Maine made Christmas presents.
Something not from across the pond or with a “made in China” sticker on the bottom. Low tech not high tech and made in Maine. When you think something unique to Maine, what comes to mind? Christmas tree or wreath to be part of your holiday tradition? Or presents with something from LL Bean? Maybe a wild Maine blueberry scented candle or pie or jar of jam?
Maine is famous for it’s lobsters, variety of fish from pulled in from deep in the sea.
With all this coastline, 228 miles but 3,478 miles of inlets, coves, harbors and other watery hide aways, Maine fresh shellfish is part of a lot of Christmas celebrations.
Growing up oyster stew, shrimp cocktail or crab melts all showed up on the Christmas Day or Eve tradition. If you were born and raised along the coast of Maine, seafood of all types could be a regular meal time staple. Digging for clams, shucking oysters, cracking lobster legs and filet of all kinds of native fish.
Chances are someone you are related to has a commercial fishing license or back in the family tree did.
Or you run a boat heading out to sea and are born for the salt air and sea swells as you head out of the harbor in search of a big catch.
Further inland, up into the belly of Maine and away from Boston, traveling to interior Maine. The holiday meal time Christmas celebration is pulled from old tattered and fade recipe cars. Gooseberry and mince meat pies. After hearty farmstead country style servings of vegetables of all kinds.
Venison from hunting season and pulling from root cellars for bread and butter pickles.
Deviled eggs, sticky sweet cinnamon buns and trays of home made sweets. Thinking about losing weight? Not during the holiday season in Maine. The feast is part of the one size fits all Christmas present the entire family enjoys. The big fat evergreen fir or pine tree in the living room corner is loaded down too. With fragile, precious decorations from Christmas past.
Photos of your brother or sister glued behind colored construction paper hanging on the boughs with multi color twinkling lights.
The power of a Christmas tree ornament you inherited from the growing up collection is immense. Memories and reminders of family members are spiked from these tree decorations enjoyed as a child. Throwing money at new flashy decorations is not needed when you hang on to and cherish these Christmas family ornaments.
This year’s tree hunted down, cut fresh and straight from your own land out behind your house.
Christmas of yesteryear in rural Maine was not determined by how far into debt you went to pull it off on December 25th.
Home made hand knit mittens, sweaters, scarves. Carefully stitched quilted blankets worked on earlier in the year completed just in time to wrap up and slide under the family Christmas tree.
Practical gifts purchased with lots of thought because you remember the family member saying they wished they had this or that item. Money manged better when less of it to spend. Because of how hard it was to earn and save.
Thought and time put into what paper to use wrapping the gift up not parked by the tree in a gift bag with only tissue paper concealing it.
And the stockings as big a deal as the presents carefully wrap, ribbon and bowed under the Maine Christmas tree. Did you start first with the Christmas stockings?
How do you start the opening up of the wrapped presents in your home growing up? Free for all every man for himself? Or oldest or youngest goes first and then rotate around the room? Waiting for the grandparents to arrive and quite a breakfast spread served up first? Growing up in Maine…
Did you leave cookies and milk, a carrot for Santa?
Elf on a shelf and family parties, watching the same old Christmas films? Was there a Christmas Eve service in your holiday celebration? When did you stop traveling and started having Christmas celebrations in your own home? It is all about having yourself a Merry little Christmas with the ones you love.
Enjoying the child made gifts from school. Remembering when who made them had that small of hands and was lower to the ground. Home made items, decorations hand strung, Christmas cards taped around a doorway, putting on a feast of sweets and no one possibly able to go hungry.
A lot of the Christmas celebration one of gratitude like the Merle Haggard song “If we make it through December”.
Knowing despite it all, you and I are luckier than most.
Reaching out to help ringing the Salvation Army kettle bell. Knowing what families or individuals are suffering this holiday season. Doing anything possible to make things brighter for them. No doubt you know of some family where Christmas is not going to be so easy this season because of a loss. The hole, the missing family member that won’t be part of the Christmas celebration.
Delivering a cut, split cord of wood to help with the heat.
The Amish in my area have every Thursday designated as community day. Taking turns delivering the labor, materials and services needed to keep every household a float. Not a check from Uncle Sam for relief. A helping hand and a strong back the Christmas gift given all year long. Not just at the tail end of days marked on the kitchen wall calendar.
Getting off the couch, replacing feeling sorry for yourself with fresh air, outdoor scenery going for a walk in the woods. You never know what you will find hidden in the back forty acres of a Maine farm property.
Maine made gifts for Christmas.
What items did you shop for on your list this year? Books, magazine subscriptions, movie tickets, museum passes and donations to local libraries, the animal shelters, food pantries. Know anyone in your community that needs a warm winter coat? That has no winter boats, hat, scarf and mittens or gloves? There are so many private ways to brighten someone else’s Christmas to secondary gain your own.
Thank you for following our Me In Maine blog posts through out the year and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |
MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA