The Maine Thing

Life in the Pine Tree State

One month down, one more to go. This is the longest I have lived anywhere besides Teaneck since moving there from Queens in 1981. So, what is Portland like, and how do I like living here?  A few impressions:

1. The people are way too nice.

And I don’t mean in a sugary, superficial way. They’re just really friendly, and courteous to a fault – especially at intersections. It’s refreshing for a girl who was New York born-and-bred.

2. The people are way too hearty.

They stereotypically like rugged outdoor sports, chopping wood and sailing the open sea. And I know I’ve come to hate the cold much more as I’ve gotten older, but really … shorts in below-freezing weather? What are these Mainers made of?

3. The people are relatively few in number.

The city’s population is 64,000, with the greater Portland area coming in at 230,000. This may account in large part for #1 above, but it is striking to me how sparsely populated this area is compared to where I’ve lived before. Even shopping in downtown Freeport on Black Friday was a casual and uncrowded experience with no flared tempers or aggressive bargain hunters. Snap!

 4. The city is not too big, not too small, but just right.

It’s a perfect Goldilocks setting. Nothing is more than a few minutes away in downtown, or maybe at most a 10-minute drive on the highway. Its pace is slower than the big city, yet it has a vibrant and eclectic cultural scene with concerts, museums and restaurants to suit every taste. I could work for the bureau of tourism, except …

5. It’s too damn cold!

Not that that’s a surprise, of course, but it’s a bone-chilling, windy and sometimes damp cold that penetrates deeply and takes some doing to undo. If I lived here permanently, I would have to buy a whole new wardrobe – for both indoors and out – just to survive. As it is, I did buy a new long-ish down parka with furry hood that promises to protect in 0° to 20°F. And it does! Good thing too, because …

6. Portland is further north than NYC

And, as it turns out, Vienna is further north still! OW! While NYC is at 40°N latitude, Portland is at 43°. Vienna sits at a whopping 48°! I did know, honestly I did, that I wasn’t moving there for the climate, but this might present a bit of a challenge. Especially when I have to start hearing weather reports in Celsius, where freezing (32°F) is called 0°, and this morning’s temperature in Portland would be equivalent to a shocking -15°!

7. I like Pete’s Place

My brother has a really cool two-storey loft apartment with eye-appealing angles and surfaces, including a spiral staircase. It’s both cozy and spacious at the same time, and because we are such agreeable people  ‘-)  we’ve been having no trouble living together this past month. (Can’t say what he’ll be thinking after another month, though!) I’ve visited him often over the 25+ years that he’s lived in Maine, but this is the first time that I’ve actually had to learn the geography and get myself around, and I’ve quite enjoyed it.

All in all, the Portland experience has been just great, and a perfect interlude on my journey to Vienna. I never really expected I’d be idle for these two months, but it is surprising how many, many tasks and details I still must attend to before I leave. Fortunately, my list-making skills were well honed before leaving Teaneck, and they are definitely serving me well these days.

And while thankfully it’s a far, far cry from homelessness, there is a strange sense of not really having a home. I no longer have an address in New Jersey, my stay here in Portland is temporary, and my residence in Vienna is still only a future destination. It gives me the sense of being in a canoe, paddling my way down a river and navigating the rapids – knowing that there’s a waterfall to traverse and calmer waters  ahead, but they’re still out of reach.