Everything But The Weed

Approved by:
Linda Maze, a Wedding photography Gainesville FL in Gainesville Florida

My hometown is on the Maine coast and was first inhabited back in the early 17th Century. Originally it was a fishing community. There was some seafaring trade of other sorts, as it had a good, deep natural harbor, but mainly people fished for cod. The granite hilltops provided an excellent spot to salt the fish down and dry them out to be sold elsewhere. The only trace left of these local fish flakes are small public pathways that wind their way up the hills between the houses. When you walk them, you end up traveling right through people’s backyards. They feel like secret passages. Many of the houses in the town are well over two hundred years old, some nearly three hundred. I had a great childhood in a place so full of history, beauty and good sea air and sports.

To immortalize the first days of our little community, we celebrate Founder’s Day every year. Local store owners give away free food and drink to people wandering around the streets. There’s a big parade and fireworks. The historical society and local theater company organize many reenactments and small events during the day too. My favorite part of Founder’s Day takes place at the old stone fort. Some of the townsmen dress up as colonial soldiers and camp out for several days there. They set up tents and cook fires, tell tales of the Revolutionary War and manage to look very authentic.

At night on Founder’s Day, there’s also a haunted pirate fort event for the town kids. This year I’m volunteering. I’ve put together a pirate costume complete with pirate jewelry and of course one of these. Outside of the fort, there’ll be a pirate storyteller, plus a pirate woman up in a cage in a tree. Inside more of us will be scattered in the fort’s random passages and rooms to encounter the children as they make their way through the maze of its interior. I’m in charge of the pirate treasure. I’ll be in a big, brightly lit room encircled with piles and piles of fake gold and jewels. I’ll have a chest full of foil-covered chocolate coins to hand out to the brave adventurers. I can’t wait!