The Other Side of Maine

     I have a feeling when a lot of people think of Maine, they tend to conjure up pictures of red lobsters, maybe some blueberries, moose, L.L. Bean and the ocean. A lot of my paintings reflect coastal images because I live in Portland, right by the water. I also spend a great deal of my time on a small Maine island off Acadia National Park. These things do make up a great deal of Maine as there is approximately just about 3,478 miles of coastline (one mile more than California, or so says Google) but there is also so much more. I don't go inland very often, but there is just as much beauty there as here.
     My husband, George, is a hunter. My family does not hunt but I don't keep him from going. There are things I do he doesn't like but he lets me do them anyway, like go to Islesford for long periods of time. George has friends who have hunting camps in western parts of the state and when he goes, he takes pictures for me. This was from a photograph he took while on his way to Coburn Gore, Maine. Do you know where that is? I sure didn't. I had to look it up. If you take route 27 past Eustis and head toward Canada, it's there. It takes about 3 hours to get there from here, about the same distance it takes me to drive to Northeast Harbor to catch the boat to Islesford. It was in the fall when he went and the colors of the trees were astounding. In the distance, there were mountains, although I must confess, I don't know which ones they are.
     One of my goals is to travel this vast state and see all kinds of places and meet as many of the 1.338 million people who reside here as I can. We have our Maine Gazetteer to help us find our way as GPS usually sends us to the middle of some lake. I have my camera to help me remember the beautiful lakes and streams, trees, houses, sunsets, animals or anything else that piques my interest. Our last two kids are off to college soon, retirement is around the next corner and I want to explore this state with George. We want to see all the great things this place has and to find the little gems I know are out there.