This morning, I walked the dog down to the mailbox where the Wall Street Journal used to be delivered. Emphasis on used to be.  I suspended my account because delivery became unreliable and sporadic.  I’ll pick up the paper again in a few months when we return to South Carolina.

But I still took that that morning walk with the dog.

Instead of “catastrophizing” about the news of the day, in the not-delivered paper, I listened. I listened to Midcoast Maine.

I heard the breathy whispers of loons on a lake.  I heard the pine tree branches shuffling in the breeze.The  air was cool and light.  The misty morning sunlight left a moist sheen on the leaves. A tractor that was parked on the side of the road last week, in advance, i believe, of helping smooth out our rutted, unpaved road.  I heard the throaty grunt of frogs in the vernal pool about 100 yards away.  Last year they were quiet because the pond was drained by a drought.  This year, there’s plenty of water and the frogs are celebrating.  So is Chewy, our neighbor’s dog, who likes to run through the swampy bottom.

Speaking of neighbors ... we went out for dinner with Chewy’s mother, Ann Light, and real estate agent Sherri Dunbar.  For several decades, the Squire Tarbox Inn has been a luxurious BandB on Westport Island, a few minutes from ‘downtown’ Wiscasset.  This year the Inn has turned its barn building into a popup pizzeria. Shane McCarthy is running the place. His regular job is managing the Water Street Kitchen and Tavern in Wiscasset.  Shane’s assisted by pizza maker Matt Craig. The product is darn good - the stone  oven is well fired up, the crust is tasty and crispy, and for $18 you get your pie loaded with whatever you want.

The barn and outdoor deck were packed when we arrived at 6pm but by 830pm, not so much.  At several restaurants we have visited it appears that second seatings are fewer The New York Times recently headlined that “6pm is the new 8pm” for restaurants, perhaps because Covid changed our eating habits from three times a day to whenever.

The big event last weekend was Summerfest at the First Congregational Church.  It’s a four-hour flea market where members get out the family’s old pewter cookware, children’s toys, and Pfaltzgraf dishes and offer it for sale.  You’ll find a garage sale every weekend in Maine.  It’s like swapping stuff year after year, sometimes the same stuff, is the state pastime in the summer. 

Finally, this was a big week for Luc, our Briard.  He went to the vet for a ‘well baby’ checkup.  Dr. Holly Noble of Wiscasset Veterinary Hospital pronounced him fine - and Big. 90 pounds.  

At Summerfest, the dog parade was a lot of fun. Luc won a big dog bone for having “the Longest Ears”.