The Black Bear Blog, as many of you know, is only a small part of the entire network of hunting, fishing and outdoor websites that belong to and are administered by my son Steven and I. Needless to say it keeps us very busy. What some of you may not be aware of is that we have a host of writers, both professional and “wannabees”, that are always contributing stories.

Being that my son lives in Maine and I am a native and spend my summers there still, much of our focus turns to events in Maine. With that said, one of the websites that we administer is Maine Outdoors Today. It focuses on any and all aspects of life outside the comfort of our homes and sometimes we even stretch beyond the “outdoor” topic for a bit to cover events that are important to Maine people and those who enjoy Maine’s outdoors.

As part of the Maine Outdoors Today site, we publish articles, including some photo essays by our chief photographer Milt Inman. Along with these stories, I write in a blog there – Blogging the Outdoors -, a former Maine guide, David R. Crews, who used to spend much of the year with relatives at sporting camps in northern Maine writes his tales, updates a blog and shares some of his photography. These are just a few of the many things we do over there.

In the hopes of not offending anyone else, I have to say my favorite place to go at Maine Outdoors Today is to stop in and visit with Eleazer Peabody. Eleazer is an old codger who writes in his journal on occasion and retells of the days of yore, right down to some very fine details. When he decides to write, it is a treat because one never really knows what is in store.

Eleazer has told stories of nearly freezing to death while walking his dog, episodes with a strange “hissin” animal in his woodpile, getting locked out of the Finnish sauna in the dead of winter, to the events of the spring rituals of tapping maple trees for the sweet rewards.

What makes Eleazer’s writings of interest is the detail of things of years gone by. For the “older” readers, it conjures up the memories, the “things ain’t the way they used to be” days gone by, and draws you back to a time often described as “the good ole days” or better described in “those trying times”. For the young, it’s a history lesson of life the way it used to be.

Eleazer’s latest journal entry recalls one night out on a spring smelting trip with his friend, Jack Stevens.

Oh, what a night last night. I spent the late, late evening following my friend Jack
Stevens around to all the local smeltin’ hot spots. And I must report that some were actually very hot! I left my truck at Leo Cole’s farm in Greenwood City and rode with Jack down to Herm Fuller’s Store. Well, Herm’s Store was certainly a store in the general sense, in that there certainly were things to buy. Most of the merchandise came in bottle form by the “six pack”. The location of the store was near the Paris Town Line—Paris is a “dry” town, so the customer base here at this small out of the way location is immense on weekends or special nights like this.

Jack was fond of the Black Label, which was lucky, as the choices tonight were slim to none. I would settle for a cold Moxie, for I need to keep my eye on Jack tonight. When we left, I would be doing the driving in Jack’s Studebaker pickup. We got to Herm’s store just in time to stand in line by one of the slide top coolers. Herm picked out a half dozen cold ones from the cold water and ice inside the rusty sided cooler. I had to search for some time through the cold water in another cooler for just two twelve-ounce Moxies. Jack also got a pack of Raleigh Chew so as to draw up a spit—as if a fella’ needed to chew a cud! The old National cash register had a bell that almost chimed out a song, because it was opening so much during our time in the store. There were some other homemade snacks and some candy for sale, but they were not too popular this dark night.

I would encourage readers to go over to Eleazer’s place and finish reading this story and while you’re there, check out all his other entries. You’ll even see Eleazer’s cabin perched on the mountainside. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Tom Remington

Related Posts