This is Maine

WELCOME TO LETTER E. I went to visit my very good friend A. in Byron, Maine. Up until this point, I had never been to Byron, Maine. In fact, I had never been to Roxbury, Maine either. So in a span of about 18 hours I went from Dixfield, Mexico, Roxbury and then to Byron. However, to top it all off... I actually took three steps into the Township of "E". Now I am lucky enough to live in a state that has small, rural towns that choose not to govern themselves but let the state handle everything. Since my name starts with an "E", I of course had to take my picture with sign for the LETTER E.



This picture is the old gate to a tree farm in Byron. Its important to preserve the state's resources. Logging and the paper mills are major industries . However, whatever is taken needs to be replaced. It's all about cycles.




Okay, this one I took for A. I loved the Celtic design though in the middle of the sign. A. loved the story behind it: "Most people think of loggers as weekend drunks and hell-raisers and this program is to prove we are masters of managing the forest." A. grew up in the woods of eastern Maine so she knows that good loggers are worth their weight in gold. Or, in pulp.

This was the best part of the day. We drove up to our friend J's house. We visited J for awhile and then decided to walk up to a maple syrup farm. We trek up this huge hill. I went to take a picture of same beautiful running water when I fell hip deep into some very soft snow. Thank goodness that I had the camera and A. did not--otherwise there would be evidence of the debacle. When we got to the farm we stopped at a little house and knocked on the door. Mrs. Maple Syrup gave us the go-ahead to go down to the "shack" to check out the whole process and to get a pint of fresh maple syrup. While checking out the equipment, Mr. Maple Syrup and his nephew showed up and took A. and I all through the "shack" (which by the way was huge!) and explained the whole process of making maple syrup. It was great. After that, I picked up some syrup to bring home to my dad. We stopped back in to pay Mrs. Maple Syrup and to visit for a while. She was a great hostess!

Submitted by Erin Leathers