It is finally the season. One day, you are slipping on ice; the next, the window is wide open with sparkling sun pouring into the room.

This is why we live in Maine. Maine provides the yin and yang, the dark and the light, the sorrow and the joy. OK, maybe the last reference was over-the-top dire, but when you are housebound and snow is falling yet again, there is a feeling of you know what.

Lately I have been entertaining myself with what I call The Big Picture. My mind is filled with images of things to come.

The first Big Moment will be the unveiling of the grill. The drab black shroud will come off and a new propane canister will fire it up. This we can do while ice is melting off the roof.

Lobster comes next. Live lobsters are available at a neighborhood gas station-turned-lobster vendor. These we cook on the grill. I’m also
counting down the days for The Lobster Shack at Two Lights to be open. My first order will be a whole lobster with drawn butter, onion rings and clam chowder to take home. The ocean is the entertainment. It is different in color and texture every time we go.

I’ll have to walk off this gourmand activity. How lucky we are because with no effort there are millions of spots where a walk is so much more than just a walk. How about a steaming hot cup of coffee and a sandwich taken to Willard Beach in South Portland? You can sit on the rocks and enjoy your picnic, or you can walk along the beach and watch the gulls glide in on waves. There’s also the option of setting up camp for the day in a comfortable chair. The Southern Maine Community College campus is just above Willard Beach and students enjoy this beach to the fullest.

I’ll need some Brandywine and cherry tomato plants for my garden. I’m one of those customers who makes friends with the farmers. Every year I make some kind of impulse buy that may or may not be successful. Mostly I like to kibitz.

Our deck is the ultimate Big Picture item. We furnish it just like an indoor room, with plenty of wicker furniture, white iron tables and ample navy-blue cushions.

Soon thereafter out comes the fire pit. The fire pit is our symbol of spring. I blame our Scottish heritage for all the loud conversations and laughing that take place around the fire pit. Why is it that sitting around a fire brings out conviviality that a living room fails to inspire?

All these dreams are spinning around in my head, and I embellish even further with plans of family get-togethers in the yard, to include playing croquet and badminton.

We earn our right to have the blissful seasons of spring, summer and fall here in Maine. Again, The Big Picture. I laugh at snow now. We’ve made it.