"We Took To The Woods"

[--M.]

Reading this, thanks to you. Had to quote this for you:

"...The mail and supplies filled the Ford to bulging. Arch wedged himself into the driver's seat, Edward stood on the running board to watch the high-piled packages, and Rush and Ralph tied the two sleds behind in single file and sat on them. I wish I could have seen them. The sleds were hardly big enough to accomodate their rears, and they had to hunch their knees up under their chins and hang on with both hands for dear life. Arch was driving the old Ford as fast as it would go, snow and ice chips from the chains were flying into their faces, so they couldn't keep their eyes open, and the sleds at the end of their lines were slewing with terrific swoops. As a final touch they held their bare hunting knives in their teeth so they could cut the sleds loose if the car went through the ice ahead of them. Edward told me later they were the funniest-looking rig he ever saw.

"The ice was really too thin to be safe. It bent and bowed under the weight of the car, and rolled up ahead of them in long, flexible swells. But Arch followed the rules for driving a car on thin ice -- keep the doors open, go like hell, and be ready to jump -- and they got home all right, only a little late for supper."
--Louise Dickinson Rich, 1942

You guys can really recommend a good book!

Darren, I hope this isn't too far afield.

--M.

 

[chinooktrail]

Are these books about living somewhere near Umbagog?

 

[marty]

Chinooktrail wrote: "Are these books about living somewhere near Umbagog?"

Yes, indeed they are. Louise and family/friends reside at camps on the Rapid River, which drains Richardson Lake into Umbagog, or on Umbagog itself. They also reference their occasional living or visiting other places in the area, such as Rumford Point, Upton and Andover. They are all wonderful books about wonderful folks living simply in a wonderful part of New England.

 

[chinooktrail]

I thought so. A few years back I met a woman who now owns the land where the cabin was, and she highly recomended me to read these books. I lost track and never picked them up, I surely will now. I guess that there is a time and place for everything, thank you for reminding me.

 

[--M.]

I'm only about a third of the way in, but it's WAY fascinating:

They spend the entire winter cutting ice cakes from the pond for the summer.

They HAVE to hunt in order to supply winter meat and almost universally hate doing it, as it's an uncertain pain the ass.

During "ice-in" and "ice-out," they are stranded, as they can neither drive on the lake nor boat through it. This lasts for about six weeks each spring and fall.

It seems common to drive a dead vehicle out onto a frozen lake so it can be sunk when spring comes.

It seems equally common to fish out a discarded engine from the lake bottom to use as a saw motor.

She describes being part of a two-man (-person?) saw team, cutting down trees in the winter.

She mails off pine cones as kindling, for a Christmas gift.

Sunday is underwear-changing day.



I'm really enjoying a look at another world.

 

[twigeater]

I LOVE reading books about "the way life used to be" here in Maine. Along with Rich's books, other favorites are Northern Farm, Come Spring, and Helen Hamlin's books. One I enjoyed the most I got for a buck at the Sportsman's show one year - Nature I Loved.

 

[Mad Townie]

Hamlin

Twigeater, you beat me to it again! "Ninemile Bridge" is one of my faves. (For those not familiar, no the bridge isn't nine miles long, it's the bridge at Ninemile, on the St. John River .)

 

[twigeater]

LOL...thanks Mad Townie - I couldn't remember the name of that book!