Notes from Maine - 2026/05/31
What a fun week! My nephew graduates from High School in a couple of days, so for the past week and a half he has been up here ”working” on his senior project. I’ve done my best to stay ignorant of the details of this project. I can’t seem judgmental if I have none of the facts. He has worked hard, and he’s going to a good college in the fall. Whatever project that he and his friends invented is none of my business. I can tell you this—the project involved staying at the camp, so I got to spend a little time with him. It was nice to see him. The last couple of years, circumstances have conspired against him being up here very much, and the next few years will be busy with college.
Growing up, when we spent time at the dock, my sister and I always had each other’s company. My brother would be off in the boat or hanging out with his Maine friends. My nephew only ever had adults to go swimming or boating with. It was good to see my nephew this time with his peers. He got to show them around the places he has spent so many vacation days.
My sister’s vacation happened to overlap her son’s project, although they didn’t see each other much. He was up at the camp and she stayed here. We walked across the new bridge in town, she planted a bunch of flowers, and we talked.
The travel details between my sister and nephew were complex. He drove their car up. She flew later. Then, they swapped for the way home. Yesterday the car was packed with my mom’s “new” pinball machine (built in 1977, but new to her) so my sister could drive it back to Virginia. Somehow, everything worked out, at least so far. The last leg of the pinball machine’s journey is taking place later today, when my sister will try to maneuver into Mom’s basement and set it up. We talked through all the steps and I sent a list of detailed instructions. Every connector is labeled and all the electronic parts are brand new. It has a decent chance of working on the first try. This will be my sister’s first attempt at setting up a machine, but she is detail-oriented. Just to be safe, I won’t answer the phone for the rest of the day.
I’ll be spending the next day reorienting myself to the tasks at hand. When I have company, I usually park all my lists in the dark corners of my head and I don’t see past the end of the visit. After my sister pulled out of the driveway yesterday, I started laundry and focused on the immediate chores. Today I have to align my priorities with the next deadline.
A week from today, I’ll be helping out with Project Graduation. This is a program where student-organized graduation parties are replaced with lockdown events where the graduates are given controlled venues and all-night activities to keep them safe. In 1979, eighteen Maine children died as a result of traffic accidents in the wake of graduation parties. The community of Oxford Hills lost seven of those kids. The echoes of that tragedy still reverberate almost fifty years later.
In response, the Project Graduation tradition started in Maine in 1980 as a way to keep High School seniors safe during their celebrations. I will join some friends to chaperone a midnight to three block at some secret location. All details are heavily guarded so the students don’t know where they’re going until they’re actually there. I do know that there will be activities and food for the kids. One might hope that their energy would be waning by the time they get to the midnight spot, but that would be wishful thinking. I’ll probably be drinking lots of coffee and stifling a yawn the whole time.
That’s my next deadline, although I have very little to do in advance of the evening. It’s just a mark on the calendar to set my sights on. In two weeks I’ll report on how it went.
