Seasonal cottages are wonderful especially when they become unseasoned. When visitors close up and depart, old Uncle Bob gets to visit. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't lurk outside private properties awaiting vacancies, but it is always fun to visit (“with permission”) some of the original cottages that remain in use, relatively unchanged after many years of well-seasoned guests.

I am reminded of visits to Capitol Island, Squirrel Island, Southport shores, Mt. Pisgah, Barters Island, Sprucewold and some “upcountry” locations. The trip back in time is energizing, especially when a structure has been maintained without major transformation or leveled. These are places that remind me of what Maine has been for so many for so long. Some families have visited their cottage for generations. When privileged to visit, I have often heard stories of how much coming to Maine meant. Coming with extended family, visiting for the summer, boating, friendships with others from far off places. There is real meaning for a connection to the past and the cottage has been the meeting place, the living space, and the memory home. For an extended period of time, the Maine cottage has made deep and lasting impressions. And that, my dear friends, is just what draws me in. There is history in them thar open studded walls and creaky stairs and leaky windows. The fresh smell of mold and dust and wood ash lingers in ways that trigger the senses, bringing back reflections from those who came before and in anticipation of those yet to come.

Call me old fashioned! Guilty as charged. And, I have shared a closer look with this week's adventure photo. If you allow yourself to drift into this image you get a sense of the warmth at the end of the season. The warmth of the wood aged from years of openings and closures. How being shut up for the winter has preserved and aged all at once. The Andersen Design seal and seagull. Old books bunched up atop a wide pine dropleaf table next to a window of old glass, properly rippled. I imagine who sat in the old rocker or the padded easy chair with pillow cushion a little crinkled up as if someone had just left to get a beer out of the laundry room. An old plane on the shelf, an updated light switch replacing original knob and tube power connector.

Fall out the window comes every year about this time and with it, the return to what is often city life. Cover the furniture with sheets, close the blinds, bring in the porch furniture, batten down the hatches. Until next time, and the return to Maine. It will be the same for some, different for many, but without a doubt, a memory worth remembering.