When I stepped off the plane on that hot August night in Cairo and came face to face with the soldier holding a machine gun, I knew I was living the life I’d imagined since I began planning family vacations at age 11. I was 20 years old. Although a little scared, I was exactly where I wanted to be: in a foreign country, out of my comfort zone, perched on the edge of unknown experiences.
More than a few years have passed since that night in the Cairo airport, and it’s been a while since I’ve faced a gun-toting soldier. More recently, I’ve stared down the barrel of childbirth and parenthood and battled wild packs of boys bent upon household destruction. Along the way, I rode my bicycle across the country, read enough books to line every wall in my home, and picked up a respectable job teaching writing. I met the Love of My Life and lost the Cat of My Life. I moved to a house in the woods, but haven’t settled.
And always, I keep on writing. For me, writing is a form of deep travel, an opportunity to experience life many times over, wherever the journey brings me: to the mountains, to new and off-beat places, or to different historical eras. Whether you are an armchair traveler or a restless mover, or, like me, a combination of both, pull up a chair and come on in.
I live and write in Kittery Point, Maine, with my husband, son, two cats, and a series of expiring beta-fish.
Cat 1, Spencer, on an Icelandic sheepskin. Knock on the wood, the sheepskin remains free of cat vomit.
I write about history as a history lover and not as a professional historian. While I will always try to document my sources informally, I always appreciate comments, corrections or additions to anything I post here.
You can find more of my writing at We Said Go Travel. Also, my essay “Hunting the wooly adelgid,” the winner of the 2010 Waterman Fund Alpine Essay contest, was also published in print in the December 2010 issue of Appalachia.
Contact me via the blog comments or at diannefallon2@gmail.com.
Edward, Cat #2 (according to Cat #1), enjoying his morning sunshine.
Congratulations on creating an exciting venue, Dianne! Beautiful image at the top. Hope you’ll be posting all sorts of thoughts, facts, musings, prose, & images.
Hi Diane, thanks for stopping by several of my blogs Ihttp://threedailydelights.wordpress.com, http://smilekiddo.wordpress.com, http://savorysundays.wordpress.com, http://toyingwiththread.wordpress.com) and sharing your thoughts. I hope you are enjoying the “Zero to Hero” challenge! 🙂
Hi, I love your blog and have nominated you for the Liebster Award! 🙂
http://swiggityswag00.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/liebster-award/
Yay, Dianne! I loved finding your blog via Natasha via facebook….how is it we are all so busy not to know about each others amazing journeys and talents as we go! Silly sad, anyway, your humour hasn’t changed and I look forward to gobbling up your book as soon as Natasha finishes it!!! much love, Kris
Kris, thanks for stopping by! I usually post my entries on FB, but I know it is a constant stream of information coming everyone’s one.
Hello Dianne,
I enjoy all of the things you write about. One question I have is have you ever heard of a tunnel from the Lady Pepperell House to the Sparhawk House? I heard there was one there so the mother and daughter could visit by tunnel so they would not be captured by the Indians.
Joyce Turco
Hi Joyce-
I have not heard about a tunnel. I suspect that is more legend than fact, as there was no reason for Lady Pepperrell or Elizabeth Sparhawk to fear Indian capture by the 1770s, as the skirmishes with the Abenaki ended in this area around 1713, when the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, and the Lady Pepperrell House was finished in 1768. It’s possible, however, that they feared capture or imprisonment from local Patriots, since Elizabeth’s son, William Pepperrell III, was such a prominent Loyalist. But I have never read anything along those lines. I’ll have to dig into that a bit.
Could you let me know if you have seen this comment? I’m not always sure if readers do.
Thanks for reading!
Dianne
Hello, Just found your reply, don’t know why it took me so long. In 1958 we built a house on land that was part of the Sparhawk property, right behind the Congregational Church & right near the Sparhawk Mansion.
Fishing Island is a place where as a teenager my friends & I used to row a boat to and there was an old house with a bed in it with an an old rusted bed spring on it. We loved to go there and just visit the place. I remember being there a little too long when the tide changed & I had a terrible time getting out of the mud flats.
I was actually born in Kittery Point, my grandfather was the first Harbor Master there and many members of my family were lobster fishermen. My grandfather was also well know as an excellent boat builder, he built many lobster boats & later, many row boats as he got older, his name was Bob Carlson and he came here from Sweden when he was young. I still remember the names of folks who lived in Kittery Point from the late 1930’s, now everything there is so changed.
Diane, my name is Donna Shea and I am a friend of your mottther’s. We are going to N Y in May and I am trying to book the rain down and back but I need your mothers date of birth to do so. Mary is in Florida visiting Peggy and none of us has her cell phone no. If you see this can you see me her date of birth and cell number so I can reach her. I left a message on Chuck’s phone but Kathy AuCoin tells me that he never answers his phone so I don’t think he will call me back. We are going toNY in May 3rd thru 6th to meet Jaet Quinlan Bunchman. I know Mary will be in Florida for another few weeks.
Hi Diane. My name is Jaci and I live in York county as well. I watched the Windows To The Wild Wood Island show and was so envious of your adventures and all the hiking you do. I love to hike but I don’t have people to hike with. My husband has knee issues so he is not so eager to get out on the trails. So, I was hoping you might know of some local hiking groups that I could reach out to. Thank you for your time.
So enjoyed the adventure on windows to the world. so want to kayak. just coming out of covid isolation, 2 1/2 years.