Talk:Matinicus Isle, Maine
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matinicus is a place for the ones that can not make it in the real world and are looking for a hiding place. People on the Island seem to all be hiding from something or someone. I think mostly themselves.
G
To "G" and others who would listen:
To understand Matinicus you really need to understand the mechanism that holds the island community together...in a word, survival. While the mainland "world" has continued to advance itself through corporate influence Matinicus has remained, for the most part, unspoiled by the tempations of "modernization". I have known this island now for 36 years having vacationed there with my parents since I was just a small child and then continuing to vacation there on my own and eventually living there for a year. I wanted to live there after 9-11 deciding that the world was such a horrific place anymore. I wanted to live on Matinicus to get back to basics. I did not want to live by the clock anymore. I was not going there to hide. I was going there to escape. "G" above seems to think that the folks on the island are all hiding from something or someone (and that may be true for some sternmen who come and go) but most of the native islanders have had their family roots there for centuries and are content to continue the tradition.
This is Maine's most remote island community and it is entirely self-sufficient, save for the lack of a grocery store (though the hardier folks have their own gardens, bake their own goods and eat from the sea). It is a simplistic lifestyle that very few can adapt to. visitors are happy vacationing without television or a telephone. The natives live like anyone else in this country, it's just much more quiet and safer than living in a place like Boston or NYC. Break-in's and robberies are virtually non-existant. But life isn't easy there. Native islanders who are lobstermen often have a hard time finding a woman who can live year-long on the island, but there are some who are eager to enter into it. True there are problems on the island with drugs, alcohol and feuds, but no more than on the mainland. Contrary to "G"'s feelings about the island, the people who live there are caring, concerned people. They love their island and want to preserve it from becoming a haven for spoiled "need-to-have" folks who seem to think it's necessary for the island to advance itself to the point of ruin. Matinicus is and has been quite alright for the past 200+ years and I imagine it will continue to do so for many, many years to come.
Natives (those who can trace their family line back several generations) and "islanders", those who come to live on the island year-round and work in some way to help sustain the community, go above and beyond the call of duty, moreso than most citizens in mainland communities, to maintain their church, school, power plant, cemetary, "town hall" (the old schoolhouse is used for town meetings) infrastructure and the like.
Matinicus is peaceful, extraordinarily beautiful and mystical. It is a step back in time to a place where peeing in an outhouse is not unusual, washing laundry by hand and hanging it out in the crisp ocean breeze is commonplace. Leaving your keys in the car is just what you do, in fact if a native islander saw you pulling your keys out of the ignition and locking your car, they'd probably laugh at you. Community suppers where many of the island families gather to enjoy good food and conversation is heartwarming. I took part in the island Christmas supper and it was nothing like I'd ever experienced before or since then. When was the last time you sat down to eat fantastically cooked/baked foods, gathered in the church for carols and songs sung by the island children. Watching Santa enter with his bag of presents for everyone, and I mean everyone. Who does that anymore? Those who live on Matinicus, that's who. I experienced all of this and more when I lived there. Making puzzles, playing cribbage, gathering wild flowers, waking the rocks around the island, searching for sand dollars and sea glass, hearing the rattle of a beat-up old truck lumbering down the main road, hearing the waves crashing on the beach, smelling that sweet summer breeze and hearing it blow through the fields. It's an amazingly unique experience.
As for behavior, I have never known a native or islander to act inappropriately toward anyone who didn't initiate conflict first. As for the lobster wars, it's true, fishermen from Matinicus are extremely possesive of their fishing territory, but how is that any different than someone being possesive over their family, home, vehicle or personal belongings when someone threatens to take them away. The constitution gives Americans the right to carry firearms but just because the fishermen opt to carry guns it doesn't mean they will shoot to kill. (I know of no instance where someone was shot or killed by anyone on the island - OK, Matinicus founder Ebenezer Hall was shot and killed by indians but that's another story - look it up - a far cry from the mainland wouldn't you say?) If a lobsterman shoots, they shoot to warn - to send a message. The fishermen always try to talk about their problems and find solutions that will work for and benefit the future of the island. For those people who do not want to hear this talk and who decide on their own to violate island laws, they will ultimately have to deal with the fishermen.
I could go on and on about Matinicus, the bottom line is that for those who need paved roads, streetlights every 20 feet, bars, restaraunts, bowling alleys, movie theatres, convenience stores, snow blowers, suits and ties, for those who need their entertainment spelled out for them, Matinicus is not for you. Only those with an innovative and imaginitive mind can appreciate what Matinicus has to offer. (I'm reminded of a summer when I vacationed there with friends and for fun a few of my island buddies concocted a surf board of sorts out of a piece of plywood and some trap line - what a great time!) I love this island and if it wasn't for Matinicus, I would never be where I am today. If I could manage, I'd move there with my family today and live there forever (my husband has still to appreciate this unusual way of life). I intend to continue going to Matinicus for family vacations and when I die, I will be creamated and sprinkled on the Southern Sands beach. Thanks for listening - Jody.
P.S. Many people have made the move to Matinicus very successfully and have been welcomed by the natives. It just takes a special kind of person to "make it" on Matinicus.
References needed
editWhile some sentences are footnoted, there is an entire paragraph about the "Christian presence" on the island that needs an outside source--not just the opinion of whoever wrote it.ElijahBosley (talk ☞) 11:53, 29 May 2011 (UTC)