Vicki Doudera - Realtor, Author, Mainer

Right around Valentine’s Day, I drove over the snowy roads to visit friend and client Jeff Cleaveland. Jeff and his wife Cathy moved to Maine from Seattle about two years ago. They bought a new home in a small rural town, got their two young children situated in schools, began making friends and even starting new businesses. (Cathy makes Maine-themed gift baskets.) About a year later, they asked me to send them some land listings, and before long they purchased a nice piece of property just up the road from their home.

When Jeff invited me out for a ski and to see his progress with the land, I eagerly accepted. The snow has been great this year (it’s snowing now as I write this!) and I’m always ready to get out there and play. Plus, I was interested in seeing firsthand Jeff and Cathy’s plans for their 55+ acre property.

Temperatures were in the 20’s but the sun was bright overhead. We followed old stone walls and meandering paths created by Jeff through the woods and past little farmponds.  I was surprised at how varied the terrain:  there are beautiful outcroppings, small meadows, and old orchards with ancient fruit-bearing apple trees. There are high spots and low spots; evergreens and deciduous trees; clearings and areas that are densely vegetated.

Most striking, however, is Jeff’s dedication to managing the land (with an eye to eventually building his own house) in an environmentally friendly manner.  Rather than burning or hauling away the considerable brush, for instance, Jeff runs it through a chipper to return it to the soil. Instead of the constant whine of a chainsaw, Jeff uses hand tools whenever possible, limiting noise and air pollution from the power tool to a mere 10 or so minutes an hour.

There are all kinds of love in the world, and it stands to reason that many of us who live here in Maine share a love for the land. “Thoughts from the Woods” is Jeff’s way of chronicling his journey as a new Mainer. Stop in and see what he has to say.