Delia’s Driving Now

Delia Farris, well-known Washington County storyteller and member of the Cutler Lighthouse family, stands near her very own vehicle for the first time in many years. With her, an owl, picked up last night at Ellsworth's Birdsacre, on the way home from the car dealership. Photo by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

Having a car in Washington County Maine is almost non-negotiable. We have no public transportation to speak of, and my family lives 9 miles from the nearest grocery store, and many people live farther away from their work, schools, and shopping. As a result,  I can count on logging about 20,000 miles a year on my car, compared to my more suburban friends who might drive half as much, or even less.

There are a handful of Washington County towns where people can get by without a car. Over the years I’ve known a few people in Machias who -- for a time, anyway -- have chosen to walk or bike instead of owning a vehicle. 

But even in a walkable village, it takes a special kind of hardiness to collect your groceries on foot, no matter the weather.

Delia Farris knows what it’s like to get around Washington County without a car. When her last car gave up the ghost, Delia gave up driving. That was some years ago, and since then she has met all of her transportation needs through walking, and through friends and neighbors, especially those headed to where she wants to go.

And she goes everywhere.

You can count on seeing Delia at almost every festival, cultural event, or public supper we have, or it might be that the people she rides with go to the same events I do. Either way, delightfully, we bump into each other quite often. And sometimes, though not as often as I’d like, I’ve been that ride to town.

But those days are over, for now.

On the way out of town this morning, two Dedmon cars loaded with Griffin’s return-to-college gear stopped at Dunkin’ for coffee and ran into Delia in the parking lot. She excitedly directed us to meet this darling dog, a Japanese chin, who was traveling in the company of some mutual friends just then setting out to shop the Machias dike.

A Japanese chin dog, posing for the camera on its way to shop the Machias dike Labor Day sales. 

Once we’d become acquainted with the puppy, Delia gave us a tour of her brand new sporty Buick Envista and told of how it came to her. A dear friend, Marjorie Arbor, passed away recently. But before she did, she went to an Ellsworth car dealership and picked out the car she thought Delia would enjoy. She left all the money to pay for it and instructions that Delia could choose whatever car she liked. 

But Delia liked Marjorie’s choice, and today she’s taking it to the Blue Hill Fair.

Standing next to a front seat filled with her traveling companions, mostly owls, Delia said that she has truly enjoyed not owning a car. 

“Riding in a car takes you out of the sights, and away from the smells and the sense of place you get from walking,” said Delia, a lifelong local storyteller. 

In a car or otherwise, I trust Delia will stay connected to Washington County’s sense of place, even from the Blue Hill Fair.