It rained all day. Not the kind of rainy day we are used to in New York City when there are no cabs and all the restaurants are reservation exhausted. This is a camp rain day — sleeping in past sunrise, starting a fire first thing before heating the water for coffee, looking to see if you closed the windows in the Defender last night, stacking up a few books to dip into later, and of course, taking a few casts off the dock just in case the fishies are feeding. Getting everyone rounded up and on the same plan to go out anywhere for lunch or shopping is a major military-like operation. Houlton is over a half hour away and the closest town with any decent eating places as well as some other attractions. A visit to Walmart is a terrific afternoon activity since there is always something to buy under $5 that you don’t need.
The consignment shops in Houlton are the best—they substitute for antique shops. You can find old fishing rods, broken musical instruments, snowshoes, old skis with leather straps, lots of LP records, and family pictures of long-forgotten folks. I am always on the lookout for Lionel train sets and old shotguns. There aren’t too many bookstores around other than a used bookstore with an inventory of mostly pre-read paperbacks. The books are not in any order and you can spend hours hunting through them until the dust causes a sneezing spell beyond compare. I read recently in the local paper that a new bookstore was opening up – something to look forward to. No trip to Houlton is complete without a stop at Hannaford’s to pick up some groceries to go along with the freshly caught lake salmon and trout. Back at camp, there is always the option of an early as opposed to a late nap before dinner. I opt for the latter and dream of a peanut butter sandwich.
We leave early tomorrow to return to New York. The feeling was not unlike what it was for me as a kid returning from the wilderness of camp back to the real world, the bus depositing us in front of the JYMCA in Rochester, as we all ran to our parents and headed home for a real Kosher meal. My kids are returning to their city lives, and I am destined for a long drive with Speedy back to East Hampton. Dinner and Wally, Patti’s dog, await. Patti returns from Florida tomorrow. Back to work Tuesday early.