example essay rewrite 1

Now I don't like to tell people this, an I have tried to keep it secret for the most part, but I am not from Maine. The first six months of my life were spent in Massachusetts. My whole life I will have to live with the fact that I am not a true Mainer, and it bothers me. I have tried to keep this under raps and not let on that I am a “flatlander”, but I cannot continue to live the lie. I love living in Maine and I cannot imaging living somewhere else. The biggest reason I love living here is the just how beautiful this place is.

My favorite area or region is the coast. I am partial to the water and it is understandable why I gravitate towards the briny blue (green). I lived on Long Island in Casco Bay when I was a very young child and that island is what I think of when I think of the southern Maine coast. There were several sandy beaches on the island and it was a great place to live as a kid. When the morning ferry arrived on a beautiful summer day, droves of people from the mainland would get off with lunch and beach towels in hand. They would walk to Southside Beach, spend the day soaking up the sun, enjoying the sea breeze, and at dusk they all would slowly head back too the ferry dock to head home. That is what I think of when I think of the southern Maine coast, sunny, sandy beaches and lots of people all bunched together.

Bold, rocky, tough, coast line with waters full of life like the mid-coast and downeast coast is what I prefer. As a teenager my best friend and his dad lobster fished off of Criehaven island. Actually, the islands proper name is Ragged Island but the township is called Criehaven, and it located about 18 miles offshore, South East of Rockland.. It is a staggeringly beautiful place. Every summer my two best friends and I would spent a couple of weeks on the island goofing off and doing odd jobs for my friends dad while he fished. I loved it. We would spend our days walking around exploring the island, the wildlife, swimming in the crystal clear water, fires on the rock beach, sunsets and sunrises. It is the most remote and beautiful place I have ever been. Wild, almost untouched nature.  That is what I think of when I think of a downeast/mid-coast coastal island.

In just a few short hours driving from my home base you can be in the amazing Maine North Woods. I have camped and hiked through a big part of this part of the state and there is beauty litrally around every corner. One of the best camping trips I went on was in late September, the start of changing leaves, with fall in the air, and my best friend, we decided to play the whole trip by ear. We ended up staying at a campsite on Round Pond, north west of Umbazooksus Lake.  Arriving late in the day and had camp set just after dark in this great campsite right on the water. I got up first in the morning, just before daybreak, made coffee over the fire and sat in my chair to see one of the most heavenly scenes I have ever witnessed. The golden sunrise lighting up the red, yellow, and orange leaves, on the hill across the pond from me. Its mirror reflection upside down in the glassy calm pond. When I recall that morning before my friend got up, it makes me think of the North Woods and that there really is a God.

I know I have only seen a small portion of this great state of Maine. I am excited to explore other areas when I can. Sometimes in the morning when I get home from my shift, my wife will ask why I am so late. I make up some excuse about not getting out on time or something like that. When in reality I had stopped to look at the mighty Penobscot River or out on the Bay. Sometimes I will be late coming home because I saw a road I have never explored and decided to see where it went. Amazingly picturesque iron bridges over slow moving streams have been discovered by doing this. I said it before and I will say it again. I love living in Maine because there is literally beauty everywhere you look and around every corner.