We spent my mother’s last summer on the Little River, Georgetown, Maine, in a small A-frame cottage perched on a low rise thirty feet from where seagrass meets the shore. It was a modest affair with a loft for the four kids, and two bedrooms on the ground floor where Mom enjoyed the master bedroom with a screen porch, and a second smaller bedroom where her three daughters slept on twin beds. The nearby kitchen included a sink, a small Frigidaire, two cupboards, a three-burner stove, and in place of a table, a center island with six wood stools.
From the A-frame, we could see the Little River empty into the Atlantic and the shifting tides in infinite detail–at lowest tide it became a 1/2 mile sand flat with a shallow brook trickling through, and at highest tide a salty lake jumping with fish and hungry Osprey.
The last night of our stay, Todd, a local lobsterman, delivered us a half-peck of steamers and eight chicken lobsters in a wood basket covered in seaweed. We balanced a 4-gallon white enamel pot on the three burners, and the boiling commenced soon after. With cups of steaming broth and melted butter, we shucked and dipped and dunked every last bite, satisfied. At 86 years of age, it was time to indulge mother’s long love of lobster, again and again, until finally she announced “I’m so tired of eating lobster.” Too much of a good thing never felt so good!
The morning of our leave was sunny and warm so Mom asked for a folding chair to enjoy the sea air and long view once more. At the same time, our retriever Cassie and I waded through the seagrass to cross the great sandy plain. We walked a few hundred feet before pausing at the river’s edge when I turned to wave in the direction of the small figure onshore, she waving again and again, no sound, the crashing surf her goodbye.
The white shells and stones sparkled in the bright sun beckoning us across the shallow stream where we mounted the dune and descended into soft sand on our way to the cold salty sea.
Written, submitted and read by Paula J Gannon to her Writers’ Workshop group 7/8/25
Paula is a regular participant in Dynamic Gentle Yoga Breath and Movement Practice.