Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Terra Incognita
Maine is a polar opposite of Derby, in more ways than one. We are almost exactly 180 degrees of longitude around the globe, and 30 degrees closer to the pole. (“Dig a Hole to China " in Stonington, and you come out halfway between Perth and Antarctica.) Tuesday night we arrived here in the dark, after a 9 hour drive, the last 2 hours down icy back roads. Maine had a huge snowstorm the day before, with up to 2 feet of snow in the northern part of the state. It has been cold and windy. When we arrived we walked around the town a bit looking for a hot cup of tea, and felt frozen after 10 minutes. It was hard to see much in the dark. But when we opened the curtains at the Inn on the Harbor Wednesday morning, this is what we saw:
Relocating to Maine has been a leap of faith. It’s been a bit scary, but this type of leap is also something we've already done several times this year, so it’s a familiar scariness. I don’t know any other doctors who have signed up to join a long term practice without ever physically visiting the community. More importantly, I don’t know any whose spouses would willingly decide to settle someplace they have never been. But Vicki has always wanted to live on the Maine coast, and this opportunity has just seemed to “click” into place, ever since the recruiter put us onto it. We learned a lot about the community in advance from the videoconference last June, and over the Internet. But it’s great to finally be here on the ground and meet everyone in person. 
One of the best things to fall into place is our accommodation. A retired local doctor and his wife have gone to South Africa for a year or so and kindly rented their brand new house to us, until we can find a place of our own. This place is only a mile out of town, on a beautiful forested point, overlooking a rocky cove. It is so quiet and peaceful here. At night, the only sounds are the wind in the trees, and an occasional sound of the foghorns in the distance. The other evening, a red fox walked across the snowy front yard, 15 feet away from the dining room window.
Wednesday Vicki and I joined the staff of Island Family Medicine for their annual holiday luncheon, sponsored by the local Community Board.
When I walked into the office, the manager greeted me with a hug and the exclamation “You really are real!” One of the board members introduced himself as “your first patient, for 8 AM on January 3rd”. The Island Medical Clinic Board is currently adding space and remodeling our office. There are workmen everywhere running saws and placing drywall. It’s really great to see the community having ownership of the medical services on the island, and I’m looking forward to working with them.
Vicki and I are now homemaking again. In the last year we deconstructed and sold our Cedar Rapids household; organized and "decorated" the house for our holidays in Florida; cleaned and arranged in our first house in Derby; and then cleaned, furnished, painted, repaired and decorated our final home in Derby. We are getting pretty good at this, although we agree we are tired of setting up house. We both feel ready to settle down for a long time.
In the meantime, our daughters have both arrived this week and we retrieved Vicki’s mom from north central Maine where she has been visiting her sister and other family. We Christmas shopped and visited L.L. Bean to buy warm clothing and thermal underwear. We found a Christmas tree and the girls decorated it with paper cranes and an origami star. The snow is melting a bit, but today the sky is blue, and the sun shines on the deep green water. Everyone here has been very kind and welcoming. Our faith in the kindness of strangers is reaffirmed, this Christmas Eve.
Relocating to Maine has been a leap of faith. It’s been a bit scary, but this type of leap is also something we've already done several times this year, so it’s a familiar scariness. I don’t know any other doctors who have signed up to join a long term practice without ever physically visiting the community. More importantly, I don’t know any whose spouses would willingly decide to settle someplace they have never been. But Vicki has always wanted to live on the Maine coast, and this opportunity has just seemed to “click” into place, ever since the recruiter put us onto it. We learned a lot about the community in advance from the videoconference last June, and over the Internet. But it’s great to finally be here on the ground and meet everyone in person. 
One of the best things to fall into place is our accommodation. A retired local doctor and his wife have gone to South Africa for a year or so and kindly rented their brand new house to us, until we can find a place of our own. This place is only a mile out of town, on a beautiful forested point, overlooking a rocky cove. It is so quiet and peaceful here. At night, the only sounds are the wind in the trees, and an occasional sound of the foghorns in the distance. The other evening, a red fox walked across the snowy front yard, 15 feet away from the dining room window.
Wednesday Vicki and I joined the staff of Island Family Medicine for their annual holiday luncheon, sponsored by the local Community Board.
When I walked into the office, the manager greeted me with a hug and the exclamation “You really are real!” One of the board members introduced himself as “your first patient, for 8 AM on January 3rd”. The Island Medical Clinic Board is currently adding space and remodeling our office. There are workmen everywhere running saws and placing drywall. It’s really great to see the community having ownership of the medical services on the island, and I’m looking forward to working with them.
Vicki and I are now homemaking again. In the last year we deconstructed and sold our Cedar Rapids household; organized and "decorated" the house for our holidays in Florida; cleaned and arranged in our first house in Derby; and then cleaned, furnished, painted, repaired and decorated our final home in Derby. We are getting pretty good at this, although we agree we are tired of setting up house. We both feel ready to settle down for a long time.In the meantime, our daughters have both arrived this week and we retrieved Vicki’s mom from north central Maine where she has been visiting her sister and other family. We Christmas shopped and visited L.L. Bean to buy warm clothing and thermal underwear. We found a Christmas tree and the girls decorated it with paper cranes and an origami star. The snow is melting a bit, but today the sky is blue, and the sun shines on the deep green water. Everyone here has been very kind and welcoming. Our faith in the kindness of strangers is reaffirmed, this Christmas Eve.
