Twenty-five years ago in February, my husband and I were learning to be parents of 1 month old twin boys. There was little sleep to be had in our house, but we knew there was a couple in Lincoln, Maine who had just given birth to triplets. Many times we got through an overwhelming moment by saying to each other, “What do suppose it’s like for those poor people with the triplets right now?”
This February, whether you talk with people on the mainland or on the mail boat, everyone rolls their eyes about the weather. Yes, sometimes its beautiful. Absolutely. But most of us are getting sick of the snow, rain and ice. In the middle of a formidable winter, I wonder if mainland people ever say to each other, “Aren’t you glad you don’t live on those islands?”
This is the time of year when islanders assemble their best winter survival techniques. Comparison is one of them. Here we don’t have to drive on icy roads to get to and from work, because most of us are experiencing the off season. Our school children do not have to make up for snow days in June because, like other islands without school buses, we still have classes when mainland schools are canceled. Our snowplow operators are extremely efficient because there are fewer roads to plow. Any car or truck that passes the house is driven by someone we know. At a time of year when we have more time to read, there is little competition for the many new books in our libraries. We live here because we want to.
Most islanders have more time to travel in the winter and quite a few do. Lobster fisherman Richard Howland spent several weeks in Fiji before coming back to Islesford a little early to surprise his girlfriend, Tanya, on Valentine’s day. Ted Spurling, another lobsterman, spent two weeks in Ecuador as a translator for the Hancock County Medical Mission. His wife, Jeri, leaves soon for the Dominican Republic where she puts her architectural background to work helping with the Colegio Moriah project. Ashley Bryan went to San Francisco to give several library presentations, but not before he attended the 39th Annual NAACP Image Awards as a nominee in the children’s literature category. For two hours, as we watched the award ceremony on television, we forgot about winter while we imagined Ashley among the glamorous people of L.A. Though we never did see him, we look forward to asking him what it was like to see Stevie Wonder and Ruby Dee receive Lifetime Achievement Awards. Vicarious travel is an effective technique for winter survival.
Amy and Steve Philbrook spent 6 weeks in Florida with their four boys so one of their sons could attend the Crossroads Institute, which specializes in neurochemistry and neurobiology. While they were away, Jeff Cramer and Amanda Ravenhill took care of their house and held the Democratic caucus there. Seventeen people attended this year compared to five attendees in 2004. On Great Cranberry there were nine caucus attendees compared to eight in 2004. Results for the Town of Cranberry Isles: Barack Obama, 24 votes; Hillary Clinton, two. Its a good winter for following history-making politics.
Cranberry Islanders have not lacked for ways to keep busy this winter. On Great Cranberry, Mary Wallace has led craft workshops to help islanders create coasters, pin cushions, pot holders and stuffed animals to be sold at the Church Fair this summer. They have had bingo nights and community suppers at the Community Center; pizza and movie nights at the library. On Islesford there is a ping pong tournament every other week, as well as yoga classes and a literary group that meets weekly on Sunday afternoon. Keeping busy keeps cabin fever at bay.
On Feb. 17, 10 members of the Islesford Volunteer Fire Department will leave for Jackson, Mississippi to attend a week-long session at the Mississippi State Fire Academy, one of the best training facilities in the country. The range of ages is from 22 to 58, with occupations including: a musician, a co-op worker, fishermen and carpenters. Some of the training will take place on the new fire truck that will be arriving on Islesford in the spring. Those of us remaining on the island will spend a winter week being more cautious with our wood stoves and checking the batteries in our smoke detectors. We will check up on each other a little more often and look for ways to help out more. Community is a strong component to island survival.
The people who choose to live on our islands are people like Lorraine Bracey, from Great Cranberry, who works nights as the dispatcher at the police station in Northeast Harbor. Her office looks out at the parking lot used by the residents of the Cranberry Isles. If she notices car lights left on she will call the owner, enabling them to get someone to shut the lights off rather than face a dead battery the next time they hit the mainland in a rush to make a 9:30 doctor’s appointment. (It’s another island survival skill to leave a spare set of car keys with someone on the mainland.)
Travel, current events, positive comparison, reading, creativity, community and humor are approaches to winter survival no matter where you live. Watch anyone on TV being interviewed about Maine’s winter weather and note that after the ubiquitous eye roll, they usually give a little smile. When my nephew stopped by recently to borrow some DVDs, I asked him, “Compared to other places in Maine, do you think we do anything different out here on the island to get through the winter?” His quick response was accompanied by a survivor’s grin, “No. I think we just have to be better at it.”
Islesford, Feb. 18, 2008