My husband and I first moved to Maine eighteen years ago from New Jersey. What a breath of fresh air and change from a crowded, polluted environment. We moved to a small town that was the county seat for an area that is approximately 4,300 square miles and has a very low population. Most folks were really nice but there is a “your from away” mentality with some of the more stubborn folks. I gently reminded some of the more hardcore folks that although I may be “from away”, New Jersey is still part of the United States. I understand that they didn’t want “city ideas and values” foisted on them. We had no intention of doing that anyway and were seeking the quieter, more laid-back way of life. The only people really moving into the town area were people with kids who were tired of one-hour round trips dropping kids off at school for various sporting programs or play dates. You can burn up a lot of gas driving back and forth to town.
You sit back in rural America and watch the news and think we are safe and away from all the chaos in the cities. Well, guess what folks? What happens when you step in dog poop? It spreads everywhere and the poop you see in the news is spreading out to the country.
We lived in town for about five years. It was great being able to walk everywhere. We could walk to work, medical offices, the grocery store, and the hardware store. The post office was just down the block. Eventually, we wanted to homestead and moved to a small cabin on six acres in a small town of approximately 600 people. Now we get to experience the one-hour driving time to the local stores.
When we 1st moved here we had a democratic governor, followed by a republican governor and now another democrat who seems to think she will be there for life. The cities were blue but the rural areas were solid red. We have really watched the political landscape change greatly when Trump entered the picture and won the election. The most noticeable changes started in 2015. In our county seat, lots of democrat signs started showing up. Women with hyphenated names started occupying town and county positions. Change was in the air. There was a lot of resistance but somehow these women, and a few snowflake men (they were biological men but not real MEN) always won the local elections. Fortunately, our county and our town are 2nd Amendment sanctuaries.
Little by little, subtle changes in the rural, God-fearing landscape started occurring. Common Core learning wormed its ways into the school system here. It started in the cities first and several years later made its way to our neck of the woods. Most people, including myself, were not really familiar with it. We do not have children so I really wasn’t up on school issues too much. I was quite shocked to hear that it was being used in our local schools, I always thought it was a city program.
In 2019 my husband and I purchased t-shirts from Rush Limbaugh that said “Stand up for Betsy Ross” with a flag on it. This was in response to Nike canceling sneakers that had the Betsy Ross flag on them. We all remember that this T-shirt was the result of an untalented want-to-be footplayer who claimed the sneakers promoted slavery. We both had on our T-shirts on, one day, and on three different occasions, we had teenagers/young adults ask us who Betsy Ross was. Are you kidding me? What the heck are you learning in school? We launched into a mini history lesson about the original thirteen colonies and how she had sewn the first stars and stripes flag for our nation. The kids looked shocked. This is basic American history and I got my first clue how far things had really fallen in the education world. Praise the Lord homeschooling is very big in this area.
We travel to Bangor every other month, which is a small city of approximately thirty thousand. We have been doing this since we first moved here. Bangor used to have a really nice downtown area, outdoor dining, and some great used bookstores. Gradually, over time, the liberal life has crept in and turned the place into a toilet…literally in some areas. The last remaining used bookstore is now in such a drug-infested area we won’t go there in even broad daylight anymore. There are two beautiful parks we went by the other day after visiting the Veteran’s Clinic. Parks used to be filled with children, people walking dogs and exercising. The once lovely parks are now filled with people slumped over or passed out from God knows what kind of substances. Tents are everywhere as is medical waste and human waste. As we were stopped for a traffic light, a man just dropped his drawers and took a dump in the middle of the playground. Is this what the MSM considers progress? Why did we sit back and allow beautiful parks where our kids play become giant outhouses? These changes did not happen overnight but they were accelerated during COVID lockdowns. The COVID lockdowns, in hindsight, seemed like a giant reset of life as we know it. The MSM keeps talking about the coming Great Reset but guess what folks, a big part of it has already occurred. We just slept through it. I really doubt we are going back to the pre-COVID days of life.
Earlier this year, three towns over, a person purchased 35 acres of land and announced he was relocating homeless people from the city there. He specifically wanted addicts only, not regular down-on-their-luck folks. He feels the answer to the cities’ homeless addicts problem is to relocate them to the rural areas. He thought it was a great idea to put these people out in the middle of nowhere where they couldn’t obtain drugs. Guess what? Drugs are everywhere. The town people weren’t buying this and it cost the town some good money to get an attorney and put a hold on the man’s vision. This gentleman had already started some clearing and building a septic system without checking with the town. He is heavily funded with federal grant money. If this man’s fantasy doesn’t happen here, it will be in some other rural town. Once the cities are completely fouled up, the problems and the people (let’s face it, people are the problem), are heading to the rural areas.
Land was cheap before the COVID pandemic and apparently a lot of Chinese people purchased farms here. According to several news sources I saw this week there are 240 illegal pot production farms in Maine! There is no way possible that local residents in some of these areas didn’t know or see what was going on. The problem was just ignored until someone decided to write a news story on it. You can hide in a small home in or near the edge of the woods but it’s kind of hard to hide a farm and multiple outbuildings.
We are starting to see vandalism and medical waste in the small towns in the area now. Last winter our church was broken into and vandalized. Homeless are now starting to show up in the smaller communities. It’s spreading.
So what do we do about this besides complaining? It’s all too easy to just sit back and comment on how to fix things. Anyone can leave a comment on the internet. Forget protesting. Only BLM and Antifa are allowed to “peaceful protest” and burn down cities. All you have to do is look and see what happened to the January 6th protesters. Those poor political prisoners’ lives are trashed. They broke the New 1st Commandment…Thou shall not question or protest the government.
Well, there are some things we can do. Get involved in local politics. No one really wants to do this but I say must the democrats have done a great job of working their way into all the positions needed to change policies from the inside out. And we sat back and let it happen. If no one steps up to the plate then we need to stop complaining. Two or three Christian conservatives on a board in a small town can make a difference, whether it’s the town council or school board. Once our foot is in the door, hopefully others will step in.
Pray, pray, and pray some more for our country and its leaders, whether you like them or not. Look at the work God did in Saul who later became Paul. He can change anyone. Get involved in church programs. Most churches have programs feeding the homeless, food and clothing drives and sponsoring missionaries. Churches also have the Good News club for kids. There are teen and young adult programs . These programs all make a positive impact on your life and children’s lives. Be a good role model and someone these kids can look up to.
If you are a veteran, thank you for your service, and please join the VFW or American Legion. These wonderful organizations make a difference by helping AMERICAN veterans. They gave their all for this country it’s the least we can do for them.
The Kiwanis Club does a wonderful works in the local communities where I live. Get involved in something please. Let’s stop complaining and do something. There are many other organizations also. Join and make a difference.
My husband and I started a new tradition a few years ago. Our anniversary, both our birthdays and Christmas fall within a span of roughly 45 days. We have no idea what to buy each other and we both don’t need anything at this point in our lives. We take what we would spend on each other and donate it to a charity for Christmas instead. You don’t need to break the bank donating. If you spend $10 a week on fancy coffees, take that money from just 1 week and put in the red kettles the Salvation Army has out during the holidays. Donate items to a food or pet drive.
If you really don’t or can’t donate money, help an older or handicapped person with chores. Volunteer to help with kids at after-school programs. We need to make a difference in people’s lives.
Buy American and support American businesses whose morals and ethics are in line with your own personal beliefs. Change starts small and starts with each one of us. We can sit back and whine or be proactive and try to reverse some of the damage that has occurred. The decision is yours to make. Seek God and pray for wisdom and guidance.