Back to Friendship

We moved to a picturesque farmhouse in Friendship, Maine from my native New York City. The town of Friendship is a beautiful place in the middle of nowhere.  We felt just a bit out of place, especially when being called “flatlanders” by our neighbor down the road, who wears short cutoff jean shorts and carries an axe. When we told people we lived in Friendship, we got very bizarre looks, because apparently the town of Friendship does not necessarily mean what the name suggests.

It took us a while to get used to the deafening silence and complete darkness, but with the help of howling coyotes and various mysterious noises, we began to get used to the sounds of the night. We also made some cool new friends, Steve and Kathy; they were the closest neighbors besides a genius, paranoid, 92 year old dying man.

We moved out of Friendship and have missed it ever since. So when we all had days off at the same time, we took advantage of the glorious opportunity and headed down to the copless, self governed town of Friendship.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by our adopted nephew, Jake, a beautiful black lab (I also have a person nephew named Jake) and a bunch of people sitting around the fire pit enjoying the perfect weather with friends, animals, and beer. 

I spotted Steve sitting with a dude I didn’t know, which is common. There are always people coming and going at the Hensel house. I found out his name was Gardner and him and Steve had started a new band. They had a full on jam sesh and it was like having a private concert. Not a bad start to our visit.

                  

Steve is a local fisherman and an amazing artist. He always has a smile on his face and has a vast amount of knowledge about everything. He tells the best stories that are both captivating and entertaining.

 

One of Steve's wood carvings. He also does birds and lobster boats.

To add to his list of skills, Steve also built his own house! Then he moved it across the street, which I still don't know how he did. Now he's building a studio, which is the size of a house. No biggie. Now, to have him do that for us...

Kathy is a jack of all trades with one of the kindest hearts I've ever known. She's always showing up with gifts and things to let you know she was thinking about you. It's awesome to have a friend you know will be there for you. And she's super creative with just about everything.

It's awesome to hang out with friends and just enjoy music and good company. It's great to meet new people and make new friends like Gardner. It's nice to see such a free spirit, especially after being to Iraq twice, yet still remains optimistic and positive. He is a reminder to be grateful for what you have and enjoy every moment.

After some music, we decided to go fishing and caught a ton of mackerel! It's a fish that we aren’t' over fishing and doesn't have tons of mercury, score! While down at the docks, one of Steve's fisherman friends offers to give me a ride on the boat. Um, yes please.

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These are the people that catch the roaches from the ocean that the upper class pay big money for in restaurants. These guys should be getting paid the big bucks, they're doing all the work!

 

Makin' a livin'.

 

Breathtaking!

We brought back our catch and cooked it on the open fire in a cast iron skillet with some cherry tomatoes from the garden This is the way food should be done! Everyone chowed down and appreciated how lucky we were to live where we do and be able to eat off the land.

It was a wonderful meal and a great time with awesome people. No matter what people say about "Friendship", we know we'll always find some good friends there, Steve and Kathy.

Even the butler was happy...