Since our epic 4th of July weekend last year at camp, I have been looking forward to this year to not disappoint. I think largely it is due to the fact that we have no big trips planned this summer, and I have no scheduled trips home, which ultimately means no long stretches away from work. Although let’s be real, when you are a small business owner, you are never really ‘off’ and I found myself at the deli at least once a day during the long weekend for one reason or another, but it is still nice to not work an entire day. It feels like freedom, even if only temporarily. This year we planned on staying closer to home and boating on Casco bay with friends, but mother nature had other plans. Hurricane Arthur swept through on the 4th of July bringing torrential rain, thunder storms and heavy winds. We bummed about it for the first few hours of our 4th, but unpredictable weather is always a great reminder to not be attached to the outcome. We were able to finish some house projects, invite some friends up for a rainy BBQ and play jenga by the light of a lantern (due to loosing power). The sounds of heavy rain, music and laughter filled our home. It was just a lovely as sunshine and fireworks.
By Saturday afternoon the weather had blown out of the area, and we headed out on the water. Heavy winds and waves greeted our first few hours of boating. A true Maine day, with a bathing suit and rain jacket being the perfect apparel. We headed to Harpswell to find some sheltered areas, putted around, had drinks and snacks at Morse’s Cribstone grill, which is still my favorite place to enjoy seafood in Maine. By the time the sun dropped, Casco bay was dead calm. We floated, eating lobster rolls and watched the delayed fireworks all along the coast. Sometimes when you give up your plans, it ends up turning out better than you could have imagined. Perhaps true freedom is state of mind rather than a set of circumstances.
