If you missed last week’s column, written by life-long Boothbay Harbor resident Elaine Rittershaus, I suggest you dig the Register out of the recycle bin. Elaine shared a very informative explanation of our three local associations – The Sprucewold Association, the Linekin Heights Association, and the Beach Club. She wrote it for the “newer residents” but I learned a lot, and I have been coming here since 1977. She also completed the associations’ reports, started by my mother, Mary Otto, the week before, of the annual meetings. As happens every year, we come together as a community to make decisions, solve problems, raise funds, and work together to ensure that our corner of the world remains a vibrant community.

We can count on our annual meetings, and I find this constant to be reassuring. However, even constants change. While Linekin Heights and the Beach Club held their meetings in person, the Sprucewold Association opted to meet on Zoom. As previously reported, the Sprucewold Association did hold its annual dinner in person — with a twist. We all used to cook up our favorite dish to share, but this year we were relieved of our duties and enjoyed a hot dog extravaganza! The woods of Sprucewold and our lives in these cabins hold tradition and routine as well as evolution and change.

Our morning walk doesn’t change. I am sure that many of you on Birch, Beach, Sunset, Crest, Bayberry, and Nahanada can set your clocks by the Otto cabin’s walking schedule. The walkers and dogs change over the summer and over the years, but the route remains the same and we all feel that we have stronger legs after a summer spent marching up Brutality Hill.

The real estate market has been active on Birch Road — a real example of change. There are four cabins for sale. Even Blanch Geere’s cabin is on the market. Of course, she has not lived there for almost 40 years, but I still think of it as her cabin. She had a beautiful wooden boat called a Firefly. I remember watching Blanch and Allen Rose (in his Boothbay Harbor One-Design) sail out of the bay together. We took over Blanch’s Firefly and sailed her for a number of years before she was retired to the calmer waters of a lake. My childhood turnabout still goes in the water each year. My sister and I spent many happy hours in that boat, followed by my kids and nephew. Seeing it bob up and down on the mooring gives me great pleasure. We can all enjoy the image of this boat in Linekin Bay on the backside of our fabulous Sprucewold directory. If you have not yet received your directory, please contact Jason Denby or me.

Sprucewold is a wonderful mix of hanging onto and nurturing the past while moving gracefully into the future. A friend down the road is re-doing the bathroom. The old linoleum and fixtures are in need of replacement. But get rid of the claw-foot tub? No way!

Many of the sounds from the area remain constant — the lobster boats, the osprey, rain on the roof, dogs barking (often disturbed by those darn morning walkers), and the Burnt Island foghorn.

Elaine also wrote about the helpful spirit of our community. As I write this column, this was seen again as we readied our community for the possibility of extensive wind and rain from Hurricane Henri. A group of people met at the beach on Saturday to bring all of the dinghies to land and secure the boats in the mooring field. Folks also traveled around to check mooring lines of boats whose owners are not around. We have done all we need to do to prepare, and now we wait — with a fire in the fireplace, a new puzzle spread out, and a plan for chowder for dinner. I welcome it all, again.