What do you think of when you hear the word “Maine?” After asking this of several different teachers at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (OHCHS), we have some results.
Brewster Burns, an English teacher, said the first things that come to mind are, “Trees, lobsters, rugged coastlines, granite, waves, skiing, foliage, Fryeburg Fair, and lakes.”
“I think of woods, lakes, mountains, and of home,” reported Science teacher Mark Soehren.
Donna Marcotte-Bell, also a teacher, was the only person interviewed who included a negative side to Maine. In her words, “Beautiful, outdoor activities, vacation land, authentic people, and poverty.”
Other teachers said things like cold, snow, hunting, scenic, family, ocean, outdoors, pine-trees, and wildlife.
Burns gave us a longer story. “A memory I have from childhood is when my parents had an old Volkswagen Beetle, and we lived in Waterford. The road turned to a dirt road just beyond our house and no one lived on the road. It was always quiet and [there were] no cars. Before we had our licenses, well before, my brother and I would drive the Volkswagen Bug up and down the dirt road. My favorite thing to do was to bomb down the dirt road, then cut down to a logging road and drive up deep into the woods. It’s something you can’t do if you lived other places. It’s so perfectly Waterford. But it’s also so perfectly Maine too. Even though it’s technically breaking the law, if you live in Maine it’s part of what you do; it’s part of what makes us Mainer’s.”
Clearly all the people that were asked had something to say of the state of Maine, but maybe it's not the words that are important when you think of Maine. Maybe it's the experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment