I was still in East Baldwin, Maine, at The People's Perch, the land with the water tower. The morning started off slow as we all sat around the fire enjoying smoothies and an egg dish with homemade tortillas. After breakfast, Michael, a friend who had come to the water tower, decided to climb it for the first time. He took his clarinet up with him. Once he was at the top, he climbed inside the tower and started playing. Nolan grabbed his banjo and climbed up to join him. As the two played, the music ricocheted to us on the ground below. Every note echoed throughout the tower, making it sound as if there were far more instruments inside. The rest of us gathered below the water tower to listen to the beautiful sound. Montana grabbed the karaoke machine, putting the microphone in a long hollow metal tube that led up into the center of the tower. The music played even louder through the speaker for all of us to enjoy. Eventually I got tired and grabbed my pup Maggie. The two of us settled into a hammock, listening to the beautiful sounds that lullabied us into a short mid day slumber.
We had all been invited by a friend, John, to join him in his sauna later that day. Markie, Micheal, and I all piled into the car and headed over. He had beautiful land with a large garden and a pond by the wooden sauna he had built himself. After changing into our swimsuits, we all piled in, bringing water with us to stay hydrated. The sauna was heated by a wood stove that had a pile of stones on it. When we first entered, it felt hot! The temperature was 160 degrees. We sat for a bit before John poured hot water over the pile of hot stones. The steam rolled off of them, sending the scent of fresh lavender from essential oils John had added. The steam made the air feel even hotter.
John was doing 15 minute intervals, but encouraged us to listen to our bodies and exit as we needed. I didn’t make it the full 15 minutes. My head started to feel swirly and dizzy. I exited the sauna, taking a bit of time to sit on the dock before diving into the icy pond water. The water hit me hard, but the intense extremes of heat then cold made me feel fully alive. I quickly got out of the water and went back into the warmth of the sauna. The four of us went back and forth between the sauna and the pond until our bodies felt like it was time to stop. I finished off one last time by jumping into the water, then sitting in the sauna just long enough to rewarm my body, but not long enough to start sweating again.
Back at the People’s Perch I was still sleeping in a tent. The nights were getting colder and colder. Some nights I was able to stay mostly warm wrapped in my sleeping bag with my pup Maggie, but others I was not. That night it was one of the coldest I had experienced. I curled up into the smallest ball I could in the middle of my sleeping bag with Maggie, but we were no match for the cold surrounding us. It was the first night it had gotten into the low 30s, which was lucky for late October, but I knew I couldn’t survive in those temperatures in a tent much longer.
I got up in the morning exhausted. Not only was it chilly, it had been raining on and off. My bedding was damp, I was wet, my shoes were wet, and all I could do was shiver. Discouraged, I wasn’t ready to head back to my hometown, but I didn’t want to sleep in my freezing wet tent again that night. It was like Markie could sense my angst. She told me she was getting the wood stove on her bus going, and offered to let me hang out on it. She also told me I could sleep on the bus that night too. I hung out on the bus in the warmth with her and Nolan, and instantly my spirits started to lighten. Maggie and I curled up on the cushioned bench and spent the night next to the wood stove. Nolan even woke up early in the morning and put more wood in before any of us got up so the bus stayed cozy. That night, the warmth on the bus, both from the company and the wood stove, was exactly what I had needed.
The next day a group of us headed back to Portland. They have a smaller Farmer’s Market on Wednesday mornings where Markie wanted to set up to sell her herbal teas and medicinal herbal tinctures.The rest of us wanted to go play more bike bingo; a game where you have a bingo card and ride your bike to different businesses where they stamp your card and give you prizes. Nolan, Evan, and I rode along with Markie on her bus. We attached two bikes to her bike rack, the tandem and another, and a third fit inside the bus. When we arrived, Markie set up her booth and I went out with Nolan and Evan to ride bikes. Nolan and I took the tandem, which is my favorite way to ride bikes, especially with Nolan’s crazy driving. Our first bike bingo stop was a little donut shop, and to my delight they had gluten free donuts. The prize just happened to be a free donut. I got a cinnamon sugar one, and it was delicious.
We left the bikes parked next to the donut shop and set out on foot to explore Portland. We walked over to a dock that had multiple giant boats for tours out on the ocean, and walked along looking at all the different vessels. At the end of the dock we stood gazing out at the ocean. I noticed something swimming, and at first thought it was a dog. That was when I realized it was a sea lion! I was ecstatic because I had never seen one in the wild before.
We strolled along and browsed through a little book store before we headed back to the bikes. We rode around for a bit then returned to the Farmer’s Market to see Markie. She had a cute little booth set up and was happy with her sales. Evan and I decided to explore the park as the Farmer’s Market finished up. We walked along a little pond, then under a bridge, then back over the same bridge because it only seemed fitting. The park was full of huge trees that we felt the need to climb, but it looked as though all of the trees had been purposely trimmed so people wouldn't climb them. Luckily we ended up finding one that had some lumps towards the bottom that helped us find footing on the tree. I used the lumps, climbed up towards the branches, and climbed out onto the limbs as Evan followed behind. We sat up there looking at all the squirrels. They were really fat in preparation for winter and they looked adorable.
We helped Markie pack up her things from the Farmer’s Market, and while we were packing, Dan and Maria pulled up. The six of us got out bikes and set out to explore Portland. There was a little bagel shop nearby that everyone wanted to check out. They had all different sorts of bagel sandwiches. I didn’t get one because they didn’t have gluten free options, but everyone gave me little bites of their topping.
After eating we were on our way to play bike bingo again. The first place on our stop was The Bicycle Coalition of Maine. I got my stamp from them, and Markie and Nolan had bingo so they were each able to get the prize of red socks with lobsters on them. The next place we went was called the Urban Farm Fermentory. They served kombucha and a few different beers and drinks. I got a strawberry drink and a stamp, which made it so I finally had bingo. I got a free sticker from The Fermentory as a prize. The six of us sat together at an outdoor table enjoying our drinks. Ian and Montana showed up as we were all about to leave. The seven of us hung out a bit, then we all went on our own way to a few different bike bingo places before meeting at our last stop.
The last stop was an adorable little place called Wild Root, where they also served kombucha and beer. The front of the building was all open, and off to the side of the bar they had a ping pong table and two couches. By the couches they had different books you could read, along with different instruments such as a guitar and a piano. Since I had bingo I was able to enjoy a free Kombucha. Four of us sat and read books while some of my friends had a little ping pong tournament. We stayed until the sun started to set and the air grew cold. We rode our bikes back to the bus and loaded up to head back to The People’s Perch.
That night for dinner we had a huge salmon. Dan seasoned and prepared the fish, and we placed the fish on a hanging grill over the fire. As it slowly cooked, the delicious smells floated through the air. Flipping the fish turned out to be quite the task because it was so large. Dan and Ian tried to each take one side of it with their hands to turn it over, but it started to fall apart. With more hands and concentration, we were able to flip the fish. Once the fish was done, we set it in the center of a table and all dug in. The fish had been cooked to perfection.
The next day was the last full day we would all be at The People’s Perch. Since nothing was winterized and it was getting close to the beginning of November, it was about time to go our separate ways. We spent the day hanging out and enjoying each other's company. For dinner that night we had planned to make lamb chops that had been gifted to us from a woman who was in a wool spinning club that Nolan had joined. We got a fire started as a few other friends from town joined us. Dan cooked the chops over the fire as Ian made tortillas. Montana and I also prepared a salad. That night we all feasted, eating until our stomachs couldn't handle anymore. Then we lingered around the fire, enjoying the time we had together.
The next morning we all gathered in the front lawn to say our goodbyes to Nolan, Markie, and Evan who were leaving that day. We had a big group hug where I ended up getting lifted high into the air above everyone's shoulders as they held my feet. We all kept joking and fooling around. What was supposed to be a quick goodbye send off grew into a drawn-out affair as none of us wanted the fun times to end.
The rest of the day, those of us left worked on the water tower. Dan, Ian, and Montana welded platforms to the inside of the water tower, while Maria and I applied a second layer of turquoise paint to the railing on the upper platform that circled the tower.
Since I knew this was my last day there, I wanted to climb to the very top of the tower. I had climbed to the platform 100 feet in the air multiple times, but there was also a ladder that went to the top of the tank, 130 feet up. As I climbed that ladder, I was a little nervous because I was free climbing without being strapped to anything. I climbed the straight ladder up the tank, but then had to switch to another ladder once the top started sloping.That ladder was about a foot over, so I had to step carefully to get to it. I climbed until I reached very top, where a big metal ball crowned the structure. I took in the view for a bit as I held onto the ball. The wind began to blow as I stood there, which was frightening and thrilling at the same time.
On my last night there, Ian, Montana, and I went to a neighbor's house to watch a movie on an outdoor projector. When we arrived they had blankets and pillows out for us to sit on. We stayed and watched the “Nightmare Before Christmas,” which I had never seen before.
The next morning I packed up my belongings, and Maggie and I hit the road. I was sad to be leaving the little place I had called home for several weeks, and especially the people who had taken me in with open arms. They had become my family while I was there.
View of The People’s Perch land from the watertower.
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