Notes from Maine - 2026/07/26
Lilly (the little filly) is back out in the pasture with her parents. Her surgical incision (hernia) is completely healed and she is now allowed to run and jump and play. With the barn doors open, she discovered that she could make a loop—running out through the stall door to the small turnout where she has been confined, through the (now open) gate, back through the barn door on the end, and then down the aisle to repeat the process. Her parents (Maybelle and Earl) watch all this with one eye while they’re grazing.
Earl (Shire) has grown accustomed to staying close to the barn, especially during the day. Even when Maybelle and Lilly have ranged off to the far end of the fence, he keeps making trips back to the barn to stand in the shade and take a break from the flies.
Maybelle (Spotted Draft) slipped right back into her old routine as if nothing had happened. She has a dusty spot where she likes to roll, a patch of grass that is her favorite, and a water bucket in the shade that stays cool. Maybelle has been here six years and has never been anything but delightful the entire time. She stands patiently for the farrier, doesn’t mind getting her vaccinations, and keeps Earl from getting too full of himself. I found her accidentally, when I was desperate to locate a companion for Earl. My neighbor was headed north, taking a horse to some other barn, and I chipped in gas money in order to taxi Maybelle back here. People make fun of her—she’s nearly as wide as she is tall—but she has been a wonderful horse to have around. I hope she’s with us for a long time, but nobody has been able to pinpoint her age.
I’m thrilled to have them all back together. Lilly is healthy and we don’t have to worry about her hernia anymore. Earl has already calmed down quite a bit. He needs Maybelle to set the tone. Without her, he gets very grumpy. They’re only going out for a couple of hours at a time right now until they all get accustomed to grass again. It shouldn’t take long. This summer grass isn’t as potent as the new grass in the early spring. New grass in the spring is so full of sugar that it can be a real shock to their systems. I’m being cautious and introducing Lilly and Maybelle back to the pasture slowly. After all this time locked in the barn, I don’t want to sabotage Lilly’s recovery when she’s in the final stretch.
Mom and my nephew came up this past week. My nephew stayed for a couple of days—it was great to spend some time with him. He has gotten into cooking and we made lasagna one night and tacos the next. Next month, he goes off to college. In the picture on my wall (my favorite), he’s about five, wearing a skeleton costume for Halloween, and he looks like he can hardly contain his excitement. Time somehow skipped forward. I fear it will happen again. Next time I see him, he’ll probably be unrecognizable. That’s not true—I’ll recognize his voice, even if it continues to change. His voice will always be recognizable.
Mom will be here for the rest of the summer. We’re expecting more family in August as well, which will be fun. Yesterday, we went out on my brother’s boat. The lake (Long Pond in Belgrade) never changes too much. Some of the camps have changed hands.
“That’s the guy who bought the Rices’ camp,” my brother said as he waved at a passing boat. It was a wonderful day, but there were only a few boats out on the lake. It’s never tremendously busy. Happy and Babe Rice were good friends of my grandparents. They had a camp called “The Shanty” and it was a couple hundred yards upstream from our dock. We stopped at the Biddiscombes’ on the way up to the big lake. They live in the old Dunn camp every summer and were good friends with Dad. My brother is pretty good at keeping track of who lives where and who bought so-and-so’s camp. Most of the faces blur together for me. Growing up, when someone on the road had a party, the whole neighborhood would come. The community was small enough that pretty much everyone could fit in one house. I knew the neighbors back then. I’ve lost the knack since I moved down south. My house is forty miles (65 km) south of Belgrade now. There has been a lot of turnover since I moved. By the time my nephew inherits the camp from me and my sister, he probably won’t know any of the neighbors. He’ll have to make those connections on his own if he wants to.
Albert (dog) went with us yesterday. It was his first boat trip. I think he could be a really solid boat dog if given more of a chance, but I’m not that much of a boat person. I’ll ride along on someone’s boat once or twice a year, but that’s about it for me. My father used to go out nearly every day. My brother does that too. If she lived up here, I suspect my sister would be the same way.
Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m not enjoying the outdoors the way that everyone else does. I spend a lot of time outside doing chores, but I don’t spend a ton of time at the lake or in the garden. Of course, they don’t spend any time doing horse stuff, and I’ve never suspected that any of them feel guilt about that. Speaking of horses, I should probably go fill the water buckets again. Now that Lilly has access to the outside buckets once more, she has decided to resume soaking her feet. It’s only a matter of time before she knocks them over.
Maybelle, Lilly, and Earl (front to back)
