I am so honored that Mohamad asked me to be a guest author for his Around the World category. I’m a little intimidated. He is one of the greatest bloggers I know and he is very generous with his time and experience to new bloggers like myself.
When most people write about their cities, they have a lot of pictures of famous buildings and lavish architecture. You won’t find that here. You’ll see scenery. It’s all we have and for most of us, it is more than enough.
When I try to explain where I live to people who don’t live nearby, it always engenders laughter. You see, I live in Cornville, Maine. It just sounds like such a small town out in the middle of nowhere. Truth be told, we are small out in the middle of nowhere. With a population of 1300, Cornville is small by any standard. As far as being out in the middle of nowhere, I’ll see if I can explain. Cornville is in the center of Maine. Maine is that crooked finger of a state in the northeast of the US that juts up into Canada.
If you were to drive through my little town, you wouldn’t even know you had been there unless you noticed the small sign when you were about to enter. It’s one of those towns where if you blink, you’ve missed it! There is nothing here to see except for a few houses, farm fields, and woods. No stores, no industry; not even a post office! In spite of being a town without a true identity, Cornville is wonderful. Maybe it’s wonderful because of that. It’s incognito in the best possible way. Living here is rather like living under Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak. We are under the radar, and happily so.
The nearest town is five miles (8 kilometers) away and Skowhegan has only about 8000 people. The most famous landmark in Skowhegan is the largest wooden Indian in the world. It should be the largest Native American, but things change slowly around here. We have a lot of Native American tribes in the area and they have a rich history here.
Can you imagine being a bedroom community for a town of 8000? That is the beauty of living in rural Maine. If you love country life, this is the place to be. When I say “country” I mean the sticks, the boondocks, the willy-wacks. I live on the edge of the big woods. There are townships nearby with a population of zero. There are towns with no names yet! At least I live in a town with a name! Even if it sounds like bumpkin came up with it…it’s still a name! What’s the old joke? It’s not the end of the universe, but you can see it from here! That’s where I live.
As I mentioned, we are in the center of Maine. Maine is an absolutely gorgeous place. When people think of my state, they usually think of the rugged coastline, lobsters, and islands. Here are a couple of pics from the coast…
The Maine coast is a beautiful place, but inland is beautiful, too. We have mountains, waterfalls, and pristine lakes and streams. You don’t have to go far to be in the woods away from everything.
Here are a few inland Maine pics…
A good portion of the Appalachian Trail is in Maine. Below you see Mount Katahdin which is the very end of the Trail. For many people, doing the Appalachian Trail is on their bucket list. It’s a big commitment as it is 2200 miles (3500 kilometers) long and stretches from Georgia to Maine.
Our world is full of wildlife, beautiful birds, and I hope you agree that it as some pretty nice scenery, too. It is common to see whitetail deer and wild turkeys in my backyard. Eagles fly overhead and you can hear coyotes in the distance. Every once in a while you’ll see a moose loping along or standing in the middle of the road. I always feel like a moose is sizing my car up for a possible assault. Car versus moose, who would win? Probably the mechanics and auto body people!
Our region produces products that come from trees. We have a LOT of trees. Some are made into paper, some are cut for boards, and some Sugar Maple trees give up their sap to make maple syrup. This is a sweet amber liquid that is best known for topping pancakes. Oh, but it can be used for so much more. Who needs sugar if you have maple syrup? My county is one of the foremost maple syrup producers in the world. Many say it’s the best they’ve ever tasted. It is pretty darned good!
We live in the north and it’s cold up here! We locals call our year “11 months of winter and one month of rough sledding.” It isn’t exactly that bad, but our winters are long and our summers are short. As you can see below, we sometimes get a lot of snow.
Summer here is so cool and refreshing that people “from away” come here for a holiday. If you look on our license plates, it says Vacationland. Our state motto is “Maine, the way life should be.” When visitors come here in the summer they think this is paradise. They should be here in January!
If you’d like to visit Cornville through my blog, please come along. You’ll meet my crazy Great Danes and cats. You can experience all of the funny, crazy, and outlandish things that happen here.
I’m Linda Mace and you can find me at:
You paint a beautiful picture. I’d love to visit Maine and when I eventually do, Cornville will be on my list.
Thank you so much! I just visited your blog and was totally blown away by your descriptions. I would be happy to be half the writer you are. I’m not just giving idle praise here. If I could follow you twice, I would!
Thank you. I’m really very flattered.
Thanks so much for the shout out!
Jay, yours and my original post came through when I searched on Reader. None of the others have come through. Now I have to read it!