21 August 2023

For a decade now, I’ve been the happy beneficiary of my friend and former colleague in the UNH English department Stephanie’s penchant for celebrating her birthday in generous high style.  Over these many years, Steph has introduced me to some of Maine’s finest summer retreats, and this time it was the White Barn Inn in Kennebunk.

Among the many delights of the occasion was the chance to meet new folks and share their insights, with Stephanie hospitably guiding conversation.  This year she proposed a round table sharing of lessons learned in the past year, with her leading off:  the value of NOT pushing through when one is really tired.  Friend Susan provided the corollary:  the mistakes one makes when one attempts to carry on while exhausted create many more problems than simply deferring a task until rest “knits the raveled sleeve of care” (that’s Macbeth, not Sue, but you get the picture).

Steph proposed that students don’t mind waiting another day for return of their papers; Sue pointed out that NOT running over a wheel stop in a parking lot is a course preferable to driving on when too tired.

I suspect I would not have left the bathtub telephone shower head in the “on” position–and thus treating the library below to a cascade that threatened the Steinway and called for major ceiling and wall restoration–had I not tried to pursue chores on the morning after a compromised sleep.  BTW, kudos to AAA insurance and the team that promptly set that stupid mistake right.

I learned from Rebecca that it’s wise to keep checking the Portsmouth Music Hall site even when an event is sold out, as sometimes tickets are returned (and with this intel I subsequently scored a seat to hear Heather Cox Richardson on 29 September).  Rebecca and her mom Marsha also recommended Québec City as a getaway destination only six hours’ drive away.  So noted!

Most of all, Monday’s gathering reminded me of the joy a blithe spirit like Stephanie’s can spread, a prompt to spend more time in good company.

On the way home, I re-discovered beautiful Parsons Beach just off Route 9; the hike in makes the view worthwhile, though parking is nearly impossible–as perhaps the location of the causeway-side “Suggestion Box” makes clear.  Best to wait till off season, I suppose.

Back home, the grass needed mowing, and my bug-proof ensemble seemed to fascinate the dragonfly who hovered momentarily before my nose; trying to figure out the alien being, perhaps?

That pleasant chore accomplished, I found the gratifying charm of Stephanie’s birthday party lingered on well into the night.  Happy New Year, Dear Friend!