Cousins and Littlejohn Islands, Maine

Back when I used to work in the Yarmouth area, I discovered these two islands during a lunch hour. Just five minutes away from Route 1, they somehow seemed a world away from the business of my daily life, happily nestled in another time and space. Many afternoons I would take a small picnic lunch out there, to dine to the sounds of eiders, seagulls, and calmly lapping waters. It is so peaceful that you can almost forget your troubles in the lovely sights and sounds, something I really needed during that period of time.

Cousins Island is relatively easy to find, as there are ample signs to point you in the right direction. Littlejohn Island, however, takes a bit more work. It is well-hidden and if you want to find it, you are going to have to do it yourself. No, I'm not going to tell you how to find it - I had to work for it, and so should you. Besides, that's all part of the fun of exploring - and if you are an adventurer at heart, you know this fact as well as I do.

I always seem to stop on the bridge between the two islands, as this area brings a beautiful array of birds. You will almost always find some great blue herons, snowy egrets, and other birds peacefully feeding along the two grassy shorelines.

One thing you will find once you get over there is that the roads are quite treacherous, featuring rollercoaster hills with barely only room for one car, plus a steep dropoff into the sea. You kind of have to cross your fingers and hope no one is coming the other way. On the other hand, if you like excitement, you will certainly find it here!

There's not much to do on these two islands - I have been unable to find restaurants and the like there. But if you want some peace an quiet and some quality time with Mother Nature, this is a great place to go!

Beautiful Elizabeth

One of the best parts about being a traveler is the people that you meet along the way. So instead of talking about a place in this post, I will be talking about a person.

Beautiful Elizabeth.

It was cold tonight, so cold. I had been working diligently, trying to make an editing deadline among personal traumas, financial crises, vehicular malfunctions, and illness. Life, it seemed, was just not fair. I managed to push it all out of my mind, somehow, and kept trudging on.

In the middle of Page 105, my stomach began to rumble vehemently. For some reason, out of the blue, I had a vicious craving for a supreme pizza from Pizza Hut.

"Why do you want that," I complained to my stomach, "you know we are trying to lose weight."

But, the body has just as much wisdom as the mind, if you know how to listen. So, grumbling, I grabbed my things and headed off to the restaurant.

"May I help you?" a bright, cheery voice sang from behind the counter.

As I started to give my order, I changed my mind, then changed it back again. But unlike many clerks behind a counter in the same situation, this one was different. She didn't give me the stare. She didn't shuffle around impatiently. Instead, she simply smiled.

Then as I sat wearily in the booth waiting for my little brown box, she asked if I would like my soda now or later. She cheerily brought it over, her smile beaming from ear to ear, then brought a gentleman his glass of merlot. I was beginning to feel like I had entered some kind of strange restaurant wormhole and was no longer in a Pizza Hut, but a fancy dining establishment disguised as one.

"Where do you get all your positive energy?" I asked, after watching her deal with customer after customer with the same flawless treatment. I expected her to say from Jesus, or maybe drugs.

"We buried nine people in less than three months," she replied, looking me in the eye. "After that, I realized that today is all you really have."

I gulped, trying to picture the sheer magnitude of grieving over not just one, not just two, but nine people that you love in the course of three months.

She had five kids and was working two jobs, because her husband was injured and cannot work. Her car gave up the ghost the very same day as her furnace. She found out one of her best friends died in a car wreck through the grapevine. Things that would make me curl tightly into a ball and never want to get up again, didn't seem to phase her. She still stood strong - with grace, with beauty, and with a great big smile on her face.

"I keep a gratitude journal," she continued. "Every day is a blessing. Every day there are so many things to be thankful for. Yes, I have five kids and that can be stressful, but all of them are healthy. Yes, I have to work two jobs, but I have feet to stand on so that I can do it. Everything can always be so much worse.

"You are amazing," I told her from the bottom of my heart.

She smiled warmly in reply and handed me my pizza. "Have a great day," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

Unlike most times I hear the phrase, I knew that she actually meant the words.

It's 6:50 and I still have a deadline. I still have all the same old problems that I did before. But somehow, my life feels just a little better, just a little brighter after meeting Beautiful Elizabeth.