Notes from Maine - 2024/11/03

Hope you had a Happy Halloween. It was a quiet evening here. Usually, a group of friends comes over on Thursdays and we go out to eat. But they all live in neighborhoods with kids, and everyone had to stay at home to distribute candy. I’ve had one trick-or-treater here in my 20+ years. Seeing my light on, a neighbor stopped by with their little kid on the way home. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be a great place to stop. The density of candy stops is incredibly low around me, so I’m sure that people head into town where they can cruise an easy neighborhood. 

Without visitors, I watched a movie. For a brief moment, I considered going out to get takeout for dinner, but the feeling faded fast. If it’s just me, I would rather have my normal dinner and not have to call in an order and put on shoes. 

Today, I’m tracking the progress of my mother as she makes her way up the coast. She was just here a couple of weeks ago, but she’s coming back! I was talking with her the other day and she was lamenting the idea that I was going to toss a bunch of kitchen stuff that’s in storage.

“I wish I was there to go through that stuff,” she said. “Some of it is probably still useful.”

I reminded her that my brother was going to be driving up from her house and passing within a mile of mine. If she wanted to come up, there was no reason not to hitch a ride with him. After a moment of deliberation, she agreed. I’m glad she knows that she’s always welcome, even if she was just here a few weeks ago. There’s plenty of room here, and I know she enjoys finding projects to do. As I sit here in the kitchen, I can look around and see at least a dozen things that Mom has worked on. It’s nice.

In a couple of weeks, my friends will have their annual pre-Thanksgiving party. For decades, the party took place here every year. In the past four years, it has only been here once. Chip was here the other day, dropping off another broken pinball machine and I spotted him glancing around, assessing the house to be sure that it would be ready for the party. I have a couple more things to finish up in the kitchen, but it should be serviceable. The dining room is messy with outdated kitchen stuff that needs to be sorted, but it’s a manageable quantity. I don’t have upper cabinets yet, but those will mostly hold dishes, which would be in use for the party anyway.

Space might be the biggest issue this year. I will probably move around the furniture to set up a folding table or two in the living room. Since the last big party, this house has become infested with pinball machines. Fortunately, pre-Thanksgiving is Chip’s party, and coincidentally he’s the one who has brought all these pinball machines to my house. If space is an issue because of the pinball machines, he has nobody to blame but himself (and me, of course!).

I’ll be interested to observe how the kitchen holds up to the stress of too many cooks and tons of diners. I arranged the sink, refrigerator, and stovetop so that the workflow matches my typical movements. It’s not a huge change from the way it was before. I just cut off a walking path and rotated the refrigerator and island to make a triangle with preparation surfaces in between each focal point. With one or two cooks, it all makes sense. But where does one put a giant roasted bird when it needs to come out of the oven? Don’t you dare try to put that hot pan down on my new counter—I’ll pitch it right through the window. And I’m already resigned to the idea that the windows will be open. The heated floor makes this kitchen cozy when it’s just me. But with five stove burners and two ovens working at full speed, it’s going to be 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,500° C) in here before noon. I’m already smiling. It’s going to be a fun party.

I should go turn on the heat upstairs. Last time when my mother and sister visited, I prepped some rooms but only turned up the heat temporarily (forgot to hit the “hold” button). By the second day, their rooms were freezing, but neither mentioned it to me. I’m going to try to not repeat that mistake.

I just checked again. Mom is only a couple of hours away. I better get moving.