O is for out … outsider, outlander, outlandish … out. I’ve been feeling like an outlander here in the Netherlands, as I tried to open up about in my last post. Thank you for your understanding. I generally don’t talk about those feelings, because I made the choice to move here and I don’t feel like I really have any right to complain about the inherent difficulties of living in a different country and culture. There were many times when I could’ve turned back before things became as complicated as they now are. Truth be told, I often felt like an outsider in Maine, too. The Downeast Maine I grew up in has changed a lot in the past 20 years - and in many ways, that really is a good thing. People from rural, remote areas can be a little … unfeeling toward those they view as outsiders. Fortunately, so many people have moved to the area from ‘away’ that this sort of us versus them hostility has eased up tremendously. And that’s great, because the people from ‘my’ part of Maine really are wonderful for the most part. They just needed to relax a little bit around strangers. 
The comments you made to my last post were very comforting. Lots of good advice in there, too. My parents also pitched in with their two cents’ worth, too. And basically, you’ve got a good point with making the choice that will result in what makes my kids happiest (or what I think will make them happiest). The Maine that I miss isn’t exactly the Maine that exists, either … it’s made up of bits of my childhood, bits of how it really is, and a fair amount of how I know it could be ‘if only’.
As for moving someday - who knows? Would the six of us make good outlanders? Would my kids’ Dutch accents be too outlandish in the region that gave birth to the ‘ayuh’ made immortal in episodes of Murder, She Wrote? One wonders…
