If Our Furniture Could Talk...

 If you want to know me, listen to my furniture. When Joe and I moved into our Maine house, we immediately felt the absence of a big chair with a soft cushion and a comfortable couch. At first we thought we could get by with the random furniture that we were able to purchase from the seller's estate, but moving-in is exhausting, and recovery calls for serious couch time! We bought a total of nine wooden chairs from the previous owner, but not a single one had a cushion soft enough for napping while watching reruns of "Scandal" and "Nashville," so we went to Country Farms Furniture in downtown Bath, and Joe fell into a Sam Moore Chair, and I fell into a Sam Moore couch. It was love at first sitting: a tangerine couch with two cushions and a light grey chair imprinted with big fuchsia and orange circles. As soon as we placed that new couch and chair in the family room, the house on Washington Street began to feel like home. On that summer day, a new family had moved into Bath, and along with my grandmother's rocker, my mother's lamp, and my Secret Life of Bees dishes from Anthropologie, came our personal history.

Given a voice, I believe our furniture could tell a compelling story about our lives. Even in silence, tables, chairs and dressers manage to reveal a good piece of our souls, and I don't think I'm alone in imagining furniture that talks. From Fantasia to Mary Poppins and on to Beauty and the Beast, Walt Disney breathed life into inanimate objects like buckets and spoons, dresser drawers, teapots and candlesticks. When the teapot in Beauty and the Beast sings "Be Our Guest" with Angela Lansbury's maternal voice in chorus with the castle's enchanted staff, I can feel the Prince's need for love! Without it, the castle is just a building, not a home. In a similar way, I can feel magic when Mary Poppins arrives to straighten up Jane and Michael Banks' room. Listening to Mary's commanding song,"A Spoon Full of Sugar," dresser drawers open and close; a small table is set, the toy box is filled, and the looking glass, just in time, echos one high note after another. The furniture at the Banks' house helps to narrate the joys and sorrows of a family in crisis. Of course, Disney is not the only creative thinker to use household items to reflect our stories. C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe shared a similar vision by using the wardrobe to suggest our dreams and fantasies. British author Lynne Reid Banks (no relation to Jane and Michael) created The Indian in the Cupboard, and by means of an antique cupboard he brought us back to 1761 and the Iroquois nation, which proves that sometimes antiques do serve as time machines! In the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears, furniture frames the narrative: three beds and three chairs; in Vincent Van Gogh's paintings of two chairs, we glimpse the souls of two tormented artists: Van Gogh and his friend, Paul Gauguin. Both in art and in life, furniture can reveal our personalities long after we leave the room! 

In early April, BBC Radio 3 ran a week-long series by novelist Ian Sansom called "The Essay: Furniture: A Personal History of Movable Objects." I didn't listen to the series on the radio; I read a summary in The BBC News Magazine. Okay, true confession, Joe found the article online, printed it, and left it on the kitchen table where all important papers are placed for morning review! Joe knows me so well! He knows that furniture matters to me because I am convinced it not only shapes our living space, it reveals our heart and soul. In the words of Ian Sansom: "All furniture communicates meaning ... A bed speaks of our inner lives ... Our cupboards and cabinets imply secrets. Wardrobes suggest our dreams of other worlds. And tables invite company." Joe and I obviously agree with Sansom because we purchased three round tables from the seller of our Maine house in order to be ready to entertain our summer guests as soon as possible. Whether it's in the kitchen, dining room or sun-room, we simply love to gather around the table with family and friends to discuss the world as we know it and to imagine all the ways we would like to change it! Of course, before you can engage in a round table discussion, you have to invite people to sit at your table. In Maine, Joe and I hope to welcome lots of people, and for that specific reason there is an old, half table in the entry with a glass vase, usually filled with flowers, and my Aunt Estelle's candy dish, ideally filled with chocolate. This antique table was there before we arrived; it greeted us so warmly that we decided to stay! And we asked to purchase the table with the house! Some things just go together: a coke and a smile; a table and a hallway!

A few weeks after moving into our house on Washington Street, Joe and I made one more significant purchase. On a rainy day we drove north to Wiscasset and stopped at the Avalon Antique Market. It seemed like the Maine thing to do! Within minutes of entering the store, I spied a walnut dresser with four drawers, and it called my name. On closer inspection, Joe found a metal tag on the back with the etching B. Altman & Company. As a native New Yorker, I recognized the name as a synonym for high society. (B. Altman was a gentile New York City department store that enjoyed a long and stellar run from 1865 to 1989 before it was forced to close because of hard times.) On that same rainy day on Bath Road, we also found an antique mirror, circa 1815, with two small drawers and a delicate shell inlay, and since the mirror complimented the dresser beautifully, we decided to buy both pieces for the master bedroom. With the dresser and mirror in place, the bedroom began to look more like us. If dressing mirrors could speak, I suspect they would have Disney tales to tell, and more than a few Olivia Pope scandals to whisper! Just imagine!

 Wherever our life's journey takes us, we are all looking for a good place to sit; a place to drink sweet tea in the summer and hot chocolate in the winter; a place with a soft cushion.  If only our furniture could talk, it would tell you how happy Joe and I are to be at home on Washington Street! 

Follow the Signs

Every day on my way home from work I pass a store front on Madison Avenue (Oak Park, not New York City) that's called "It's A Sign." Today is a Friday in April, and I teach high school seniors, so when I passed by "It's A Sign" at 4 p.m., I couldn't help but wish that the next sign would say "Historic Bath Exit." Of course, the next sign at Harlem Avenue is a left turn signal pointing towards the Eisenhower Expressway! Despite Chicago traffic, this girl Friday can dream of lazy days, and I find myself thinking about all the signs that remind me of Bath Time. There's a rhythm in and around Bath: quick, quick, slow; quick, quick, slow. I can feel that beat like the children of River City in "Music Man" feel the music of  Beethoven's Minuet in G Major, and I can practically channel Professor Harold Hill when I try to "think Bath" while I sit in traffic. But winter, spring, summer or fall, I hum a happy tune and tap the steering wheel with afternoon delight whenever I think about the places I love to visit in Bath. The best music man ever, Robert Preston, convinced us we could play the music if we could think it. I agree! Here's how Bath looks from the corner of Madison and Harlem in Oak Park, Illinois.

On a weekday morning, I like to stroll down Lambard Street to the Starlight Cafe for a quick breakfast to go. My favorite order is a cup of coffee with a raspberry white chocolate scone, and I usually take that sack of sweet energy straight across the street to the picnic table next to the Customs House. From that viewpoint, I can see the cars turning off the Sagadahoc Bridge on to Front Street. I can also see the Bath Freight Shed, the home of Bath's Farmers Market during the winter, and the home of Maine's First Ship, a reconstruction project that teaches the science of shipbuilding to students as it reconstructs the pinnace Virginia, the first ship built in North America  in 1607. If you want to feel the quick, quick, slow beat of Maine's Cool Little City, the Customs House picnic table is a sweet spot to enjoy both breakfast and Bath.

In summer the beat slows on a Saturday morning so everyone can leisurely fill their green sacks with fresh vegetables, fruit, bread and flowers at the Farmers Market. Shopping at the market at Waterfront Park is a perfectly lovely way to spend a morning. It's the unofficial meeting place for friends, neighbors and the librarians from the Patten Free library. I was surprised to see the library's two leading historians in line for the very same blueberry-lemon scones I wake up early for on Saturday mornings. It seems Robin, Peter and I have more than a love for history in common! There's a baker at Bath's Farmers Market who has perfected the blueberry-lemon combination, and if you happen to arrive late, you will leave disappointed because made in Maine blueberry-lemon scones disappear before 10 o'clock.

The Bath signs that I tend to see most vividly suggest flavor as well as rhythm. Thank goodness I would rather walk than drive, and sometimes I even prefer to run, especially along the river, because I tend to eat a lot when I'm in Bath, and the menus around the city are both trendy and tempting. One of my all time favorite places is Mae's Cafe. For lunch, I recommend the Norma Jean turkey sandwich with cranberry chutney. It is Marilyn Monroe beautiful! And on my way out, I usually buy a chocolate chip cookie for the road. I don't think it's wise to leave without one. The cookies are big, but they are light and easy to carry! And according to Scott, my daughter's boyfriend, the Eggs Benedict at Mae's are the best he has ever eaten! It's no wonder "Meet Me at Mae's" has become such a popular expression in and around Bath!

 At day's end my feet want to take me to Solo Bistro to dine at an upbeat, sophisticated restaurant where the food is farm fresh and the simple, crisp atmosphere reminds you of Denmark. The owners of this upscale Bistro, Pia and Will Neilson, have brought sparkle to downtown Bath. Pia is Danish, and perhaps her Danish roots add a unique boldness to the Bistro's French and American flavors. The cocktails, by the way, are outstanding. Solo Bistro introduced my husband to St. Germaine, and it is now and ever shall be his cocktail of choice! He ordered it in Paris, and he thought the French made it well, but not as well as the bartender at Solo Bistro. Coming from Joe, a man of discerning taste, that is a huge compliment! Without a doubt, Solo Bistro has become our special occasion place in Bath. Our daughter, Katie, recently celebrated her birthday there. She too finds the specialty cocktails extraordinary! What better way to say cheers to life and love! Let's eat, drink and be happy in Bath. All we have to do is follow the signs and "Think Bath."

You Can Get There From Here

Bath has forever altered the stereotypical, Maine phrase "You can't get there from here." I witnessed this change last summer at the Heritage Days' Parade. Scattered among the colorful floats and marching bands, I spied banners waving with the bold statement: "You Can Get There From Here." At first, the banners confused me. Where did we all want to go? But then I understood the clever play on words. For me, those bold banners were proof positive that Bath is Maine's Cool Little City because you really can get there from here. Portland's international airport is only 45 minutes away, and its fleet of jets are ready to take you across the country or across the sea. Truth be told, within weeks of moving into my house on Washington Street, I met people from Great Britain and Colombia; from Ohio and New Jersey; from Virginia and Alabama. People really do come from all over to live in this city on the Kennebec. Bath's inviting Main Street encourages people from everywhere to talk with each other, and it is through their lively conversation that life's lessons are shared and spirits are lifted. Bath is a community of travelers, and that is why I feel so at home here!

My good friend Joni loves a Bowdoin polar bear!

As the earth beneath our feet turns soft for the first time in months, it's a good time to travel. Recently, I attended a College Board workshop in Melrose Park, Illinois, which is definitely not an exotic destination, but my experience there is worth sharing because the presenter, Dr. Gustavo Fares, a native of Argentina, made a Maine connection. Dr. Fares was showing us helpful internet sites when he highlighted "Grammar Book (Bowdoin) on line," but he had trouble pronouncing "Bowdoin," and no one seemed to understand his reference to the work of Dr. Enrique Yepes, a Spanish professor at Bowdoin, so I raised my hand and said that Bowdoin College was in Brunswick, Maine. In a lecture hall filled with language teachers, it seemed like I had just spoken a foreign language, but then a few teachers from Michigan nodded in recognition, and I sighed with relief. At that moment I felt oddly protective of all things made in Maine, including on line grammar books! Since Brunswick and Bath are next door neighbors, and both cities are home to fabulous Bed and Breakfasts, I believe everyone who loves to travel should know where both of these northern lights are located! Most foreign language teachers love to travel, and I am no exception. I left the workshop that afternoon and went straight home to pack for my next trip. Joe and I left for Paris that evening!

The Pont St. Louis in Paris

From Bath Time to Paris Time is a five hour flash forward in a "Back to the Future" kind of way. While Paris is five hours ahead of Bath, the historical landscape of Paris swiftly transports you to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance or the French Revolution. You can feel the influence of King Louis XV and Napoleon as well as the inspiration of Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Ernest Hemingway, too. Now I know why Monet, Renoir and Pablo Picasso preferred to paint in Paris! Seven days in Paris is like seven days in a magnificent time machine, and to echo the words of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca: "We will always have Paris." The City of Light is simply enchanting with its Gothic palaces and towering cathedrals as well as spectacular museums like the Louvre, the Rodin and my absolute favorite, l'Orangerie, but for me the bridges are the most unforgettable part of Paris, especially the Pont Louis Philippe and the Pont St. Louis. From these two romantic bridges, which link the right bank to the little island and the big island in the Seine, you can see the spires of Notre Dame by day and the lights of the Eiffel Tower at night.  Of course, the views always seem more beautiful when you're holding hands! Rivers and bridges seem to bring us together as they take us from here to there! In my mind's eye, rivers connect Paris and Bath. The Seine and the Kennebec both offer breathtaking views on a starlit night. 

Omaha Beach, Normandy

The American cemetery, Normandy

During our stay in France, Joe and I left Paris only once to travel to the coast of Normandy. It was our sixth day in France, and the 29th Infantry Division had arranged a tour for us because Joe's dad was one of the lucky ones on D-day. When we arrived at Omaha Beach, I went to put on my L.L. Bean walking shoes and discovered that some Popham Beach sand had traveled with me. Seventy years after American, Canadian and British forces stormed the beaches, grains of sand from across the ocean were still coming to mix with the sand of Normandy. As we stood looking up at the the hills and the concrete bunkers that loomed above us, we could only imagine the terror of June 6, 1944. Later, we visited the American cemetery where we were met by more than 9,000 white crosses with a number of stars of David mixed among them. The marble crosses and stars stand tall in perfectly straight rows as they mark the graves of only 40% of the American servicemen who died fighting for freedom in France. Among the rows there are brothers resting side by side, like the Niland brothers of "Saving Private Ryan" fame. Private Jack Ryan is a fictional character, but Fritz Niland, a German-American from New York, was actually sent home from France after two of his brothers were killed on June 6th and 7th and a third brother was missing in action. While the loss of one son is unimaginable, the U.S. Army felt the loss of four sons would be unbearable. The visitors' center tells so many similar stories of sacrifice. As one scans the field of the American cemetery, the cost of freedom is crystal clear. The words competence, courage and sacrifice echo throughout the monument. Surely, a piece of America's heart is buried in Normandy.  In gratitude, the French government deeded the land for the American cemetery to the United States in perpetuity. It is a fitting tribute for so many young men of valor.

The Luxembourg Garden, St.- Germain, Paris

On our last evening in Paris, Joe and I ran along the Seine River and over the bridge to Ile St. Louis, and I wore my Seguin Island T-shirt from the mid-coast of Maine, and I thought about the light houses that have welcomed ships from across the sea to our shores of liberty for hundreds of years. I could only say a prayer, a prayer of thanks for the freedom we enjoy every day and for the young soldiers, airmen and sailors who fought so courageously to preserve it. Because of them, you can get there from here!