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| Irene Drago, the creator of Bath Time |
Three years ago I started writing Bath Time Society to
stay connected to a place I hoped to call home as soon as I retired from
teaching in Chicago. Yesterday, for the first time in twenty years, I missed the
back-to-school teacher’s meeting. It’s official. I am truly retired, and I am living
in Bath, Maine! Not to be overly dramatic (which I can be), today feels like
the first day of the rest of my life, and it feels like the right time to
introduce myself to the thousands of online readers who have opened up my blog and spied
my personal view of this Cool Little City without even knowing my name. Obviously,
the absence of a by-line was deliberate. Teachers sometimes prefer anonymity! They
are often identified by students and their parents at restaurants, movie
theaters, hair salons, airports, train stations, and countless other public
places, and that kind of recognition doesn’t always lend itself to free-spirited
fun. But even teachers have personal lives, and they have feelings
they want to share.
Last Sunday I met a woman who asked me if we had ever met
before. When I said no, she asked me if I wrote a column because my face looked so familiar. I paused and then I said, “I write a blog about Bath, and sometimes I show up in a picture or two." She smiled. "That's it! I read your blog. My
name is Carol.” And I quickly replied, “My name is
Irene Drago. It’s nice to meet you, Carol.” Since Carol did not tell me her last name
(maybe she’s a teacher), I cannot give her the full credit she deserves for
identifying the anonymous Bath blogger, but I would like to thank her because later
that day she wrote a sweet comment on my blog, and that was a random act of
kindness!
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| Bryanna, the dreamer of Kindness Day, & I |
Today, August 19, 2017, Bath celebrated its fourth
Kindness Day. I vividly remember the first one on August 16, 2014. Seeing all that love on Front Street inspired me to write a blog post, and 116 people chose to read it. For
a blog that was only six-months old, that was a big number! In fact, it was only the
second post to be opened by more than 100 people! The data clearly showed
that love was an appealing topic. The only other post that had reached that level of popularity was “Love in the time of Bath,” the Valentine's Day story. Three years
later, there seems to be a shortage of love around the world and people are craving it more than ever. That was evident by the people in line today to paint a Midcoast Maine Rock with hope, or pat a pet, or pick a free flower to carry home. I'm grateful that Bath is still blessed with gallons of love!
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| Megan Shea and Olivia Shipsey at the Mustard Seed's opening |
In February of 2015, six months
after the first Kindness Day, the Mustard Seed opened its doors on Front Street in the wake of two blizzards. Miraculously, my flight from Chicago
landed safely at Logan Airport, and I was able to attend the grand opening of Maine’s newest Indie bookstore. Of course, all that positive energy inspired me to write a blog post:
“Blizzard or not, Here We Come!” Almost 600 people read my account of the
Mustard Seed’s opening. That was a record-breaking number! Despite all odds, a new place to discover and
discuss books had opened in Bath, and from that little seed a new appreciation for
stories of every kind would start to grow. This summer, thanks to Julie
Shea, Susan Shipsey, and the Mustard Seed’s talented staff, scores of children enjoyed looking for Waldo in the shops along Front Street as part of the
30th anniversary celebration of Where’s
Waldo? My granddaughters were too young to participate, but I
purchased an anniversary edition of Where’s
Waldo? for their future reading pleasure!
I have always believed that readers
and writers can make magic together. If you need proof, look inside the Patten
Free Library on Summer Street! It’s a castle on a hill, and it’s easy to dream
there. Across the street there’s the Library Book Store, and just a few doors
down there’s another gem, the Open Door Bookstore, where vintage and antique
books are treasured and sold. I love the fact that words are valued here, and I love to write here. In Bath, I can imagine characters,
set them down on a blank sheet of paper, and breath life into them. This Cool Little City on the Kennebec is the right place to write a story.
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| Kristine Wagstaff and Nikki Giglia |
Yesterday, I approved the digital
proof for my first novel. Next week, I hope to receive the first printed copy for a final review. If all goes as planned, Daughters
of Long Reach will be launched at the Mustard Seed in mid-October. Bath’s rich
maritime history has inspired my writing, and so have the artists, historians, business
owners and teachers that I have met here. As fate and Bath would have it, I was introduced to Maine Authors Publishing, a dynamic group of authors, editors,
designers and publicists, at the Mustard Seed, and again at their booth in Library Park during Bath Heritage Days! MAP is a small press based in Thomaston, Maine, and without their help, my
novel would still be a work in progress. I have learned that writing does not have to be a solitary experience. There's a reason why team and dream are rhyming words!
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| Darreby Ambler, the founder of Dream Teams |
In all my writing about Bath, there’s a
recurring theme. It’s really a Disney theme: “A dream is a wish your heart makes.” As
I relinquish my anonymity, and I prepare to release my first novel, I am reminded of Bath’s Kindness Day. Four years ago a junior in
high school, Bryanna, proposed a community-wide act of kindness, and with the
help of Darreby Ambler, the founder of Dream
Teams, and the leadership of Morse High School's Dream Team, the impossible became inevitable. That’s the power of good, and that’s one
more proof that dreams can and do come true.
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| Painting kindness on Midcoast Rocks |
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| Love is stronger than anything |
