Inventor's Notes

  "Mountain Names"    By Marjorie Porter

Everything takes place at nine o'clock on a cold, clear, moonless, slightly surreal Friday night in the middle of the deepest part of a northern Maine winter. All is not quite what it seems here in Almost, Maine. Residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected ways in this delightful midwinter night's dream.

We are not a family that does just one sport so if we aren't downhill skiing, we are snowshoeing, ice skating or cross-country skiing.

"Ski Soldiers Have Anti-Tank, Machine Guns Here With Them"January 10, 1941—A new contingent of 26th U.S. Infantry ski troops started training at Placid this week and may be seen in action on the slopes and trails each day under Rolf Monsen, instructor. This week's soldier group has been augmented by a special detachment, all of which are completely equipped with combat equipment, consisting of packs, rifles, side arms, machine and anti-tank guns for actual winter war maneuvers under snow conditions.

It may not exactly look like deep winter, but spring is still a long way off and the soil in the gardens is pretty well frozen solid. I've got my seed catalogs out and I'm dreaming of fresh, local food. I'm thankful that my root cellar is still very full and keeping relatively well. But I wondered what else is to be found in the North Country on the "back side" of the farming calendar?