This page was inspired by the Maine Voices Project from which I recently received a letter requesting a short essay about Maine.

The purpose of the essay is to write about what makes Maine special for me, in the hopes that someone might care enough to read it.

I do like to write, though I don't write so often.

     When talking about how much I like Maine, I often cite the fact that I love to travel, but that I always need to come back to Maine.  Maine has great beauty and character.  However; it is the manageable middle ground that Maine provides is what really keeps me coming back.  
     OK, so we Mainers have a different version of "manageable" than most people.  However!  With the resources available to us as citizens of such a rich nation, we have the tools to tame Old Man Winter.  And it's tough to beat a state that has great skiing in the winter, great naked weather in the summer, and more water than we know what to do with.  It's easy to take the changing of the seasons for granted, without appreciating the many benefits that so many other locations try so hard to emulate, ultimately in vain.  Here we have a white Christmas, a golden Autumn, and a green Spring and summer.  The cleansing and rejuvenation that the seasons bring to Maine keep it fresh, and the sparse population tends to keep it clean.
     The moderate scale of the geography in Maine makes it easy to appreciate the grandeur of 10,000ft mountains and the stark beauty of arid deserts without the necessity of living in such extremes.  

And we have Beer, Whoopie Pies and Moxie...

I can't spend too much time writing about how excellent Maine is without spending some time out in it, so please excuse me!

Live well.