Reading: The Best of Friends, which I finished today. I have a lot more time for reading on this trip than I used to have when we'd go to Maine, now that the boys are older and don't require constant supervision.

Weather: Much cooler than yesterday. Only in the 70s, overcast, with a light rain in the morning.

Background courtesy of
Ace of Space

The Hermit

Last night Mom and I went to see Runaway Bride at the Skowhegan Cinema. I love this movie theater, which I wrote about during my last trip to Maine in May this year, I think). Located in the center of town, with only one screen and a different movie every week, the Skowhegan Cinema has retained a small-town feel in an era of multiplexes.

We liked Runaway Bride chiefly for the charisma between Richard Gere and Julia Roberts and the charm of the supporting actors, especially Joan Cusack and Chris Meloni. I agree with the reviews I've read that find fault with the weak plot, and I also thought the film's idea of small town life was absurd. Even here in Skowhegan, a town about the same size as the town in the film, the Hollywood depiction of a small town rings false. I heard one audience member behind me mutter to her companion, "I don't think there are any towns like that outside of the movies, anymore." I wonder if there ever were. Barbershop quartets on every corner: puh-lease.

Dad and his wife Bunny saved seats at the theater for Mom and me. As I may have mentioned, my parents, who were divorced eleven years ago, have an admirably amicable relationship. This is due, in large part, to the forgiving nature of my mother. When we come to visit from New Jersey, my mother often invites Dad and Bunny over for a cookout. Last night we asked them to come over to Mom's house after the movie so that I could give them some stuff that I had brought up for them: pork roll and tomatoes and also those quoits I bought for Dad last week.

Mom invited them to stay for ice cream, so we sat and chatted for awhile. Dad and Bunny live about twenty miles away in Smithfield, a small town on North Pond, one of the Belgrade Lakes. Yesterday they had attended the North Pond Association annual meeting and lobster feed where the topic of conversation was "The Hermit." For the past fifteen years someone has been breaking into North Pond houses and camps (summer cottages) and stealing food and occasionally articles of clothing. Some years ago, police discovered in the wooded hills near Little North Pond a campsite with makeshift bookshelves and eating utensils. They think the campsite belonged to The Hermit, but he (or she) has never been caught.

The boys love being here. Stephen, in particular, is very attached to his Nana. He surprised us by remembering that last year Nana had made brownies. He wasn't even three then. He asked if she'd make them again, so today they baked brownies together.

Mom and Jake have a good-sized yard the kids love to run around in. Other attractions here include a rechargeable pink Barbie car (a yard sale find) that the boys take turns riding in and a wonderful playground less than a ten-minute walk away. Still to come is the event they look forward to all year: the Skowhegan State Fair. We'll probably attend the fair mid-week when it is less crowded.

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