Stop it, Maine.

One of the things I love about Rhode Island is its close proximity to Maine, where I had the pleasure of spending most of this past weekend. I love Maine. It's beautiful. I don't care too much for seafood, but I do love blueberries and maple syrup, and if I could manage to outfit my home and myself in nothing but LL Bean, I'd do it. But dangit if Maine doesn't have the crankiest people in the world living in it. They make me seem cheerful by comparison. And I love them.

To Mainers, you are either from Maine, or from "away," which includes all geographical points not in Maine. Maine is a state that relies heavily on tourism dollars, and they want you to come and spend them, but then they want you to get the hell out. In fact, there are more than a few Mainers who want to be able to tell you to get the hell out of their country, not just their state. That's right: there are Maine secessionists! Some want to join Canada, some want to be their own country outright, and some just want to split off from the rest of Maine.

I find that a lot of people have kind of a skewed picture of Maine, that's it's all Boothbay Harbor and Freeport. Not true. It has more snowmobilers and hunters than Martha Stewarts for sure. The town I spent my weekend in, Ogunquit, is pretty far on the hoity-toity end of the spectrum, but it still has the fine get-lost spirit of the rest of the state. Even the beautiful, seasonal displays, all awash in mums and squash and whimsical Halloween imagery have it:

In case it's too small, it says "Yes, they are real, do not touch." (Insert your own stupid joke here.)

I think my favorite sight in all of Ogunquit has to be this wall, though. It's the perfect metaphor for Maine. Beautiful, rugged, picturesque... but don't get comfortable.

Don't tread sit on me.