Always full of disjointed thoughts, my mind was more cluttered than usual last week in those few days we call spring – the collision of winter and summer. Last week’s collection included geraniums and global warming; Iran and Iraq; kindling and Kimball asparagus; lawn mowers and letters to the editor; Marden’s (yes!) a meeting I missed; my missing reading glasses (very bad) and mislaid (favorite) earrings; mice; moving south; lampshades, lilacs and Lithuanian sausage.

Moving south

Funny how, looking back, it’s easy to see the signs of change on the way. Big change. Even before we lived here year-round, our friend and neighbor Bob Colby was important to our survival here. He mowed for us and plowed for us and built for us. And drank coffee with us and talked with us.

Now Bob is getting ready to go south on us. Maybe we didn’t want to see the signs because we will miss him very much. We wish him all the best and happiness in his new life.

Lithuanian sausage

Last Saturday morning, we needed to feed the Camry and so pulled into the former Four Corners, where you have to pump your own. It was my turn. When I’d paid up (over $42), I espied Patty Hopkins and her cousin, Jane Shuck.

They were off to Swift Avenue, bearing a copy of the Lithuanian Culture magazine and intending to taste and buy sausage.

The Volkernicks’ Sausage Customer Appreciation Day had been announced to us in a flier, and we hurried to get to the tasting. Patty and Jane and quite a few other people were there ahead of us. Four-year-old Colby Volkernick ran to meet us. “Hurry,” he said, “they’re just closing up.”

Happily, he was wrong. We tasted three versions of a Polish/Lithuanian specialty: A boiled “ring” (add bay leaves and peppercorns, boil for 25 minutes); grilled links; and ground sausage patties.

Patty Hopkins and her cousin are Lithuanian – and very proud of it – so I was surprised when Jane asked Jeremy Volkernick how he prepared the boiled ring. Why? Because when she stocks up on Lithuanian foods out in Chicago, her brother does the cooking.

In my mind, I’d anticipated Joe “Video” Volkernick – what a great job he does at Channel 7 – tending the sausages. But no, it was his nephew. Kelly and Jeremy Volkernick haven’t been in the sausage business very long, and they both have full-time jobs, Kelly at the credit union and Jeremy in the Rumford Fire Department. But if Saturday’s sales are any indicator, they’ll do well.

Asked about the ingredients, Jeremy emphasized the freshness of the ground pork, and listed salt, garlic, onion and “four secret spices.”

Sorting through clutter

… Some of it anyway: the lawn is being mown; the letters are organized; I found my glasses; Jim caught the mice. Can’t do much about Iran and Iraq from here, but can cut down on gas guzzling. Besides, the lilacs are blooming, and there’s sausage for supper.

Linda Farr Macgregor lives with her husband, Jim, in Rumford. She is a freelance writer and author of Rumford Stories. Contact her: [email protected]