You Can Belong In More Than One Place

Rangeley, Maine

Yesterday, I drove north about an hour and half to do two school visits in Madison, Maine.  I spoke at both the junior high and the elementary school.



The second and third graders were very excited about Hot Rod Hamster. As a special surprise, I read them Happy Birthday, Hamster, too.  It was great to see how much they enjoyed it. 

And I loved this lobster trap that one of the third grade classes made me. Each lobster has a word about Touch Blue written on it. It's perfect that the lobster on the front says "HOME." 



I was thinking about that word as I carried this trap out to my car. And I was remembering how Tess tells Aaron that you can belong in more than one place. 

After my school visit I had almost four hours to wait. DDG Booksellers, one of my favorite Maine independent bookstores was celebrating their 20th Anniversary with a party last night.  It didn't make sense to go home between the events, so I looked at my Maine Road Atlas and decided to take an adventure to pass the time.  "I'll go to Rangeley," I decided.

Rangeley is where Aaron lived right before coming to the island in Touch Blue. It's a beautiful area in the western mountains of Maine. The drive over included lots of farms and rushing rivers and ski areas and grand old mountain hotels. 

 

 

And roads running through deep woods with . . .

  He was a young moose. I didn't see an adult nearby, so I think he was newly on his own. 

About 10 miles later, I saw another moose!  The photo isn't very good, but when I stopped to get my camera out, he headed back to the woods so this is the only photo I got.

 It's always exciting to see a moose.  I did drive extra cautiously after I saw them, though.

One of the things that amused me with Touch Blue is that Aaron was called an "urban" kid in a couple of reviews. 

Um, no.  THIS is Rangeley!



Rangeley is famous for skiing, snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, hiking, rafting, kayaking, and swatting the black flies!

 

But here's what Aaron misses.



In Touch Blue, Tess promises when lobstering slows down, she is sure her dad will take Aaron back to those mountains for a visit.  

Looking around me yesterday, it felt like he did that.