Someone walked into the shop the other day and before we could even greet them accusingly inquired, “Why are you closed on Wednesday and Thursday?!” and I get it, it’s the middle of the week but it’s just the two of us so we need to take some time off and since we are also part of the retail environment we would be crazy to take the actual weekend off. When we first started the shop we took no days off in order to figure out the best times to be closed. This is what we’ve worked out, and we might even add another day to our ‘weekend’ because we don’t really get the time off (especially the baker — he processes orders, sends out reminders for members, pays bills, etc, and then even comes in for a couple of hours on Thursdays to make sure we have a little something on Friday. He probably works about 80 hours a week). I know we don’t look like it, but we are literally a Mom & Pop spot.
So, what do we do on our weekends besides a little more work for the shop? We try and get our household together a bit (during our work week it really becomes a drop off, with minimal dinners or teen-made dinners, not that I am criticizing those — they are great, but limited and leave as much mess as they do feed us). We don’t really get to enjoy going out or going places (we both probably work a total of 120 hours and make as much together as he did on his own in a 40-hour job), so we try and focus on what we can do to keep us connected to our lives: homesteading, art/writing, family time together, and sometimes doing very little — just trying to relax a bit. We have no money, no time, and no community to hang out with so we tend to ‘cave’ in our little house.
Don’t get me wrong, our time is spent nicely together. We read and then talk about big ideas, we make food together and clean up gardens together, we do household chores and sometimes run errands, we try and spend a little time in the studio and sleeping in, and watching movies if we have enough oompf (though, honestly, we are generally more inclined to go to bed early and read). Though we have lived in Maine for 17 years and have never been to Acadia, Bangor, Rangeley, Moxie Falls, Peaks Island, MDI, and lots of other places we should’ve been able to go to at some point. I think we’ve even only been to Lewiston twice (and for very specific reasons, no lollygagging). We’ve never been to Vaughn Woods if that says anything about our life. We haven’t been to the beach in maybe 3 years and even then only once or twice a year before that. I like to say that I’ve lived now in New England for just over 30 years and I’ve only ever seen one moose butt (from Rt 7, just outside Bennington, VT). I think if we had a little more time, money, and wherewithal, we could seek out some spectacular places in Maine that might make us feel more connected.
Until then intrepid travelers, visit places for us and bring back all that good energy from wilds unknown.
Rock Bottom Homestead 