Greetings from Vermont. I’m sitting on the deck, watching a hot air balloon rise quietly in the sky and hearing the random firecracker or two in the distance. The firecrackers remind me that Independence Day is nearly upon us, which reminds me of how much Papa LOVED going to his family camp in Wytopitlock, Maine and leading the family celebration of our nation’s birth.
I hoped I could find a July Dumpster focused on Independence Day in which Papa would invoke his vast skill as a history teacher to share with us one of his unique perspectives on an event we usually take for granted. Interestingly, I could not find an issue dedicated to the Fourth; clearly his interests and perspectives were too broad for that!
However, I did manage to find a few pictures of the family celebration in Wytopitlock, which I hope you enjoy as you read this Dumpster from July 2010.
I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful summer.
Stephen
Hi Neighbors,
“I wish you were my Neighbor”, wasn’t that how Mr. Rogers opened his TV Show ? Oh, that was a long time ago and I was just a little boy, and did not like to change my shoes and put on sweaters. But I would have loved to have played with his Trolley Train.
It is July so you know someday you would open the e-mail box and I was going to be there. Guess what? That day is here. July is one of the most anticipated months, it is really the start of summer. That hectic school year is long forgotten, these days will be our longest, finally we have warm temperatures, and life in Maine is less stressful and we can put the lawn chair in the shade and take a nap.
Do you remember last July ? Yes! Three weeks of rain. We wore rubber boots to church, everything was covered with green mold, and we hatched bugs by the billions. July in Maine can give you some strange twists.This year on the Scarboro Marsh we get a heat wave. To avoid being in a puddle of sweat you run the AC and windows fans 24 hrs a day and sleep naked.
For the Out of Staters who are coming for a camping vacation, you need to know this. If you bring all kinds of rain gear it will guarantee that you will have one dry sunny day after another. Conversely if you do not have water proof clothing, you are asking for a non stop spell of pea soup fog and rain that has not been seen since Noah built the Ark.
Also do not worry about Black Bears. You need to watch out for Bullwinkle. In Maine we have the largest moose population outside of Alaska. These critters will crash your car, they are even in the cities where the motorists don’t expect them. The Maine moose is the most deadly animal here, and they’re everywhere. Except when I am hunting them.
July Food
You guessed it, it’s Ice Cream. July is National Ice Cream Month. In 1984 it was so designated by Pres. Ronald Reagan (of jelly bean fame). He liked desserts. Ice Cream is America’s favorite treat, we consume more per person in the USA than any other country in the world. Sure ice cream shops open up early in the Spring but I am not passionate enough about it to walk through melting snow or to stand in line during a Nor’easter.
During a July heat wave that is when you need ice cream to survive. It is a recession proof product. We may be spending less on some leisure activities. But for ice cream on a hot day I am willing to open the wallet. The cost of a cone is no longer a dime, like when I got it from the Soda Jerk at the drugstore.It is still a bargain compared to other summertime activities. Plain vanilla is still the No#1 best seller. I am a chocolate chip guy but here in Maine you can still find the old time flavors like grape nut, apple crisp and blueberry.
July Sports
This month I had spells of being dizzy and lost of balance. Kind of like back in college at Pats in Orono. It turned out to be just an inner ear problem and since I could not drive for a while I got to see a lot of World Cup Soccer. Watching TV sports right after breakfast and putting up with constant horn blowing for 90 plus minutes is not how Americans start their day according to Dunking Donuts. Americans will never be crazy about soccer , which every other county in the world loves and calls it football, which it more accurate.
The reason the USA cannot stand the sport is because we hate referees., especially those who never seem to get the calls right. These guys in shorts and blowing whistles miss the fouls, off sides, out of bound and goals because they are running up and down this huge field and never have a proper view. All in-justices must stand because the referees will not give an explanation for the blown calls And in these countries where people find more passion for it than sex, no replays are allowed. Soccer is a frustrating sport for Americans because it seems basically unfair. The rest of the world accepts it and makes it perfectly clear, “that’s Life, Get over it “
4th of July
I usually spend the holiday at the Wytopitlock Camp. Same this year. The town does not have a fireworks show. So t’is the tradition at camp to have a big bonfire and to make it a real entertaining evening we all take turns poking the hot ashes with a stick. We do provide plenty of ” HARMLESS ” Sparklers for all. The sparklers are fire on a metal wire which is burning at more than 1,000 degrees F. Mothers who tell their young children not to play with fire are handing these sparklers out like lollipops.
Each year we give the 4th celebration and events a theme. No one knows how or why it got started but it attracts a crowd into the Haynesville Woods waiting to see the our Fourth of July Parade. This year the theme was “CHRISTMAS in JULY” Everyone dresses in a costume, we make a float, and play loud music.
This parade would be rated the nations largest based on per capita ( population 5 ). It is the jaw dropping event of the year. Because the town is so small and the parade so big this year we held it on the lake. We took anything that would float and drag it into the water. The Wytopitlock Christmas Flotilla set sail for a two hour tour.We took the biggest guy we could find put a diaper on him and called him Baby Jesus and he was the Grand Marshal of the parade
July Reading
One of my personal ritual each summer is to read some good books. I know some of you see virtue in re-reading an old time classic. Harper Lee’s ” To Kill a Mocking Bird” I see why that would be a great re-read. But I never read the “same ” book twice. So bring on the long summer days and I’ll spend the time on the beach with a new book. My son Stephen gave me a good baseball book. It is the “End of Baseball ” A great true story of Bill Veeck. Back in 1944 Veeck was a maverick promoter, he was returning from WW II with a wooden leg and $500 and hustled himself into buying the Philadelphia Athletics. He lets all the white ball players go and secretly recruits the legendary stars of the Negro League.. He makes up a team of Black Forty Year Plus Rookies like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Back Leonard. A team that will go down in baseball history as the greatest to ever play the game.
A July Nightmare
By July the water in Maine lakes and ponds is no longer body numbing cold. So for fishing nuts like me we are positively elated. I did not plan on talking about fishing waters until I caught something to brag about. But events of the last two months got me thinking. In Maine for years the fishing has declined. I have blamed it on things like : over fishing, global warming and change in water temps or the increased popularity of ice fishing. But I think pollution of the water is the culprit. For decades the water shed run off has filled our lakes and streams with chemicals, salt, fertilizers and any other cobacteriosis (thanks for spell check). So much that the fear of eating a mess of fish scares pregnant women and mothers with small children. Plus some of my best fishing buddies are now only practicing “catch and release.”
Now the biggest nightmare of water pollution in US history has got to be the BP oil spill. and what this on going disaster will mean in our lifetime. Not just in the Gulf Coast but Mainers should be angry and frustrated as well .We can sympathize with people who depend on the sea for their livelihood. Mainer’s loves the sea coast for its beauty and recreational activities it provides.
Think what the oil spill has done to Louisiana and Florida marshland and beaches. Now what if it happen here in Scarboro with it huge marshland. Or if we had black sludge washing up on the white sandy beaches and rocks of Cape Elizabeth and So Portland or Casco Bay. No one though it would ever happen in the Gulf.
So does that mean it will never happen on the coast of Maine. As my old Boy Scout leader use to say, “Be Prepared.”
Out of Here
I can’t take it any more, this rambling on and on has given me a headache. I need a month off, maybe I’ll be back in August. Until then stay out of the Sunshine or wear a hat.
If you don’t come back I will miss you . Your friend Dale