If the there are crops left in the field, they will be turned to compost by next spring. We have had several frosts, one plowable snow, and lots of cold mornings. But today, it is sunny and God willing, I will finish what little I do in the back yard - covering the roses and unhooking the hose. I have already shut the water off inside, but probably should open the tap outside.
Yesterday I picked up a sandwich at a local deli, drove Kettle Cove and walked the dog a little. I didn't go on the beach as it was littered with seaweed in huge heaps, the residual of the big storm a couple of weeks ago. I saw a very brave and hardy young woman coming up out of the water. I used to do that - swim in late fall if the weather was nice. It gave me shivers to just watch her. She tossed a couple of towels around her shoulders, pulled on a pair of pants that had been in the sun, and left in a neat black SUV. For a few minutes I was envious, and sad for my "lost youth." But for just a few minutes. Memories should not diminish the moment, and the moment was sweet.
Two middle aged men were sitting on a bench. One had ridden his bicycle there, clad in flashy blue biker suit, helmet and all; the other had arrived in a somber gray sedan. If I had a camera with me I would have asked to take their picture just because it was quite classic.
Going back toward home, I drove around the "other waterfront" where you cannot park unless you get there very early because it is the best location in the area for surfing. There I took advantage of the five minute "drop off" area and watched a man with graying hair, skinny as a stick-drawing, don a full body wet suit, get a surf board which, as he carried it completely hid him, and head for the waves. I did not waste even a minute of time envying him! Getting dumped and washed over by angry ocean waves would not ever have been my favorite pasttime.
The trees are bare, except for those oaks which hang onto their brown leaves until heavy snow brings them down. The crop fields are brown with stubble if they were planted with corn. Other gardens are bare rows of earth waiting for planting next spring. As I drove along through Cape Elizabeth I saw two does running across the low land. I have seen three deer in our condo area this year, two gray foxes and the neat little red one that likes to take his nap in the sun on the berm in the back of the property. We have some "city folks" who have moved in here who would like the foxes trapped and disposed of - humanely of course - but they are welcomed to live here as far as I'm concerned. The pair of grays were standing in the road as I drove in and I stopped to watch them. They stood and looked at me and then with what seemed like a shrug of their shoulders they wandered off into the woods. I saw a gray cat walking in the neighboring development. I hope he and the foxes don't meet up on a day when the foxes have not found a turkey or a squirrel.
The farm stand at Higgins Beach is boarded up. The little farm stand at the corner of Black Point Road is also closed. The sign, which will sit by the road all winter, still reads "IN GOD WE TRUST" . I hope the lady who runs it for her son is there again next year. She is somewhere around 90 years old.
I will be with family this year as usual. Not always the same family, but I am grateful that some one always "takes me in" their circle. Happy Thanksgiving. (Which should be the last Thursday in November).
jan major
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