It’s a venerable country institution; most of us have one in the making somewhere on our property, that messy pile of brush and branches, where we drag stuff we don’t know what to do with. We’ve actually got three piles, strategically located around the place. This afternoon , Mother’s Day as it happens, our sons plan to come over and touch them off. We’ve finally had the rainy days they were waiting for. What better way to celebrate your mother’s special day?

So, with camera in hand, I decided to take a tour of the piles and record what went into a good burn pile. Besides the stalks and sticks there was the requisite Christmas tree, looking surprisingly fresh and green (Dennis Sidik and Jean English certainly grow sturdy trees!), some large baskets that had seen better days, parts of old chairs and caned chair seats, and wooden storm window frames long out of date.

Portions of studded walls were visible, the remains of two duck houses we bought from Dick Gardner probably 30 years ago. Somehow, I can’t remember how, but we hauled them up from his place on the shore and dragged them across our garden to the hen yard. They were well built, as I imagine everything Dick built; I think we paid him $25 or $30 for them and they were actually the best outbuildings we had. Over the years they housed geese and turkeys, pigs and broilers. One of the jobs I dreaded the most was cleaning them out, bent over, scraping and shoveling inside a space to small to stand up in. Conveniently for him, Wally’s allergies always got him out of these animal pen clean outs.

A couple of years ago when we built a new house for broilers, (this one tall enough to stand up in) we decided it was time for duck houses to go. Those old sheds Dick had built came apart hard, even in their now decrepit condition. Wally managed to get them down to the burn pile where they’ve mouldered ever since. Yes, time for them to go. The upside down bathtub on the edge of the pile isn’t going to burn; it served as the watering trough for our pony Cocoa and a succession of milk cows. Someday maybe we’ll haul it over to the car that’s slowly returning to the earth behind the hen house.         

After thoroughly examining the contents of the brush piles (to make sure they weren’t going to burn up anything good; I’m notorious in our family for saving every single scrap of whatever might be useful), I decided to check out the junk piles that reside under our barn. More or less tucked away out of the rain and snow are the parts mowers; I counted three relatively intact ones, and a possible other one or two in unrecognizable condition. For a good many years, Wally mowed Maplewood Cemetery as well as lawns. He always used regular power push mowers, never had a riding mower. With the kind of use he gave them, a mower lasted a few years, then was replaced with a new one and relegated to the “back up” mower. You can tell the order in which they bit the dust by the line up under the barn.

As far as I can tell not one of those mowers went to the dump; a whole history of one man’s lawn mowing career can be read under our barn. He guards them jealously; I’ve never yet been able to sneak even one of them to the dump. But that’s not all. My love for caged birds – finches, parakeets, lovebirds, cockatiel, parrot, even a mynah bird – is evident in the uncounted bird cages squirreled away in and under the barn. A couple of big homemade ones, several standard wire ones, an antique brass cage, and the pieces of a bamboo one I plan to reglue someday, they’re all out there, waiting their next occupant.

Needleworkers (knitters, crocheters, cross stitchers, needlepointers – what ever hand work you enjoy doing – are welcome at the Lincolnville Library Tuesday, May 10 from 4-6 p.m. The tea kettle’s on and I understand there’s a lively group that drop in. All are welcome!

Fancy Hat Making

This Saturday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to noon Julie Turkevich will have her monthly children’s craft morning. This time she’ll have the fixings for making fancy hats, all sorts of papers and sparkling decorations. If you haven’t come by for one of Julie’s mornings with the kids, it’s great fun. Generally, the accompanying mom or dad (or grandmom, etc.) end up making a project of their own. It’s free and it’s fun!

Final Presentation and Concert of the Season

Our snowbirds are returning in flocks, I’ve noticed, and it’s so nice to see you all back! And at the same time, so are the activites. Coming up is the monthly Lincolnville Center Indoor Flea Market in the Community Building, its fourth season, to be held Saturday, May 21st from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  For information or to rent a table contact Mary Schulien at 785-3521 or by email.  This event is sponsored by the United Christian Church.

A Word from the Historical Society

This year, after 61 continuous years, the Community Birthday Calendar won’t be hanging by the kitchen phone. For many of those  years it was a project benefiting the Lincolnville Fire Department; for the past 20 or so, the Lincolnville Historical Society has done it. We’re sorry to have to discontinue this year.

And the LHS is looking for volunteers to man our Schoolhouse Museum. Open hours this year will be Wednesdays and Fridays, 2-4 p.m. starting the third week in June and going through October. Give Sandy Delano a call at 763-3125 if you’d like to hear more. This doesn’t mean every open day; with several volunteers it will only mean an occasional day.