Another year rolls by

What a year this has been in the Oxford Hills!

What we have found is that, in our rural community, the details change, but the rhythm stays the same. Over the past 12 months, the pages of our newspapers have been filled with the best, and the worst, of the people of Western Maine.

Churches and food pantries help those who are down on their luck. Our crime beat is full of lunkheads doing things that make the rest of us shake our heads. Some children go away, and some former children come back. Birth and engagement announcements fill us with joy, while the obituaries remind us of life's soulful brevity. People face insurmountable odds just before, amazingly, they surmount them. Animals do weird things that keep us laughing, and guessing. Small businesses scrape by another tough patch. Potlucks bring together friends. Veterans display their patriotism. Hunters hunt. Preacher preach. Hikers hike. Teachers teach. Schools keep hurting for money, but continue to shower our children with attention and support.

The community as a whole keeps rolling along, like an old pickup truck that still seems comfortable, even with rust spots, leaky valves and holes in the seats.

Who would have imagined a year ago that we'd be printing a story about an elderly llama passing out and being rescued from a pond? Or that someone would use bolt-cutters to steal $30 in copper from Otisfield Community School, thereby causing thousands of dollars in damages? Or that a mysterious good Samaritan would pay for the layaway items of hundreds of strangers at local stores? Or that Oxford's oldest dog would turn 19? Or that the jam from a local business would wind up in the gift baskets of the Emmys?

And yet, now that all of those things have happened, there is a sense that, "of course they did. This is Western Maine." Indeed, where else in the world could these things have happened?

We don't have a crystal ball that allows us to predict what strange, wonderful, heartbreaking, gobsmacking, terrible, and joyous events will grace our pages in the 12 months to come.

Whatever the case, we can say that we will be here to faithfully report on those quirky twists and turns of fate that define our community.

Come this time next year, another verse will be added to the song of life in Western Maine. As is always the case, we don't know the words yet, but the tune is familiar, and we love to hum along.