Oh Maine!

Welcome back to another issue. This week I’m taking you to Maine, where I survived a storm, got lost on a dirt road, and ended the night staring at the Milky Way from the top of a mountain.

✦ LIFE — Top of the mountain

I flew from Atlanta to Maine during a perfect storm. The pilot raced through the rain and it was sunshine all the way through. As I stepped out of the airport, there was something different about the air — salty, oceany, a fragrance that jolted me out of the slump from the flight. I grabbed the car and headed straight for the majestic Airbnb that was the sole reason for this trip. Only later would I realize it was just the cherry on top.

My first stop was the Nubble lighthouse — the water was the bluest I have ever seen. I made some friends on the boat tour, randomly chatted up an avid fisher, and learned to put worms on the hook. That was creepy. You have to jab the hook right through its face. Poor worm. Shirm the worm. (If you get the reference.)

Then came the drive. I ended up on dirt roads, lost, with barely any signal to contact the host. At the end of one of those roads was a creepy house with a man sitting on the porch and a shotgun — I think — standing up against the wall beside him. I Scooby-Doobied my way out of there immediately.

I finally found signal, found my way, and found the house. It was on top of a mountain — the tallest one all around. It felt as if I was on top of the world. Thirteen rooms, usually booked for weddings and events. But I just wanted a getaway with a jacuzzi and an indoor pool. I grabbed Pizza Hut, sat on the porch, and watched the sun dip into the mountains. The hues perfectly merged from burning yellow to deep blues.

And then it got darker. And somehow — brighter.

A million stars above my head. And slowly, the Milky Way became visible to the naked eye — a beautiful blueish galaxy stretching across the sky. I grabbed some goodies and a blanket, made myself a cozy nook on the porch, and laid there fiddling with the sky app, looking up constellations, stars, planets. I even found a telescope lying around in the dining room but it was old and broken — so I did the next best thing and took pictures on my itty bitty iPhone.

I have always had a thing for stars. Astronomy, physics, the vastness of it all — it does something to me. So laying there on top of a mountain, the whole galaxy stretched out above me, I felt two things at once — very small, and very lucky.

Until the pitch black darkness crept me out of there and into bed for a good night’s sleep.

✦ GROWTH — The storm always passes

The flight into Maine took off in a storm and landed in sunshine. The pilot just kept going and the weather changed on its own.

That’s the thing about storms — they always pass. But only if you keep moving through them. If I had stayed focused on the turbulence, the rain, the chance of it all falling apart — I would have missed the salty airport air, the bluest water, the sunset bleeding yellow into blue, the Milky Way with my naked eye.

The beautiful moments don’t disappear when life gets stormy. They’re just waiting on the other side, for whoever kept going.