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Two weeks ago, my father and I set off for a mini vacation to our cabin in the northwoods of Maine. It was six days of no electricity, no running water and no communication with the outside world. For those six days, there was only the outdoors and time to really think about things. As a family, we would stay in our cabin in Chesuncook Village for two to three weeks at a time and it was some of the best times of my entire life.
We left at 6am on Saturday morning in an effort to get to my Uncle Bob's house in Belfast, ME by dinnertime. However, given that it was the 4th of July weekend, we were anticipating a long drive and possibly arriving much later. It was smooth sailing until we hit I-495 northbound right above Boston and were stuck for about 60-90 minutes from within a 10 mile stretch. A tad grumpy and tired, we stopped at the NH liquor store for some sweet tax-free booze then continued to push onward. We pulled into my Uncle Bob's house at 3:30pm. I hadn't seen my uncle in quite some time so it was nice to see him and his wife living happily in the woods. My uncle, who works on a lobster boat near the harbor, brought home three delicious lobsters back for dinner. Nothing better than lobster caught fresh only hours ago then hitting one's tummy.
The next morning, we hit the road at 5:30am and made good time heading up north. We made it to Greenville around 10am after stopping for breakfast along the way and supplied ourselves with enough groceries to last us our time in the village. The shopping list consisted of the essentials of meat, peanut butter, bread and beer (among other things).
When I was young, we would have to travel 18 miles up the lake in a boat in order to get to the village. It saddens me a bit to say that there now is a legitimate road which was constructed which will allow you to drive all the way to and around the village. My feelings are split about this. I will admit it's nice to be able to just drive up there whenever you'd like now but it was such a nice feeling to not have to deal with cars on the dirt roads while staying there.
We arrived at our camp in the woodsy parts of the village (after sipping the traditional Sambuca while crossing over the bridge) and proceeded to unpack the car. We opened camp up by turning on propane gas tanks and checking for gas leaks (found one minor one but easily repairable) then booted up the fridge to get it nice and cold for our food (and beer). We then ventured down to my Uncle Larry's cabin (Sunledge) which sits right on the waters of Chesuncook Lake. We greeted my Uncle Larry and Aunt Shannon who had driven up the day before, had dinner then hit the hay.
Woke up on Monday (the 4th) to the sun blasting me in the eyes at 5am. Surprisingly enough, I didn't cry bloody murder to this because I was just happy to be where I was. Went down to the kitchen where Uncle Larry had prepared the perfect breakfast for us: fresh White Perch, one egg cooked over easy on top of one piece of toast. Following that, it was only fitting that we replenish the fish stock and my Aunt Shannon and I hit the canoe and paddled down the lake to one of our favorite fishing holes off of Graveyard Point. Using worms and pieces of chub, we managed to hit the fish fairly hard but unfortunately we were pulling in babies and therefore it was catch and release. We paddled back and saw my Uncle and Aunt off as my Aunt had to work the following day and needed to take care of things on the home front. This gave Dad and I the perfect time to head up back to our cabin and take care of some maintenance. Took most of the late morning and early afternoon pulling sapling pines out of the ground and devising theories on how to shore up a couple foundation posts which looked to be leaning. Exhausted, my dad laid down for a nap and took some time to hit the canoe again. Paddled across the lake to Gero Island and checked out a couple camp sites where canoers and hikers overnight at.
After a good night sleep, we woke up and decided to take the motor boat out to fish another fishing hole of ours. Again, we were catching babies but were hitting them hard (75-100 white perch, yellow perch and chub in total). We were graced with the presence of a bald eagle in which took interest in the fish we were pulling in. I had caught a gigantic 3-4 pound chub and had saved it in the boat to use as bait. With the eagle close by, we decided to give it a present and chucked the fish into the water. Then what happened was perhaps the coolest thing of the trip: the eagle soared in at about 60 MPH, scoped the fish up in its talons and landed on a rock on Gero Island. Dinner was served, and we came back with an amazing experience. Only in Chesuncook. That night, while sitting out on the front porch at Sunledge, I witnessed a wicked lightning storm going on top of Mt. Katahdin. Thought they were fireworks from nearby Millinocket but they were too bright.
The last couple of days in the village allowed me some time to relax and contemplate on life. Nothing too wild and irrational, but it's funny how fast life goes by and sometimes we can miss out on a lot in terms of quality alone time. My late grandfather once said about the youth of today (meaning myself and others like me) that we don't seem to have enough time to inspect our own belly buttons…possibly a crazy rant but all too true. I've had my fair share of rants about how I hate that I browse the internet/watch TV too much, and I find that having time to leave that all behind is quite good for the soul. Chesuncook gave me a chance to take some time to think about my future and what was important to me. Traveling around the country and visiting new places has done wonders for my outlook on life and I've been really fortunate to have these experiences and will continue to seize any opportunity to experience more. However, there are times where I miss being around loved ones and having a real place to call home. It's just the reality of the situation. While there is some confliction, I am glad that I have mixed feelings about my present circumstance. It means that I have something to look forward to and that this job/lifestyle isn't the end of my journey. Some people will stay aboard and work this job for years and years because it's all they know but at least I know that I have options.
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