A selfish request for a good night's sleep

Let me preface what I am about to say with this: I hope and pray every day of my life that the world will suddenly wake up to what appears to be the forgotten notion of peace. I would never belittle this movement and know how serious an effort peace is. It recently crossed my mind as I prepare to make my big annual New Year's request for peace however, that a lot of the problem I have personally, is waking up in peace. And I think a lot of the time this lack of peace is a simple lack of sleep.

I have a great life, I am blessed. But like any good American, I worry, fret, toss and turn - it's what we've been conditioned to do. I worry about my life and my family just like everyone else does. I also worry the big worry about what the heck we're going to do to save the blasted world.

This year as I imagine peace for the world, I will also imagine that I get a good night of sleep. It's a small and seemingly insignificant step and may seem a bit selfish, but it is also what determines how I start my day, every day. If I succeed in getting a good sleep, it is because I somehow convinced myself the night before that peace is absolutely achievable. On the converse, I will usually wake up with that notion after a good sleep. It's a Catch 22 thing.

I have decided to jump start 2012 with an image of a peaceful New Year's Eve sleep. I hope all of your sleeps are sound in the new year so that we may all one day wake up to find ourselves deep into world peace as we imagined it the night before.

A Good Night's Sleep • 8" x8" watercolor framed to 12" x 12" • $200

Peace To All

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear.
John Lennon

Edna & Lucy's Most Excellent Roadside Restaurant

I had already gulped down a small lunch, but when I saw that hummus, spinach and beet slaw wrap up on the menu board, I had to try it. I got it to go. My intention was to take a bite of it on my way back to Portland and have it for dinner that night. Needless to say, I ate the whole thing before I hit Freeport.

The wrap was created by Stephanie and served up by Sabrina at Edna & Lucy's most excellent roadside restaurant up in Pownal. I was delivering a bunch of my calendars to friends who live up that way and stopped by to see what was cooking on my way back. I hadn't been there since Tom and I stopped on a service call a couple of years ago - they serve Carrabassett Coffee. We didn't have time to try the fare then, so this was a first for me.

Edna & Lucy's is a humble little place at first glance but transforms by way of a brilliant big menu to a sophistication on par with anything you might find in the city. Everything is homemade and created with a delightful combination of fresh and unique ingredient combos. They offer soups, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and really good treats including homemade donuts. These are real donuts folks - remember those?

Just a quick note about the donuts. I was introduced to these donuts when Stephanie and Sabrina sent a brown bag full home with Tom one day. There were only a couple left by the time they arrived in Kingfield, but they were so good and so fine that I would have eaten the whole bag myself and would have felt like shooting myself afterwards.

I don't know much about the owners except that they are really nice people and that is evident in the food they serve. What I do know is that Stephanie cooked at Street and Company for ten years before taking this project on, and Edna and Lucy are Stephanie and Sabrina's grandmother's names.

The restaurant is located on the corner of Route 9 and Elmwood Road - on the way to Bradbury Mountain. It's a screaming bright red building with a deep green trim. If you're shopping in Freeport, it's about 10 minute out toward Bradbury Mountain off the Durham exit on 295. They're open:
Wed - Fri from 7am - 4pm
Sat & Sun from 8am - 4pm

I decided to paint Edna and Lucy's because it's the perfect color scheme for this time of year. I mean, ya gotta love the spirit that prompted these two wonderful women to use red and green year 'round. For me it's a  reminder of everything that's good and fun in the world and good to eat in Maine.

Edna & Lucy's Most Excellent Roadside Restaurant • 8" x 8" watercolor pen and ink framed to 12" x 12" • $200