Monday, July 2, 2012



July 4, Independence Day is upon us, the start of another summer season at the shore, the shore of southern Maine, the Kennebunks, that is, my favorite place to be at this time of year.  Too bad I can’t be there!

My husband and I moved to sunny, South Carolina to get away from the long winters in the Kennebunks after 20 years by that shore.  But, something funny happens around this time of year even though we have been away for 3 years now.  I could swear when I step outside into the bright southern sun, 1000 miles away, I hear the waves of the northern Atlantic and smell the first rugosa roses of the season.  They say that every cell in your body has memory, well I believe it.  It would be the only rational explanation for why my ears and nose think they are still in Maine every fourth of July.  

There is another possibility.  As I drive by the lake and mountain homes in the upstate, it could be the wicker rockers, swings and gliders that sit on the covered porches in the windows that I see that conjur up those seaside sounds and smells.  For me, wicker is Maine as much as lobster, moose and LL Bean.

Victorian rollback collection
The Wicker Shop of Maine
www.thewickershop.com
It appears that the same Victorian wicker suites that furnished the grand waterfront cottages on the Maine and New Hampshire lakes and the Gulf of Maine are the very same designs that furnished the plantation homes along the rivers, lakes and harbors from Charleston to Keowee, SC.  A horse and buggy ride through downtown Charleston will yield a peek at stick wicker,  suites of Victoriana, maybe a Heywood Wakefied dining set as well as an authentic Bar Harbor rocker or two.  Lloyd loom sofas and chairs were all the rage at  Lake Hartwell in the 1920s and 30s and many still remain in the same spot in the same room.  The other day, as I walked past a restaurant on N. Market St, I was surprised to see a wicker pie safe in use in the display window of a popular downtown eatery.  Now, that was something I had never seen before, oak, yes, but wicker?

Although I no longer have a brick and mortar store in Maine, I still cannot drive by a yard sale, antique store or flea market without hoping to find just one more piece to add to my own personal collection or to fill an order from a long waiting customer.  Pity no one is waiting for a pie safe!    

Happy Fourth of July, Maine!



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