Last week, I went to Esther’s house for lunch. Esther doesn’t like to drive very far from her home—our houses are about 25 miles apart—which means I go to her house when we get together. Therefore, I offered to bring a ginger carrot soup, and Esther readily agreed.

Esther has a large, bright kitchen with a long wooden table. She made biscuits to go with the soup as well as a tomato and cucumber salad. For dessert we had apple cake with ice cream. As we ate, we talked about the volunteer work we do—the Winthrop Food Pantry (me) and the Homeless Shelter in Waterville (Esther). We both agreed that working with people who struggle opens the mind and the heart, and Esther spoke of a discouraged young mother who didn’t see any way to improve her situation. To get a job, the young mother would need training and education, but to get that training and education, she would need childcare, which she couldn’t afford. Certainly, it would have been a better plan to wait to have a child until training, education, and a job were already in place, but life doesn’t always go according to plan. And then what? Give up? The young woman’s situation illustrates the need for additional programs to help mothers who are in her situation.

After lunch, Esther and I went to Waterville, to the Colby College Museum of Art with its new Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion. This is the third time I’ve been to the museum since the new addition opened, and each time I go, I notice something different. On this visit it was a painting by Louis Comfort Tiffany, who is best known for his stained glass work. The painting—Tin Peddler at Sea Bright—was painted in the late 1800s, and it is a slice-of-life painting that captures a time when peddlers went to people’s homes. What makes this picture interesting is that the customers are African-American, and Tiffany does a terrific job of portraying their modest circumstances without making the people seem desperately on the edge.

As Esther and I walked through the museum, I was once again reminded of how lucky we are in central Maine to have an art museum that not only has first-rate art but also has free admission. This means that viewers can come whenever they want without feeling that they have to look at everything in one visit. Such a gift!

In the collection, there were some Maine seascapes, of course. Esther asked, “When you think of Maine, do you think of the ocean first?”

“No,” I answered. “When I think of Maine I think of forests and fields. Lakes and streams. Factories and rivers.”

Esther nodded. “That’s because we’re both from central Maine.”

Yes, we are, and while we might love the ocean, it was not our first impression of Maine.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:30]