station now. I grew up in the era of the dump, the EOTD. It wasn’t a pretty time, but the name sticks. I’ll call it a dump until death; it connects me to the past, as did the stepladder. It’s a…
I remarked that the newly constructed Dunkin (formerly known nationally as Dunkin’ Donuts) looked clean and inviting. And it did. I pulled in. Sammy didn’t say anything but, “Ooooh, coffee.” We usually agree on coffee stops and are typically equally excited about the next one. My new second-cup-of-coffee-of-the-day ordering paradigm was in full force. I…
“Now, you’re sure it’s a ’79? “As sure as I can be. I have the Virginia title paperwork right in front of me. Runs like a top.” Kurt had been looking for the automobile for over nine months. He didn’t want to spend the money hauling the wrong car nine hundred miles north to Maine…
I didn’t meet Tin White by mistake. We were introduced, but not in an official sense. Tin happens to live in my glide path to Downeast. I am lucky enough to drive by his house about fifty percent of the time I head to camp. There are other ways, of course. And I tend to…
My early morning run to Portland was a welcome change from heading east. But I won’t make a habit of it. It cost me sixteen bucks to park. Thankful is the man who parks for free; I have had a lifetime of that. So, I am not being a whiner. I detest giving my money…
Being a veteran Yankee trader, I have embraced—well, side-hugged Facebook Marketplace. I would much rather deal with Craigslist, as the users tend to be older like me. The early years were spent pursuing one or two old motorcycles per year. I also bought cars, lots of them. Please don’t mistake my old pastime as…
I took a one-way flight to Columbus, Ohio. Borrowing some air travel points from the Significant One made it cheaper than dinner out, even if a party of two had a good slab of steak with something decadent for dessert. Yes, I rode back to Maine with my boy. I rode shotgun. That was the…
There are many summer days when I must drive away from the woods of Washington County to attend to business a few steps back from the Jagged Edge. While my everyday life is in central Maine, my heart is on the coast. I cannot live there full-time for a myriad of reasons. But on…
We decided to meet at a neutral location since we last saw each other in 1969. Originally, we met in a town by a lake. Friday, we met by the ocean. It only made sense. Lonnie is a teacher in southern Maine—music. Of course, there was no way I could have known what he would…
The loud thump with a ringing resonance brought me out of dreamland, causing me to sit upright to clear the sleep from my head. “What the heck was that?” It sounded like the metallic PLUNK of an ancient steel gas can as it adjusts to a quick change in temperature. I am so sorry if…