Dude! There's a friggin' moose behind ya!

Every year according to the Tourism Folks, Maine gets 1.2 Million visitors. Hence the statement, Vacationland. I was once part of this statistic until we moved here last year. Because I know what I am talking about I can lay money on the fact that when people make their list of what it is they are going to do in Maine it will resemble this one below:

1. See a Moose
2. Do what I came here for
3. Take pictures
4. Pack
5. Leave

Everyone wants to see a Moose. They don't want to hit one. They want to see it from a reasonable distance & most likely take it's picture. Even as  residents of Maine, my family is no exception. Bring on the Moose we say!

Now we live in Scarborough. For those of you who have no idea what I'm saying: I live ten minutes south of Portland. That is also 45 minutes from New Hampshire. That would be 30 minutes if you are from Mass. Ha-Ha. (slow down!) What that means is we don't see da Moose in this neck of the woods. We are usually too far south. They say you need to head north to places like Jackman/Moosehead Lake to guarantee that sighting! We made that trip last year. Saw a dead one in some guy's truck & two running like mad crossing the road about 100 ft ahead and that was our last sighting. We are lucky they say. Some people can live here their entire life & never see one. Vacation here to only see a Moose & never see it. So I feel good about my rare sightings.

What I'm about to tell you is a TRUE STORY. I know it's almost Halloween & tis the season to make believe BUT my friends this is really TRUE!

This week my son who happens to be 9. Cutest kid in the entire world (has nothing to do with the story but I thought it should be mentioned) is outside playing on our street. We live in a very small like 15 house -cul-de-sac-ish neighborhood. Not much happens here. (Hence the reason we moved here). He is throwing the football with his bud who lives a few houses down. His bud screams "DUDE! THERE'S A FRIGGIN' MOOSE BEHIND YA!" My son turns around & maybe 10-15 ft away standing there looking at him is a Bull Moose with a huge rack with twigs stuck in it. Thank goodness he is bright as well as cute because he took off running (he says like an NFL Receiver Mom!) and ran into the neighbor's garage. All while screaming like a girl. (he may not have said girl but I think so) The Moose took off running between the houses -towards my backyard & ran to the Marsh. Apparently my kid scared it away.

No. I don't have pictures. No I didn't look for it in the Marsh either. The reason is because my kid didn't tell us this story for 2 hours! What the heck! We had to call the neighbor to confirm. Thank goodness his bud's dad was outside when it happened. He saw the entire thing. I feel bad. I actually thought my son was fibbing. We actually threw the "Liars go to jail" at him and he still said it was true.

So there you have it. I chalk it up to Murphy's Law. When you think you WON'T SEE A MOOSE. You will. And don't forget to scream like a little girl & run like an NFL Receiver.

Have a great Halloween & look out for da Moose! Trust me, our eyes are so open!
Tracey