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This "official" map of Maine, most likely created by some tight ass bureaucrat up to Augusta, attempts to make sense of the geographic differences that exist in my home state. All I can say is this map is a lie. For our purposes here in the panhandle, there are but 4 regions of Maine. 

The Other side of the Turnpike - Where all the folks with deep pockets live and dress like lobsta men and truck mechanics when down to the local store, but quickly swap out their Dickies for a sweater tied around their necks when heading to Boston. 

Up Country - Anywhere in Maine not on the East side of the Turnpike and North of here. Which is really everywhere with the exception of those hoity toity folks who cling to the edge of the Ocean. 

Right Here - Where a man is judged by how many pickups, tractors, and manure spreadas he has rusting in his door yard. And if he has them all tucked under blue tarps, we know this man is not the one wearing the pants in that house. 

The County - Aroostook County is a special place with special people. Thus it is graced with it's own special place in all Mainer's hearts. You either came from the county,went there once, knew someone who went there, or accidentally found yourself there while trying to find Jackman or Eustis. 

Okay, Okay. Let's step back a few steps. Seems we have gotten ahead of ourselves here.

The subject of this post was originally not about the regions of my home state. I had originally wanted to find some new blogs to read. And instead of the usual hit or miss, referral from another blog I might visit on occaision or typing in a word in that handy Google blank, I figured I would check out some of the blogs created and maintained by Mainers. Folks who live close by or far away but in the same state of confusion I live in. 

What I did was this. I went to my profile. Found that all the blue words would guide me to blogs with that word in common. Boy, those computer folk are some clever. No wonder they are rich and I am not.

Anyway, punch the Maine key word and 9000 plus blogs popped up. Whew! Way too many to sift through. Had to come up with some criteria for checking them out. 

No religious fanatics. No pre-teen "do u text and isn't Billy Wilkerson cute" blogs. Forget the runners. I don't run. Don't want to read about them or their sneakers. A picture and some words about interests would punch em to the top of my list. 

Okay. Cool. I had some parameters in place. So I spent the better part of a couple of hours cruising my home state via the local blogosphere. Must have filtered through the quick profiles of 500 blogs and actually read something on 30 or so. 

The initial choices I found to create my Maine Blog Link List often were only because I liked the name of the blog. Or the location. Damn. Now that I think about it, there is no rhyme, no reason for the choices you will find to the right. 

But I will say that in less than 2 hours I managed compile quite an odd group. I have a gay. I have at least a couple of Liberals. There's a mostly happy homemaker and her life as mom. Some gnarly dude band/design your group's logo in our spare time guys. 

I have to say my most delightful find was the Defiant Infidel. A man who contends he is now trapped in his home state surrounded by the great Liberal conspiracy that moved here from away. Seems this lone outdoorsman lives in the woods with his wife and 2 dogs. Loves God, country, and Fred Thompson. Feels the right to bear arms is sacred and wishes liberalism was illegal. Well I made up that last part. But I figure he wouldn't complain much it there was a law passed. 

This fellow Mainer is positive our "traditional values" have been shot down and he is on a quest to re-acquaint all who will listen just what we are missing out on. I dunno. Seems to me Americans have been less than loyal to any tradition for long. Right out of the gate we bucked the system. Whatever the system was. "Traditional Values" are often nothing more than fantasy worlds built up in the minds of folks who would like to return us to an idyllic world of the past that never existed in the first place. 

If you visit only one blog from my list, visit his. Some of you will nod your head, look reflective and maybe agree with him. If you are like me, you will turn to his blog for a little comic relief. And I am hardly a liberal. Well, I probably am according to the infidel's criteria for identifying anything not conservative must be liberal mindset rule in the Neocon field guide for the identification and cataloging of Liberal conspiracies that pervade our landscape. The man has the flag tightly wrapped around his principles.