Incidentally (Pt. I)

-- The Chases all swear very gently (except when they swear very violently). The most common word in the household is "shitskys."

-- Whenever I put my hand in the fridge, it comes out smelling like fish. This applies whether I am reaching for grapes or grabbing the skim milk. All to do with the constant conditions of a Downeast refrigerator.

-- The Brooksville market doesn't sell "Morning Glory" muffins; it sells "Glorious Morning" muffins.

-- I know more about this neighborhood than I do my own, in some respects. As we drive around - and we drive for hours every day - Alison points out homeplaces, shops, and local lore. I know the house of the woman who has early-onset Alzheimer's at age 50. I know the wine shop of the former high-school music teacher who had an affair with the superintendent's wife, and the circumstances of its revelation. I know the drama of the Deer Isle/Stonington Elementary School (what necessarily happens when two communities are nearly indistinguishable - a radical attachment to distinguishment).