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<\/a>Who can look at the East Wind Inn and not see Tim on the steps? Not I.<\/p><\/div>\n
Then, April of \u201882, after surgery at Mayo to stop the crippling, I called Tim and said, \u201cGuess what? I have a new nine-month job.\u201d (Pause) \u201cWhat is the question?\u201d he asked. \u201cCan I come and volunteer mornings at the East Wind for room and board?\u201d \u201cSure,\u201d he said, (or \u201cShoo-ah\u201d to my Midwestern ears.) So thanks to Tim, I began my treasured summers in Maine, and, because I was there, knew to bid on long unoccupied, but ever-tended Roseledge, which would be available once they found Bess McClusky\u2019s heirs. (That\u2019s another story.) I bid and won that lottery in summer \u201883. \u00a0 Tim surprised me with electricity in the cottage for which I berated him, as it just made fall’s leave-taking harder.\u00a0 He just harrumphed.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The earlier Gledhill, unlovely then, perfect for the summer staff.<\/p><\/div>\n
June of \u201984, I arrived ready to move into Roseledge, but before that happened, local son Tim took me to the doors of my neighbors to introduce me. First I met Harry who said, \u201cYou\u2019re in my lady\u2019s house\u201d (another story) and I said, \u201cI know and I will do my best to take care of it.\u201d Harry harrumphed with a half smile and turned away. Tim and I went to meet the Andersons up the hill who said \u201cI\u2019m Bill\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Mrs. Anderson\u201d and I responded with my name and plans to live next to them in the summer. They nodded and that was that. Some time later that day, Harry and Bill, both deaf as posts, met on the road in front of Roseledge and began shouting, \u201cAnd then she said to me\u2026\u201d \u201cAnd then she said\u2026,\u201d and each one repeated exactly what I had said, so I figured that was fine. The Andersons sold their house a couple of years later, but Harry was my good neighbor for nearly twenty years, and I miss him still. Introductions matter.\u00a0 Thank you, Tim.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Roseledge and neighbors, with rocks at low tide, in front of the East Wind Inn<\/p><\/div>\n
I will miss Tim. He was the crabbiest person I know (\u201cThen you get to be the nice one,\u201d he would say.), but he was always there with a just-right solution to whatever needed doing. He is my definition of a Mainer and, though I know he will haunt the harbor forever, I will miss his presence. Tenants Harbor just changed indelibly. Real estate shifts don\u2019t bother me; I figure that\u2019s a generational thing. But Tim\u2019s going? Well, maybe that\u2019s a generational thing, too, but he died way too young and deserved his dotage as a generous crabby person turned generous curmudgeon.<\/p>\n
Colleen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tim Watts died Wednesday morning and the tenor of Tenants Harbor changed in a heartbeat. He is a great big reason I know and love Tenants Harbor, and for that I will be forever grateful. Spring of \u201879, I was … Continue reading