September.

It’s time to put the bouquet of pencils on my big teacher’s desk that sits in front of the blackboard framed with posters and poems and a few “Ojos de Dios” made by students who have long since graduated. September always brings me back to school, to Room 23 on the west side of Chicago. I am not in Bath anymore, and I could feel sad about that, or I could feel refreshed by all that salt air I breathed in so deeply while I listened to music by the dock at Waterfront Park. I choose to be happy. Besides, I am a teacher, and it’s good to be back at school. I have a lot of work to do to convince those sophomores that speaking Spanish is helpful if you want to build peace around the world. I’m also busy writing letters of recommendation for the seniors so they can go to college next year and learn how to fly. In September, I wake up at 5:30 a.m. with Spanish on my mind, and I am ready to face my wide-eyed students when the school bell rings at 8 o’clock, but for at least a minute of every hour I find myself thinking mainly about Maine! I wonder where all the Delphiniums, Daisies, and Dahlias have gone? In June, July and August, I hurried to Bath’s Farmers' Market every Saturday morning to buy some of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen from Linda Mercer, the fair lady from Sheepscot Flower Farm. And like Eliza Doolittle, I felt so pretty when I carried flowers home in my basket.  It’s surprising how good one feels after shopping at a Farmers’ Market, and it’s those summer surprises that I will remember all through September.

Truth be told, my husband gave me my first surprise in early July. As a teacher, I was free to stay in Bath and play all summer long, but Joe occasionally had to return to Chicago to work. Knowing that I would miss him, Joe left a package under my pillow before he departed for the first time. When I went to bed that night, I found a note and a bottle of Chanel No. 5. Joe is the only man who has ever bought me Chanel. I think it reminds him of Paris, and that is lovely because we saw Paris together! The next morning I went downstairs and opened a kitchen cabinet to grab a box of cereal, but instead
I found a second package. This one was a small glass jar topped with a yellow silk flower. Inside the jar was a dozen colorful hair ties, and a note from Joe suggested I wear them on my morning runs. He also told me to enjoy my cornflakes and banana. He knows me so well! Joe has always had to travel for work, and we have learned how to connect despite the geography that sometimes separates us. Believe it or not, the U.S. Postal Service still helps people in love. Just when time apart seemed to be getting too long, I would hear a swoosh of mail slide through the slot in our front door, and sure enough there would be mail from Joe, a real letter written on a piece of stationery, and there were usually newspaper clippings attached. The articles, which discussed everything from gardening to antiques, were always interesting to both Joe and I. We were together in thought all summer long, and after 35 years of marriage that is amazing!

When the school bell rings at 2:20, and my period 10 class exits the room, I like to sit for just a minute to collect my thoughts. Those thoughts turn to Washington Street quite often, and I have to laugh because my classroom in Oak Park faces Washington Boulevard. I must have a natural affinity for American history and architecture! Oak Park was once the playground of Frank Lloyd Wright, a famous American architect born in the middle of the 19th century. And as fate and luck would have it, Bath was once the playground for several 19^th century architects. In 1843, Anthony C. Raymond designed the Winter Street Church, a Gothic Revival building with a Greek Revival influence; in 1860, Francis Fassett designed the adjoining parish hall in the Italianate style, and decades later his apprentice, also a prominent Bath designer, John Calvin Stevens, made interior alterations to the sanctuary. Whenever I walk along the streets of Bath, I tend to look up at the tall, white steeple of the Winter Street Church, and it never fails to direct my thoughts toward heaven. Today, the Winter Street Church is referred to as as the Winter Street Center (WSC), home of  Sagadahoc Preservation, Inc (SPI). Meeting with SPI’s new director, Lorena Caverly Coffin, was one of summer’s coolest surprises. Lorena is incredibly knowledgeable about architectural preservation, and she is committed to restoring the sanctuary of the WSC to its former glory. Lorena’s passion for preservation stems from her distinguished family tree. Her grandfather, Dr. Herbert Caverly, purchased the Captain Percy House at 702 Washington Street from Captain Percy’s widow after WWII, and subsequently two generations of Caverlys, father and son, made this historic residence their family home and practiced dentistry in a home office. Lorena, is truly a native daughter, destined to identify and treasure the architectural gems of Bath! She is also a loving wife and a mother of two active sons who make her beam with pride. She is likeable in every way, and the short time I spent with her fueled my desire to support SPI. According to Lorena, the SPI’s Blarney Ball is fun disguised as a fundraiser. Joe and I hope to discover that fun next March!
 

Saving historic buildings is a huge undertaking, and I am in awe of what SPI has been able to accomplish since its formation in 1971, but as a classroom teacher, a private on the front line, I am also impressed with the many ways, big and small, Bath’s business owners and their employees have improved the quality of life for Bath residents and visitors alike. For example, the red-haired girl who works at Starlight Cafe is a change maker, and I don’t mean change at the cash register. I have experienced first-hand the effect of her charm. One day in July I entered the cafe looking for my guilty pleasure, a white chocolate raspberry scone. She took my order to go and followed Starlight protocol. In other words, she handed me a brown paper bag and a sheet of waxed paper to choose my scone from the glass jar on the counter. The charming difference was that the paper bag was decorated with rainbows and clouds. She told me some local children offered to decorate some of their brown bags. When I told her I was a teacher, and I was thrilled to have drawings made with crayons on my paper bag, she said she knew I would be pleased with the up-grade. Intuitively, that red-haired girl knew how to treat her customers, and that is a gift. I probably visited the Starlight Cafe more than twice a week during June, July and August. Clearly, I like their muffins and scones, but secretly I like the cashier girl, the cook, and the waitresses, too! By the way, the cook is a master of sarcastic banter; he and I have been known to compete in verbal volleyball!

Sometimes, even in Bath Time, it rains, and that’s when I go to the library.  If you are looking for hidden treasure, Bath’s Patten Free Library will not disappoint you. Galen C. Moses, the son of Bath’s first tinsmith, Oliver Moses, donated the necessary funds to build the library in 1889 and requested that it be named after the Patten family, a family of ship builders who helped insure Bath’s prosperity for generations. George E. Harding, a native of Bath, designed the 19^th century library in the Romanesque style. The artistic additions that were added years later in 1961 and 1998 underline Bath’s commitment to art and education, and the park that surrounds the library extends the space for exploring both nature and culture in perfect harmony. During the summer, I could hear live music at the gazebo on Tuesday and Friday nights, and I could also admire the bronze statues that show the heart of Bath. Most tourists are drawn to the fountain, the Spirit of The Sea, by the famous sculptor William Zorach, but I prefer the smaller statue near the entrance of the library: two children sitting on a bench reading. A three dimensional sculpture can truly capture the value of a library! Free of charge, young and old can find pleasure at the Patten Free Library. On one rainy day, I was able to check out  a priceless book, All Available Boats, by Mike Magee, M.D., and I was able to order Questions About Angels, an anthology of poems, by Billy Collins, through the inter-library system. Neither of these books are presently on a best sellers list, but both were written by fellow alumni of the College of the Holy Cross, and I highly recommend them. The first chronicles the rescue of 300,000 people from the island of Manhattan on September 11 by volunteer boat captains who answered the call, and the second is brilliant poetry from the pen of a renowned poet laureate. Good libraries are a blessing, and the Patten Free Library is fabulous!

The 1889 Romanesque part of the Patten Free Library 

For ten weeks of summer I was not in school, but the community of Bath made sure I kept learning!