Backwoods Blog

VACATIONLAND

The Isolation blues;

reflections during covid-19

Vacationland

two deer crossing the river 
in summer
no concern for the
matters of man

One summer day my Dad and I were in his machine shop and I remember asking him this question. I must have been eight years old at the time and I was looking at the license plate on our car parked out front. I asked him, “Why does it say ‘Vacationland’ on the state of Maine license plate?” His reply was rather matter of fact and he said something about how people like to come to Maine for their summer vacation. I had never thought of that before and this turned out to be my first lesson in Maine tourism 101. I remember thinking what if you already lived in Maine? Could you still take a vacation here or should you go somewhere else? We had always gone on vacation somewhere in Maine. Didn’t all these people have some place to vacation in their own state? And then it struck me; what does it mean to be living in ‘“vacationland” all year round? I’m still trying to figure out the implications of that one…

One afternoon earlier this week I was walking down to the river and I saw a deer crossing the river by the oxbow. His coat shimmered in the golden sunlight and once he hit the rock and gravel shore he motioned his white tail in air like a handkerchief waving good-bye and disappeared into the bushes. Right behind him a second deer did likewise and they both were gone. The care-free days of summer are in short supply these days (don’t follow too much cable news) but there are still ways to refresh our mindset and distance ourself from excessive mayhem.

 
Find ways to spend time in nature. 

Sip lemonade slowly watching the far horizon. 

Breathe summer air with no thought of stress. 

Keep in mind that you are living in “vacationland.”

In the woods, 

Dave

July 9, 2021