Life Lived Outdoors , livre ebook

Islandport Press - A. Smith George

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144 pages

English

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Ranging from laugh-out-loud funny to deeply poignant, this collection of essays from one of Maine's favorite outdoor writers explores the way life should be, could be, and sometimes is in the great state of Maine. Whether he's at camp finding newborn mice in a drawer at camp, at home saying good-bye to his beloved son after graduation, or at church searching for the right words for the passing of a friend, George Smith inevitably finds the emotional hook that will land your attention and keep you engrossed until the very last page.

Informations

Publié par	Islandport Press
Date de parution	07 mars 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781934031896
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0050€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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A Life Lived Outdoors
Reflections of a Maine Sportsman
We love the outdoors! More great titles from Islandport Press.
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By V. Paul Reynolds
This Cider Still Tastes Funny! and Suddenly, the Cider Didn t Taste So Good!
By John Ford Sr.
Birds of a Feather and Tales from Misery Ridge
By Paul Fournier
Where Cool Waters Flow
By Randy Spencer
My Life in the Maine Woods
By Annette Jackson
Nine Mile Bridge
By Helen Hamlin
These and other books are available at:
www.islandportpress.com.
Islandport Press is a dynamic, award-winning publisher dedicated to stories rooted in the essence and sensibilities of New England. We strive to capture and explore the grit, beauty, and infectious spirit of the region by telling tales, real and imagined, that can be appreciated in many forms by readers, dreamers, and adventurers everywhere.
A Life Lived Outdoors
Reflections of a Maine Sportsman
By George Smith
Islandport Press
P.O. Box 10
247 Portland Street
Yarmouth, Maine 04096
www.islandportpress.com
books@islandportpress.com
Copyright 2014 by George A. Smith
First Islandport Press edition published March 2014
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-94031-89-6
Library of Congress Card Number: 2013922642
Dean L. Lunt, publisher
Book jacket design, Karen F. Hoots, Hoots Design
Book design, Michelle A. Lunt
Cover photograph, Hilary Smith
Back cover photograph courtesy of George Smith
To Linda Hillier Smith
While she doesn t usually like me to write about her, she is right there, often beside me, more often leading the way.
Even when she walks behind me, she s in front of me, in my head and my heart.
What s in this book?
After writing more than 850,000 words for his newspaper editorial column, over a twenty-two-year period, George Smith had plenty to offer for this edition, a collection of his favorite columns. He set aside the political columns (not the favorites of his readers, he says) for those about home and camp, family and friends, life in rural Maine, and hunting, fishing, and other outdoor fun. You will also find a few columns that appeared in Down East magazine, and some that George wrote especially for this book.
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Part I: Home, Camp, and Maine Life
Camp Is a Maine Tradition
Nature at Peace
Making Do in Maine
Yard Sales-Triumph and Tragedy
History Slides By on Hopkins Stream
Trashing My Woodlot
Roughing It in Maine
The Signs of Country Life
Mexico Memoir Is a Must-Read
Good-bye to Carleton Woolen Mill
Down East Magazine Reveals Secret
A Camp Full of Memories
Battling Wildlife in the Home
Protecting Rural Character
Dad s Last Barn Sale-Maybe
Plates Need a Little License
The Renys Are a Rare Brand
Russ Libby Was a Humble Man
Listening for Maine s Final Moo
State Dessert an Other Treats
A Life of Slow-Paced Riches
Disasters Make Good Neighbors
This Old House
The Hermit s Life
Part II: Hunting, Fishing, and Other Outdoor Fun
Hunting Is My Heritage
Heart-Stopping Hunting
Hunting Fatality
Of Pheasants and Fathers
Fiftieth-Birthday River Rescue
Loving Alaska with Linda
Brook Trout Heaven
Duck Hunting Is a Love Affair with Nature
The Privilege of Deer Hunting
Passing On the Hunting Tradition
Reflections on Maine Fishing
Gene Letourneau s Last Cast
Nothing Finer than Family Fishing
A Change in Streams, Trout, and Fishing Techniques
Of Brookies and Bass and Grandsons
It s Time to Get the Lead Out
Birding Gems
Changing Maine
Part III: Family, Friends, and Faith
Teachers Need a Pep Talk
A Sixteenth, a Fiftieth, and a Moose
Kids Accomplishments Ripen in the Spring
A Lifelong Romance with Retail
Reflections on Fatherhood
When It s Time to Say Good-bye
The Sun Rises-and Sets-on Lubec
The Gardening Obsession
High School Reunion
Letting Go of Josh
Church Shopping
N wawlins
Graduation Day Regrets
Chest Pains May Have Saved My Life
A Summer Quiz
Josh Brings the World Home at Christmas
Texas
Time Sharing at My Brother s Keeper
Finding Christmas
New Year s Resolutions
What Can Church Do for You?
About the Author
Foreword
This book is a long valentine to the hills, small towns, back roads, woods, ponds, and streams (especially the streams) of George Smith s native state. They conjure up images of a simpler time, when a boy would study the elusive mysteries of the trout or the habits of woodcock and grouse, and the nearest thing to a video game was The Price is Right. All of the essays involve people, often members of George s family, but the real protagonist is always Maine-and it s his passion for the place that drives each small story.
What struck me was the image implicit throughout the book of Maine as teacher-teacher of skills and useful knowledge, of character and patience, of life principles, but mostly, as teacher of values. Respect for others (even people who don t like hunting), a flinty integrity, simplicity, and above all, a profound sense of stewardship of the natural gifts Maine offers. Those of us lucky enough to live here often take this quality for granted, especially amid the clamor of everyday life. But George brings it to life-brings Maine to life-in a way that is direct, clear, often touching, and always true.
Napoleon once famously observed that war is history; Freud s counter was that anatomy is destiny. But this little book suggests a third formulation: that geography is character. Maine is a tough place and always has been; even in the twenty-first century, we have to keep a weather eye cocked lest high water, a nor easter, or whiteout on the turnpike catch us unawares. There s a sense of the place that it doesn t give much willingly, that its benefits have to be earned, and thus earned, are all the more valuable.
In the end, what the book made me realize is how much Maine has worked its way into each of us, defining who we are, how we see the world, and, most importantly, what we value.
My only complaint is that George didn t tell us where those brookies are.
-US Senator Angus King
September 2013
Introduction
My first review for this collection was a pisser. Literally. The cat peed on and tore up my newspaper columns, spread around the floor during the review and selection process for this book, perhaps his commentary on the content. I hope you enjoy it more than he did.
When Doug Rooks, the first of my dozen editors, hired me twenty-two years ago to write a weekly column for the Kennebec Journal, he said he didn t care what I wrote about, as long as I stirred people up. Turns out I ve got a natural talent for that.
While many of the issues are perennial, the technology of writing this column has changed dramatically. At the start, I wrote the column on a yellow legal pad, typed it on an electric typewriter, then drove to Augusta to deliver it to the paper, where someone else retyped it.
These days I bang it out on my laptop and whip it to the paper via e-mail. I don t really understand how that works, but it sure makes writing a whole lot easier and more enjoyable.
After an estimated 850,000 words, it was surprisingly easy to pick my favorites. Even though the column appears on the editorial page, and I did pontificate about politics and weighty issues on a regular basis, it s the columns about the outdoors, family, camp, hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities and issues that seemed to resonate most with readers. You get plenty of those here.
You will also notice that most columns focus on one thing: me. Linda presented me with a T-shirt last Christmas that lists my website, www.georgesmithmaine.com, on the front, and says on the back: IT S ALL ABOUT ME. And it is. Maine, that is- and me, too.
I write in the first person, using far more I s than my writing professors at the University of Maine would ever have allowed. Well, I ve used it eight times so far just in this introduction!
Doug Rooks and I came up with the title for my column, The Native Conservative, but I ve never liked it. Yes, I m a native Mainer, and suppose that gives me a certain perspective. And yes, I m conservative, but not in the ferocious, doctrinaire way that some choose to display their thoughts.
While I ve read that most people grow more conservative as they age (and accumulate things), I ve grown more liberal-or at least more tolerant. I used to hate change; now I am amused by it, even as I continue to resist. So last October, we changed the name of my column to Maine Stream. That s where I reside today.
If you are holding this book in your hand, you may be like me. No computer tablets for us! And I thank you for that. And if you are reading this on a tablet, well, I have to thank you too.
Please know that I enjoy hearing from readers, even if I wrote something you disagree with, and can be reached at georgesmithmaine.com, or the old-fashioned way, at 34 Blake Hill Road, Mount Vernon, Maine 04352.
Part I:
Home, Camp, and Maine Life
Camp Is a Maine Tradition
Every Mainer has a camp. It may be a place we own. It may be a place our friends own. It may be a place we rent every summer. It may even be a campground and simple tent. But it s ours, even if only for a week or two each year.
Camp is a Maine tradition-anchored in our imaginations of the North Woods, yet often nearby on a lake or pond, the better to access it on hot summer days. I know one couple whose camp is a hundred yards behind their house on a man-made pond.
Camp may be rustic with a two-holer. It may have plumbing and hot showers. It may have a kitchen or just a Coleman stove on the picnic table. It may be on the water or deep in the woods. But it is always the most comfortable place on Earth.
Our camp is tucked just outside the northwest corner of Baxter Park on Nesowadnehunk Lake. It was once part of a well-known sporting camp. It is a place of wild critters, eager trout, and many mountains-quiet, peaceful, relaxing, restorative. And yes,