The signs from the old farm, many of them, came with us. Some I couldn't bare to leave as they were meaningful on so many levels and can be hung here as our Apifera missions here become clear. Of course it will involve animals, my work with helping them and connecting it all to people. We are happy here. We were happy there too, but we seem to fit in here, to the land, house, barn and the surrounding towns. Everywhere we go we say we have just arrived and we make no pompous statements of what we think we know, we just casually and honestly say,
"We are new here, can you help us?"
and by the end of our time in a small town feed shop in Waldoboro, or a hardware store in Damriscotta, we feel we have learned new things and come one step, one day closer to settling. We have been told we will never be Mainers and that is okay. I understand historical territory, we were not born and bred here, nor were generations of our families. I never considered myself an Oregonian either. I will always be a Minnesotan I think. Maine feels more like an east coast Minnesota to me, whereas Oregon was exotic in many ways and the valley we lived in had the feel of renegade at every turn. Place, a sense of home and being, are deeply rooted in our souls and hearts, from even before our births as our mothers carried us about - a move shakes that all up and lets cream rise to the top.
Martyn looks like a Mainer to me. I suggested he just lie and make up a family history of make believe people so he could be considered a Mainer and I would be his wayward wife of multiple states.
Martyn is no longer The Dirt Farmer. He is simply, Martyn, but said with a Maine accent [in closed company, we would never want it to sound like we are making fun]. We both decided we just want to be ourselves. The land here is very different than what we had in Yamhill. It is marshy in many areas, and the woods I'm finding is very marshy and I still have not come to find the paths that are supposedly entwined in the woods. Part of field is a low spot, marshy but suitable for a wildlife area I think. That is one of my future goals, to turn the wood area into an education place for bird watching and tree worship. But first things first.
We also live on a somewhat busy road, busy for us anyway. Everything is closer together here and even though we have 30 acres, we feel like we are in a 'village of farms' versus out west it felt like...open west cattle drive areas. The road is paved, and we have very little dust like we did in Oregon. I did bring a lot of the dust from the old farm with me. Seeing the furniture we managed to cram into the truck in daylight was...embarrassing. I did however pause, and think,
There is some of my old Apifera, as I tenderly dusted each item off with bare hand.
Our property is situated nicely though, and we feel rural, and in the winter and as we age, having the road right there will be a God send as it connects us to all the villages we need to get too.
Because of the road, we added more picket fence so our back porch is now enclosed in a lovely private area, and I can walk to the barn 20 feet away. I can see and hear my animals. Martyn even made picket gates.We started planting more garden, and say we will keep it simple-but I know us, we can't stop from making more garden.
