Life, Etc. -- One

Megan grabbed her pillow and covered her head when she heard the alarm clock—No, no, it’s too early, she groaned to herself.  Last night, after helping Emily with her homework—which she’d put off until the very last minute, Megan had stayed up until after 2 a.m. looking over the publishers’ catalogs for the spring book order.  With little sleep and the order to complete, a long day lay ahead….

          Megan turned over, shut off the alarm and grabbed her old blue, fuzzy bathrobe.  The middle of October defined temperature change for the Northwest; especially in the mornings.  As she stepped from her warm, carpeted bedroom to the hardwood hallway, she cursed the cold floors.  Where were her winter slippers when she needed them?

 

Flipping on the coffee maker, she settled herself at the kitchen window that looked out over the maple, ash and oak tree tops in Clara Elsworth’s yard.  Their reds and speckled gold and brown tones were a witness to the onset of fall.  She felt fortunate to have such beauty without the demanding hours spent to create it.

          Megan and Emily lived in an apartment over the Book n’ Brew, a book and coffee shop she opened two years ago.  After her divorce from Emily’s father, Megan knew she wanted to get her then eight year old daughter out of Los Angeles.  Meandering around Oregon while headed to the San Juan Islands on vacation took them through Maple Village along the McKenzie River in Central Oregon.  Driving down the main street, lined with maples, Emily saw a restaurant sign, Granny’s Cooked Goose.  She laughed and excitedly said,  “Mommy, let’s eat there and see if they really have a goose!”

When they entered, a voice from the back welcomed them.  A tall, attractive woman about 60, her thick gray hair pulled back into a pony tail and held in place by pink rose buds—and somewhere out of sight, a rubber band, called out as she appeared,  “Hi!  Where are you folks from?”

“Los Angeles.  We’re headed to the San Juans for a short vacation.  We like the name of your restaurant and decided to stop.  Actually we’re also considering a move to Oregon.”  Megan felt a sense of comfort in this place—a hominess that she never felt with all the traffic and commotion in southern California.

 

“Well now, Maple Village is always looking for friendly people to be a part of our little town.  My name is Louise by the way.

“And I’m Megan and this is my daughter, Emily.”

“Before we talk more, I’d better let you decide what you want to eat—since that’s probably why you came in!”  Louise laughed.  Her jolliness reminded Megan of Ma Kettle from the old movies her grandmother watched with her as a child.

Megan and Emily ordered.  Emily nudged her mother under the table and cocked her head toward the waitress.  Megan smiled, “My daughter wants to know if you have any geese here.”

“Actually, there’s a bit of a story to that.  Let me take your orders and I’ll be back and tell you all about it, Emily.”

As they waited, Megan looked around.  The décor had an Old English flair--dark red drapes hung at the sides of the windows.  Small bouquets of red and yellow roses adorned each table.  Several old hutches in dark woods stood against walls covered with yellow rose wallpaper.  Pictures faded into sepia showing children and geese in various activities hung on the walls.  And here and there large wrought iron geese stood about the room.  She loved the atmosphere, plus the friendliness of Louise.

Megan ordered a salad and Emily a grilled cheese.  With the salad came a variety of delicate crackers—obviously home made.  What a treat!

When they were nearly finished, Louise approached their table.  “Emily, so you want to hear about how this place got its name?”  Megan was again impressed with this woman’s relaxed friendliness.  

Louise smiled and pulled out a chair.  “John and Rachel Baldwin arrived in the valley in 1842.  They were from the eastern seaboard someplace—I can’t remember now.  As the story goes, he started a cattle farm.  They loved the valley but Rachel missed maple trees.  Their family from the east sent them seedlings.  Thus began the maples.”

“What about the geese?” Obviously Emily’s focus was on her special interest.

“O, I’ll get to that.  The trees grew, and more and more people arrived from the east and loved the color they remembered so fondly.  When this area officially became a town, the people knew so much history about the Baldwin family and the origin of the maple trees, the name just naturally became Maple Village."

Louise went on with her history lesson.  The Baldwin family had five children.  They believed in teaching good work ethics, so they purchased geese for the children to raise and eat at Thanksgiving. 

 

“When this restaurant opened 30 years ago by a great-great—I don’t know how many greats—granddaughter of John and Rachel Baldwin, an old suitcase was found in the attic of the old homestead.  In it were stories on yellowed paper that told about the geese—actual day-to-day accounts.  Evidently one of the kids kept a kind of diary.  Some pretty funny stories about being chased up trees, nipped and scratched, and more than one story about the geese getting in the house and messing it up pretty badly.

“When this great-great-plus-granddaughter opened this place, she decided to name it Granny’s Cooked Goose.  So, Emily, no, we don’t serve goose on our menu, and there are no live ones running around.”  Emily sat through the story with a big grin, and clapped her hands when Louise finished.

“What a great story—and what an interesting history!”  Megan felt more and more impressed with how much she liked the atmosphere of this place.  By the time they left the restaurant, it was nearly 4 o’clock.  “I noticed a B & B when we first drove into town, Emily.  Would you like to stay a night?”

“Mommy, I’d love that!”

The next day Megan began her research on Maple Village.  After several days riding the ferries to the various San Juan Islands and sleeping in quaint B & B’s, Megan and Emily returned to Maple Village on their way back to California.  Megan set up an appointment to view properties.  She'd already researched the school and the financial potential for a bookshop—and thus began her dream since childhood. Within six months, this picturesque town of 10,458 (until they arrived making it 10,460!) became their home. 

To be continued...