#129: A Cross-Country Journey of Firsts

Firsts: A journey to Maine, fall colors, and meeting my half-brother, plus cocktail recipes for the holidays.

This fall I journeyed to Maine. More than a chance to exercise my rather flaccid travel muscles (will they ever get back to what they were when I was on the road five months out of the year teaching pie making and doing book tours?) this was a trip of many firsts…

• a first trip to Maine

• a first time seeing the fall colors of New England

• a first meeting with my birth half-brother and his family

I wouldn’t have been able to do this trip without Helen, my beloved sister whom I met in 2019...another first. We have become very close since then and you can read more about that first meeting in Pie Camp. I share the recipe for her Apple Crumble Pie, the pie we made together on that first day we met, in that book, too.

Helen and I hoped it would be possible for me to connect with my other half-sibs (there are two) and we had gotten close to making that happening, but Covid and schedules kept pushing it back. I figured if I had waited this long (over fifty years) for it to happen, what was one more year. We pressed the pause button but Helen was determined for it to be lifted as soon as possible and in mid-October it finally did.

My flight was to depart SeaTac at 5:30AM on a Sunday and since my son Duncan had a flight of his own the afternoon before, it made sense for us to drive over together. The plan was to drop him off at the airport, and then I would head to the home of good friends who live near the airport, have a catch up visit and leave my car there, but that plan was nixed when one of them came down with Covid. I looked in to hotel rooms near the airport, but everywhere I checked said that on a Saturday there was a two night minimum. Two night minimum?!? As I would be there for less than 24-hours, there was no way that I was going to pay for two nights. One of my friends said there are places near the airport where one can rent a room by the hour, but that seemed a bit out of my comfort zone…if you get my drift.

So, after I dropped Duncan off, I called up other dear friends in Seattle and headed up I-5 to spend the afternoon with them. In the early evening after supper, I headed back down to get the car settled at a park-and-fly lot, hefted my travel pack and climbed aboard the bus, and readied myself to overnight in the airport. Getting through security on a Saturday evening was a breeze and I finally got to use the TSA Pre pass I had purchased just before Covid shutdown. Once at my gate, I plugged myself in to a set of new Airpods, figured out how to do noise cancellation, found some mellow instrumental music, set my pack in front of me and stretched my legs out on top of it. To keep the light out, I pulled my scarf over my eyes and settled in. It wasn’t too bad other than every fifteen minutes hearing a pleasant but booming voice on the airport public announcement system announce, “Welcome, to Sea.Tac. Airport. …” and on and on…something the noise cancellation couldn’t block out. Other than that, and the big machines that clean and polish floors, the airport is actually a very quiet place in the wee hours of the night. I dozed off and on and took a walk or two when I couldn’t. About 3:30AM folks started arriving at the gate.

The zig-zag flights across the country routed me from Seattle to Dallas to Portland, Maine. On the final approach to Portland, I glimpsed New England’s infamous fall colors for the first time.

My first view of the fall colors in Maine just before landing.

I got off the plane and headed to the restroom to make sure I was more or less presentable and ready to meet another member of my family of nature for the first time. I spied Helen right away in the area for arriving passengers. Next to her was a very kind looking man. My brother, Corky! I was welcomed with big hugs and smiles. Then as the light in the sky turned to dusk, the three of us walked out the airport doors and drove off to discover a new part of our lives together.

Corky, Me, and Helen. The first picture of us together.

I plan on sharing more stories and photos from this amazing journey and much longed for meeting, but let me start by saying that after more than five decades of searching this connection with birth family has been life changing for me.

Finn, my brother and sister-in-law’s very sweet dog.

Recently, I asked my brother if there was any particular holiday cocktail traditionally served in our family. His reply was, “Whiskey sour punch, when we have a group. But sometimes it’s too much citrus and habit forming! We’ve also done Fishhouse punch. Haven’t done that for years. The old standby is just pomegranate martinis though.”

So tonight as we celebrate the winter solstice and return of the light, I’ll be lighting candles and raising a glass to my families—both of nurture and nature, to dear friends new and old, and to you as well.

Happy Winter Solstice!

The snow at my home today.

Recipes

Fish House Punch

Here’s a recipe for Fish House Punch from Peter Suderman.

Spend Your 4th of July Weekend Making (and Drinking) Philadelphia Fish House Punch 

Pomegranate Martini

What You Need

• 1 1/2 ounces vodka

• 1 1/2 ounces pomegranate juice

• 1/2 ounce orange liqueur

• 1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

How To Do It

1. Place martini glass in the freezer to chill.

2. Fill a shaker up with ice. Add the vodka, pomegranate juice, orange liqueur, and lime juice. Shake for 10 to 20 seconds, or until the outside of the shaker is frosty-cold.

3. Strain the martini into the chilled martini glass and serve.

(Recipe by Alexis deBoschnek from Food52)

Shaken, not stirred.

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