Seeing the sign for Freedom, Maine was kind of cool. I mean, I was finally going to visit my first stop and meet new folks. These people would hopefully answer a few questions for me about Freedom and perhaps tell stories about their town for me to run away with and match to the pictures I will take.
Here we go:
First stop in any town will be a cemetery, if I have things my way. It gives me pleasure to ride through the final resting place of the people who formed these tiny hamlets and created farms by digging up the roots and hauling away the remains of huge trees to clear land and cultivate their crops. Feeding families by living off the land has always been a difficult life for farmers, but a very rewarding one in the end.
And there seems to be one monument that just jumps out at me, not because of it's size or ornate detail, but because of the simplicity and the fact that the inscription has everything to do with a military past
And here it is...
OK, back to Freedom, Maine.
Weeks before arriving in this town, I became curious of the annual Freedom Field Day event usually held around the last week of August. Could it be an event that I could go to and experience what the residents of this beautiful little town have the pleasure of going to year after year? I called a phone number that I thought was the town hall, but the call was answered in a farm house right smack-dab across the road from the town cemetery. I spoke with Prentice for a few minutes and explained my curiosity and how I was about to venture out to explore the back roads of America in search for the answers to questions about freedom.
Our conversation was filled with information about the town he and his family lived and farmed in. It made me happy to have dialed a wrong number. After snapping a dozen or so pictures of the cemetery over the course of 15 minutes or so in total silence, due to the lac of traffic on the highway, it was time to head across to the farm and introduce myself.
Seriously? Human contact? Yikes!
Village Farm is an organic farm with a wide variety of products and services.
Go ahead, scroll down to the bottom of their home page to see a video of the chickens coming out of their coop to see what is happening.
The contact page claims: We Welcome Visitors
True as the day is long!
I rode Mozi down the long gravel driveway and met Prentice and his family as well as the summer workers. They had just finished a "Farm Lunch" and asked me if I was hungry or thirsty. I have to tell you, this gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling all over. The fact that a total stranger is invited in for such hospitality was just a bit overwhelming to a guy on a motorcycle who had just balanced a Big Mac and large diet Coke on his gas tank 32 miles ago. I've got to start eating right on this trip.
Anyway, a few scenes of the farm from the lens of my Nikon:
OK, let me explain...The goal on this tour is to document what Americans believe and think about Freedom, right? Without asking a single question about freedom to anyone on this farm, I had to ask myself, how beautiful is this? What a challenging, yet free life is being experienced by the people who till the soil, plant and harvest a variety of grains, vegetables and fruits. Raising livestock and collecting honey from your own hives to nourish your bodies and provide an income which is not so ridiculously regulated as, say, an electrical contractor, motorcycle dealership, manufacturing facility or corporation in a major city.
We are talking Freedom in it's simplest form!
Prentice, thanks for the warm welcome, the farm tour and all of your kindness on the first stop of my adventure.
I continued into town for more detailed exploring of the secrets held between the hills surrounding this community.
Nothing extravagant about mailing a postcard from the road, here. Rest assured there are many conversations, here, of an early frost, a new style of Pizza at Paul's General Store or of a stranger in town on a motorcycle asking a lot of questions about this town and "What does Freedom mean to You?".
All the friendly folks here helped me to understand what they feel about freedom without even asking.
Cynthia is the town clerk and happens to ride a motorcycle too! She also had lots of info for me. When I asked her for the name of someone in town to interview, she did not even hesitate; Steve Cross lives right across the street from the town hall and has been a selectman for more than a dozen years on more than one run in office in this town.
I drove over to Steve and Hazel's house and parked Mozi on the gravel and grass driveway. As I knocked on the door, Steve yelled from a room in the house out of my view,"Come on in." I knocked again, hoping for Steve to greet me and begin a conversation about Freedom. Again, he said," Come on it." I told him the door was locked and he asked me to to come around to the side door. That goes to prove a simple adage. Only city-folks and strangers knock on your front door. Friends knock on the side door or generally just walk in and say hello. Refreshing!
I explained to Steve that I wanted to interview him and ask the questions about Freedom, so he invited me to sit with him at his dining table, while Hazel was busy in another room.
The questioning went something like this:
Question #1, What does Freedom mean to you as an American and as an individual?
Answers:
Steve told me the greatest stories and most wonderful little tidbits of his life, his 68 years of marriage to Hazel, the dairy farm they worked for an endless number of years and the kindness of his neighbors in times of need.
I learned of the Upper Mill, which produced mainly broom handles and assorted items from hardwoods and the Lower Mill, also producing wooden products over the years out of softer woods, mainly planks.
This is the stream that once powered the Upper Mill in a time when plastic had not made it into the broom handle marketplace. The stream then continued to make it's way deeper into town along Main Street to the Lower Mill to produce lumber in real numbers. Can you remember when a 2x4 was actually 2" x 4" and it was rough sawn?
Steve can.
Steve Cross is 89 and sharp as a tack! He is a gentleman and very concerned about the growth of this community. "People move here to enjoy what we have had all of our lives, They come here with their families for a better place to raise their kids. They come here for the peace and simplicity. Then, after a short time, they try to make changes in our town. They have "Ideas" on how to improve things."
Steve and I talked for over an hour and I walked away with a sense of Freedom held in his heart because of this place he has called home for most, if not all of his life. A feeling of freedom that one has if they do not allow themselves to get caught up in the complexities of big city life, filled with professionals who are trained to make your life a little miserable with more rules than your bargained for in the beginning.
Steve, thanks for the hospitality, the instant friendship and honesty that you shared with me.
Historic map of Freedom and neighboring towns including a town just to the south called Liberty, Maine.
Every town seems to have one firetruck more than the station will hold and here it is.
Sandy Pond is a favorite swimming hole.
If I had the time, a gentle canoe trip around the pond would have been nice just as the sun was setting.
Looks like someone's been fishing in a hurry!
As I rode out of town, this sign stuck to my taste buds and I actually stopped long enough to put this date in the calendar of my Blackberry cellphone, just in case I was in the area on Sept 4th from 4:30-6:00!
Mozi on...
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