America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston

(dramatic music) - It's human nature to seek out comfort, to avoid the extremes.

Yet there will always be people who cling to the edges, adapting to anything, from scorching deserts to frigid tundras.

Now, I live in Los Angeles, where a cold day is 55 degrees in the shade, and I've learned to like it that way.

But this is Maine, where winters are colder than I've felt in a long while.

And to my surprise, everywhere I look, people are outside, working, playing, thriving.

Really, what is it about winter in Maine that gets people to go outdoors?

To find out, I'm willing to do some shivering.

My name is Baratunde Thurston.

I'm a writer, activist, sometimes comedian, and I'm all about telling a better story of us.

This country is wild, and its natural landscapes are as diverse as its people.

- Hey - [Baratunde] How does our relationship with the outdoors define us as individuals and as a nation?

(dramatic music) (dramatic music) I grew up on the east coast, and went to college right here in New England.

So I've got some experience in Maine.

I remember eating lobster for the first time, back in the summer of 1988, on a camping trip with my mom.

And when I lived in Boston in the early 2000s, I would come up to Portland to do standup comedy gigs.

But you would've never caught me here during the coldest months of the year.

Yet here I am, on the path to discovering why Mainers have such an affinity for snow and ice.

(calm string music) (lively synth music) They say your family has to live here for three generations to be a true Mainer.

If one generation decides to move to Massachusetts, well, sorry.

Some might say your ties to Maine just suffered a setback.

So it's only fitting that The first one I meet is Ken Lincoln, president of the Thompson Ice House and Museum in South Bristol.

Ken's family goes back generations, and his accent tells the story for him.

- I need a couple saw horses, and chairs.

Grab me two chairs out of the annex.

- Since 1990, He's led an ice harvest on Thompson Pond in South Bristol, where he grew up skating, fishing, and cutting ice.

Feel like I'm in the world's largest freezer.

I've never seen anything like this, and I'm standing on ice.

I've never done that before, so I'm just trying to be, you know, cool about it.

No pun intended.

(workers sawing) Hello.

- How are you?

- Baratunde.

- Ken Lincoln.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you, yeah.

- The most I've stood on ice in my life.

- Really?

- Yes.

- Well try to stay on the ice.

- Definitely, I'm sticking with you.

- That doesn't mean we're not going swimming.

- Oh really?

Okay.

So what are we doing today?

- [Ken] We're gonna put some ice off.

- [Baratunde] - All right, yeah.

- Same way they've done it for 200 years.

- 200 years.

- On this pond, yep.

- For Ken, harvesting ice is more than just nostalgia.

It brought the community together.

Local fishermen used the ice to keep their catch cold.

Farmers used it for their meat and dairy, and regular people put it in their ice boxes, something rural Mainers were doing well into the '70s.

People from the town would come together to work in the winter, so they could reap the rewards in the summer.

Today, it's important for Ken to keep that tradition alive.

So every winter, he puts together a festival that attracts people from all over the world.

And it's a whole community.

I mean, you got kids out here, you got moms and dads.

- [Ken] Oh, yeah.

- It's like a barn raising, but on ice.

Show me how to do it, I'm a novice.

- Right here, we're gonna take this block here.

So you start right here, cut back to here.

- Okay.

- Cut back this side.

- Okay.

- And then I'll break it loose.

- All right, I can grab this one.

- That one right there is good and sharp.

- And no extra training besides that?

- [Ken] I bet you fall right into it.

- I don't wanna fall into anything.

- Literally.

- At the turn of the 19th century, ice harvesting was big money.

Up and down rivers, and on hundreds of lakes, if it froze in the winter, people would hop on it with big saws, just like the one I'm using, and cut it up.

It's just like the gym.

A lot of the tools here are antiques.

And the methods used haven't changed.

Well, except now they use a truck instead of horses to haul up the ice box.

That's a good workout.

- [Ken] Once we release the edges of it, - [Baratunde] Yeah.

- [Ken] And then we'll break 'em off in a big raft.

- [Baratunde] Right.

- [Ken] And that way you can float 'em over to the channel, chunk 'em up, - Yeah.

- In the house they go.

- [Worker] This was my grandfather's ice saw, and he cut ice on Dixon's Pond in Boonton Township, New Jersey.

- We're gonna put it to work right now.

- Do that, please.

- We got a new saw to try out.

Came from New Jersey, so I'm not sure how good it's gonna work, but.

(worker laughing) - I keep thinking I'm standing on ground, and I prefer to think that, otherwise I will freak out.

I'm standing on water.

Every time he whacks at it, I can feel it.

There's like an echo under my feet, and that is not the most comforting feeling in the world.

But they seem confident, so I'm confident.

(cheerful guitar music) - [Ken] You want start on that end and just, I'll start this end.

- Okay.

- One hit, one hit.

And this should come off as a big raft.

- Okay.

(saws clacking) - [Ken] Oh yeah.

- [Baratunde] What?

Breaking up the ice, sending it up the channels, just a bunch of locals working together.

- There we go.

- It's easy to see why rituals like this are part of what makes Maine, Maine.

but technological advances like your fridge's ice dispenser aren't the only thing threatening this tradition.

So what happened with that one?

- It's warmer out today.

- Ah.

- So you're getting a little bit more of that.

- Yeah, I blame climate change.

- Hey, that's part of it.

I mean, the last three years, we've had seven inches, and before that we've had like 20 inches, and two feet before, yeah.

- [Baratunde] Two feet of ice?

- Yeah.

This is not typical.

- Yeah, okay.

As the outside crew was moving the ice up the channel, there's a whole other crew inside the ice house itself, where the blocks are stacked and stored.

Each one weighs over a hundred pounds.

But if it's really cold, these blocks get thicker and heavier.

I'm talking over 300 pounds apiece.

300 pounds of solid ice coming at you while you're standing on, you guessed it, even more ice.

It looks like a recipe for getting crushed, but it also seems too fun to resist.

Hello?

Wow.

I have never been in an ice house before.

Ooh, it's cold in here.

- It's colder in here than it is out there.

- I'm Ken Lincoln's son, Kyle.

- Hi Kyle, Baratunde.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you too.

- Thanks for coming and helping out today.

- Yeah.

How many seasons have you done this?

- 30.

- 30 seasons, - Woo.

- Not inside, though.

- Okay.

- I'm gonna graduate up to that.

- Yeah?

What's it like having this as a part of your family?

- It's been a great experience.

You know, learning just about the history, the real history of how we used to keep things cold, and getting to see it and actually experience it firsthand.

- Yeah.

- You know, you can read about it all you want, but unless you're in this ice house, you don't understand, - Yeah.

- how much work is involved.

- It's history you can interact with.

- Yeah, exactly.

- What are we doing with this one?

- Go ahead and tug on it.

Hook it on the side, and coming at you.

- I missed it!

This is hard.

Woo.

Now I get why the most experienced ice harvesters get to work in here.

These huge blocks have to not only be hooked, but then guided into place in a split second.

Aside from dodging these things as they whiz around your ankles, you've gotta worry about slipping and falling.

Like many outdoor jobs, it requires a lot more grace than you think.

And here in Maine, they take it in stride.

(cheerful music) Y'all are crazy in Maine, but this is real cool.

- [Kyle] You're hired, man.

- I want to thank you for showing me how to do this, and letting me into the ice house.

It's been a pleasure.

Who wants my pick?

(all laughing) - Oh, man.

They're not gonna let me go.

I work here now.

No, but seriously, who's going to, I can't leave it unmanned.

That feels irresponsible.

(chill guitar music) After all the ice has been stacked up and the crowd is gone, I'm still left wondering why people are so invested in this tradition.

I'm hoping Ken can shed some light on that.

The coolest building in Maine.

- [Ken] It is, yeah.

- It's a free one, you can use that.

- Yeah, okay.

(Ken laughing) - Where are we right now?

- We are sitting on the Gut, in South Bristol, Maine.

- And what's your connection to this Gut?

- Been here my whole life.

My mother grew up just up the street.

- Why have you stayed?

- Just look around.

You know, it's a slow paced life.

(gulls calling) Some people call it boring.

I like the slow life, this time of year.

- Yeah.

- You can go up on that ice pond on a freezing cold day, and there's nothing around you.

Maybe a bird flying by, and the pond will talk to you.

- [Baratunde] What do you mean by that?

- [Ken] As it freezes, it buckles, and it's just amazing to stand up there and listen to it.

- Yeah.

How did you get started in the ice house?

- Well, I started skating up there when I was big enough to skate.

And my father used to work it in like the '60s, and early '70s.

So as I grew, we went up and helped him.

And then when I was about 11 years old, I got the opportunity to go in the ice house.

You had to be a certain age.

- It's a big deal.

- And it was a big deal.

- Yeah.

- You know, it's like graduating.

I get to go in the ice house, so.

- Seems like tradition's really important in Maine.

- Yes.

- And tradition is based on stability.

- Yes.

- You know, including the weather, and the climate, and the environment, and the water levels.

- Yes.

- And the temperatures, and the creatures.

So when all that's changing really quickly, when the temperature's changing quickly, - Yeah.

- how hard is it to maintain traditions?

- It's getting more difficult for sure.

I mean, cutting six inches of ice compared to 12.

- Yeah.

- We're getting to the lower end of it, that we won't be able to continue it, because it'll be too dangerous to get on the ice.

There's other industries, fishing industry, I mean, they can only go so far to catch a lobster, and keep it lucrative.

- [Baratunde] Yeah.

- [Ken] You know what I mean?

They can keep trying to go north, but it's gonna chase them.

- [Baratunde] Yeah.

So if we don't have cold weather, it totally changes the character of the state of Maine.

- Yeah.

- It'll be a different place.

It won't be home.

- What is a desert, when it rains all the time?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

What's an ice bond if it doesn't freeze?

- Yeah.

Thanks so much, Ken.

- Thank you.

- It's been a real honor and pleasure getting to know you.

- Yeah, it's been a good day.

- And I'm glad I didn't fall into the, - The pond?

- the pond, yeah.

- It's not too late.

(laughing) (calm music) (cheerful guitar music) (boat motor whirring) - Harvesting ice is a lot more strenuous than going to your freezer.

But it wasn't that long ago that the outdoors was where most people went to earn a living.

And in Maine, that's still the way for some, especially along the coast.

In the past, this was lobster country, but today we're starting to see a shift in the catch.

Like they say, there are other fish, or bivalves, in the sea.

At Mere Point Oysters in Brunswick, former shellfish warden Dan Devereux and Kelly Punch are part of the team cultivating a rather different, but equally delicious delicacy from the Maine waters: oysters.

Yes, even in the dead of winter.

What's up?

- I'm Kelly.

- Baratunde.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you too.

What's up man?

Nice to meet you, Baratunde, - Dan?

- Yes, Dan, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you as well.

- Welcome.

- [Baratunde] Dan and Kelly here are actually more farmers than fishers.

They're part of a small crew that works throughout the year, tending to oysters that they raise in floating cages out in the water, letting them grow for months before bringing them back to land, and into the hungry mouths of oyster connoisseurs nationwide.

- [Dan] So we call this the oyster barn here.

- We bring all the oysters off the water back to the barn.

We sort them all by hand, bag them all by hand.

Everything, you know, when you have your eyes on it, you can really pick out the nicest oyster.

Get rid of the ones that don't make the cut.

- Yeah.

When you bring oysters in, how many at a time are we talking, in terms of this harvesting?

- I think on a Monday, sometimes we'll send out, you know, 40,000 oysters, depending.

- 40,000 oysters.

- Yep, yep.

- On a Monday.

- Yeah.

- That's your Monday.

- That's our Monday.

- My Monday is nothing like that.

(Kelly and Dan laughing) For comparisons sake, I check emails.

That's what I do on Monday.

You send 40,000 oysters?

- Yeah.

- And how many people are helping you get through kind of those harvest moments?

- In the winter it's about six of us.

In the summer, there's about 20 of us.

- Okay.

- But numbers go up in the summertime.

- Yeah, yeah.

- In the winter, we're pretty much just harvesting, fixing gear, making new bags, and preparing for what we're about to set out in the summer.

- Yeah, so more the behind the scenes work.

- Yes, absolutely.

- I'm getting the secrets.

- Yeah, it's the core crew in the wintertime.

- Yeah.

I wanna see more, can I see more?

- Yeah.

- Yes.

All right.

(calm music) - We lost the cold exhale.

So dramatic.

- [Kelly] You would think that getting out on the water, that's where you'd have it.

- Ought to be colder, yeah.

- This is Mere Point Bay.

- Okay.

Oyster farmers like these are part of a new generation of Mainers, working on the water.

Up and down the coast, aquaculture has taken off with kelp farms, mussel farms, and oyster farms.

They're seeding and raising and harvesting, all of it in cages they float in the water.

Having that much control takes away some risk of volatile weather, overfishing, and fluctuating natural populations.

Plus I bet a quick boat ride out to an oyster farm beats going miles offshore in the middle of winter.

Now that I'm bundled up, this is downright pleasant.

All right, we're coming up.

- Mm hm.

- You wanna get the first one, and we'll work our way down the line?

So Baratunde, - Yeah?

- This is the part that you get to help with.

You can help, you got your gloves on?

- You're gonna - I do.

- grab this cap end and bring it up a little bit, and then we're going to lift the whole cage up, and on to the eye hooks.

- Okay.

- Perfect.

- All right.

- Yep.

- [Dan] And then the latches are here.

- [Kelly] So now we'll unhook.

Can you do that one?

- [Dan] Pull it, there you go.

- Yep, and now we're just going to pull the bags out.

We're gonna stack 'em on the boat.

- [Baratunde] Whoa.

- [Dan] Yep, go ahead.

(grunting) - Y'all are heavy.

Oh my goodness.

- [Kelly] And slippery.

- [Baratunde] It's like CrossFit.

- So now we're gonna flip it over.

That way the cage has a chance to dry up.

- Nice.

We just harvested, I did my first oyster harvest.

- You did your first oyster harvest.

- You could charge people to do this in L.A. - We do now.

(all laughing) - So I wanna take a wide view of, you know, what these waters are traditionally known for.

When I think about Maine, right, I think of lobster.

- Right, right.

- And, I think of lobster cages, and lobster people, and lobstermen, but this isn't that.

So can you talk a bit about the transition?

- Yeah.

- From lobster to oyster, for Maine.

- So once you get more outside into the deeper parts of Casco Bay, there used to be so many lobster pots, that you could literally hardly drive a boat through there, back, you know, 20 years ago, 20, 25 years ago.

We just don't see that the lobster population's crawling in anymore, because of the warmer waters.

I mean, the hard part is, you know, the fisherman having that black cloud on his shoulder that, oh my God, are we not gonna be able to lobster?

Are my kids not gonna be able to lobster?

That's a scary story.

- It's like an identity thing.

- Yeah, it's like an identity thing.

And so having the ability to transition to aquaculture, whether it be kelp farming, or oyster farming, or clam farming, is a real cool opportunity for those younger generations.

- [Baratunde] Yeah.

- It's really great to be able to work with oysters all day long, and eat oysters every day, pretty much.

- Yeah, yeah.

You make me very hungry.

(all laughing) - [Ken] Let's open.

- Can we?

What?

- Oh wow, nice.

- You are ready, I love this.

I thought I was just here to work.

- No, this is your reward.

This is your payment.

- This is your reward.

(bright synth music) - You want to eat it, or do you want me to eat it?

- Oh, I want to eat it.

You sure?

- I'm not gonna take your pay.

(all laughing) - And I'll shuck this one for you.

- Here you go.

- Whoa.

Oh my God, that's so briny.

It doesn't need anything.

- [Dan] No.

Naked, we call it, - It doesn't need anything.

We're always putting horseradish, and all kinds of - Then you can't taste - cocktail sauce.

- that beautiful oyster.

There's nothing to hide here.

This is, ocean kiss.

Hope my wife's not jealous.

Yeah, I'm feeling that, - Connection.

- That connection.

That's the word.

- Yeah.

- It's just kinda moving with these gentle waves.

It's cold, but it's like comfortable.

- [Kelly] Yeah.

- What's it like working outside when it's bitter cold?

- We have like 17 layers on.

- Yeah.

- Right.

- I say, you know, people ask like, well what do you wear in the winter?

I say you dress until you can't bend over anymore, and then you take a layer off, and then there you go.

(all laughing) - So you find that limit.

- Yeah, you have to be able to bend, but like almost where - Yeah.

- you can't bend.

- Yeah.

- And then you're protected.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- I love the cold.

- Yeah.

- I mean I love the winters.

I love the seasons.

The more snow we have, the better it is.

I mean, if you're gonna live in the northeast, you've got to embrace the cold.

You know, or you're gonna get stuck inside.

- This is your office.

- Yes.

The view sucks, obviously.

- Oh man.

This makes working at a computer feel real, real silly.

I've lost count of the muscle groups that have been activated by my time with you today.

There's something about doing manual labor in the freezing cold that just feels, and in this case tastes, right.

Now this is coming from someone who sits in front of a computer most of the day.

So I may be romanticizing this just a little bit.

The reality is, only around 4% of the American workforce actually works outside.

But after hanging out on a boat and eating fresh oysters, I could see that it has its own rewards.

(oyster shells clacking) I got to taste the oyster out in the water.

I got to pull these big bags in.

My back is gonna feel it tomorrow, 'cause that's not a move I do every day.

So I just wanna thank you for this, and I'd love to take a shucking lesson from you, so I can go back and impress my friends.

- Yeah.

So you wanna take your time when you actually go to shuck it.

You put the tip into the hinge.

I tilt my knife back a little bit, so that it's scraping that top adductor muscle, without cutting the oyster.

- Okay.

- Good job.

- Yeah, it's loose.

- And then you cheers.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

(cheerful folk music) - Yes.

Mm!

- That's a good oyster.

- You never saw it come back down, did you?

It just went straight up.

- Just went straight up to heaven.

- [Baratunde] How do you not eat all of these all the time?

(Kelly laughing) The cold forces us to be alert.

There's no lazy strolls through a snow covered field.

No lounging in cold waters, that's for sure.

Each breath has purpose.

The cold makes us focused, present, alive.

It leaves us no choice.

Now a lot of us are conditioned to avoid the cold at all costs, but not in Maine.

The people I've met here, they work in the cold, they live in the cold.

It's something they learn at an early age, and it's something I'm learning more about with each person I meet.

- Winters in Maine, if you don't like the cold or the snow, can be a little lonesome or brutal.

- You know, I have some family who live in Florida in the winter, and they've very often encouraged me to come down.

But to me it's just a boring place, flat and warm.

And I don't like that.

- Don't love the cold when it gets in the negatives.

But you know, anything above that's pretty nice.

- There are those days that will be etched in your memory, because it's so cold you can feel it in your lungs, and your nose freezes.

- But if you like the cold weather, or you're willing to get out and embrace the snow and embrace the sleet, and embrace the ice, then you can have quite a lot of fun.

- You gotta love the Maine weather.

Most Mainers do like it.

We complain, 'cause we can't wait until spring gets here.

But we still do like the winter.

- I do a lot of ice fishing in the winter.

I still go out and cut, cut wood with a chainsaw in the winter.

- Get skis, get snowshoes, get microspikes, and just get outside as much as you can.

It's beautiful here.

- We try to do some snowshoeing.

My wife is a big skier.

- I like to do everything from snowshoeing to, you know, just running through the woods.

It's hard to breathe in this thing.

- Weather does get wicked up here at times, I'll tell you.

- I hear wicked a lot.

- Wicked.

- Way more than I ever heard in my life.

- Wicked funny.

- Wicked awesome.

- Wicked pissah.

- Wicked pissah.

- Wicked pissah.

- Yeah.

- How wicked would you like it?

(laughing) (footsteps crunching) (dramatic string music) - [Baratunde] The western foothills of Maine are a paradise for outdoor sports.

And the little town of Norway has been known for over a century as the snowshoeing capital of America.

(cowbells ringing) Every year they hold a snowshoeing festival, which includes a 10k race, in snowshoes.

And, snow yoga.

Snow-ga?

This I gotta try.

I've done hot yoga.

So cold yoga seems counterintuitive.

Yet there's something centering about doing it outside, even in the winter, and feeling that cold air all around you.

- Namaste.

Thank you very much, everyone.

- [Baratunde] And it makes sense.

Scientists are showing that time spent outside is a key part of staying healthy, physically and mentally.

And the living proof of that are three locals who are about to take me snowshoeing.

- Hello.

- Hello.

- Hi, how we doing?

- I'm Kari.

- Baratunde.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- Hi, Justin.

- Hello Justin, - Hi.

- Baratunde.

- Nice to meet you.

- And hi, I'm Aaron.

- Aaron.

- Nice to meet you.

- Kari, Justin, and Aaron.

- You got it.

- Thanks for having me.

- Yeah, thanks for coming.

We appreciate it.

- My first time, so.

- Your first time?

First time snowshoeing.

- Mine too.

- Yeah.

- What?

- Yeah, we bought 'em a couple years ago.

- Yeah.

- And we do lots of like skiing and hiking, but just hadn't gotten out to do this, so.

- Okay.

- Here we go.

- What about you?

I've been out a few times, yeah.

- Okay, so we're all following Aaron.

- That's exactly right.

- I don't know if that's a safe bet.

- Aaron's our leader now!

- [Justin] It's all on you.

(pizzicato string music) - [Kari] I'm terrified I'm gonna fall, we'll see.

I'd fall even without them.

- If you fall, - You'll catch me?

- You just get back up.

- Oh, okay.

- No no, you're gonna fall.

I'm not even risking my life.

- But just get back up.

- But I'll help you get up.

- I appreciate that.

- Dive between you and the ice.

No, Kari!

- Slow motion.

- [Aaron] Alright, let's go.

Which is a slow prospect in snowshoes.

- [Kari] So I just walk normal, right?

Walk like I normally would?

(all laughing) - Okay.

Whoops.

- The woods can be a place for fun, for food, for work.

But for some, it's a refuge.

Each of my companions today has struggled with addiction.

And for them, spending time in nature has been part of their recovery.

They're part of a support group called the Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative, or WMARI.

It hosts regular outings for people in recovery to find kinship and healing in the great outdoors.

- [Justin] I saw a toddler out here in their onesie today.

Just acclimating.

- [Kari] Does not surprise me.

- [Justin] Their little Carhartt beanie.

- [Kari] Well that's the thing about Maine, they put the kids on the skis when they're, you know, so young.

(solemn music) - Maine, like too many states, has serious issues with substance abuse.

And for a rural state with a problem as big as this, resources can be stretched thin.

But what Maine is rich in is nature, and WMARI's recovery outings make use of this abundant resource to help support people in recovery.

Where'd you grow up, Aaron?

- [Aaron] I'm originally from town called Dixfield.

- Dixfield?

- Right in Maine, yeah.

- [Baratunde] Yeah.

- [Aaron] Born and bred.

I did my city life.

I keep coming back out here to the woods, you know.

- So I hear them say you're a veteran?

- I am, yeah.

I was in the army, yeah.

Part-time, I was a reservist.

- Okay.

- Yeah, I did eight years.

Got me into gear, doing the right things.

- Yeah.

- 'Cause I wasn't in such a good place, you know, when I was, well, before that.

- This is a good place.

- [Aaron] This is, this is it right here.

- Whoa, not too bad.

- Look at that.

- Not too bad at all.

I'll take that house.

Is there something different about the experience of doing these outdoor activities as a part of a recovery community, versus what you were used to?

- It's completely different when you have, you know, people in recovery just connecting, you know, how therapeutic it can be, and hearing people's stories.

- Yeah.

- When you're drinking or using, you know, I know for me, at the end, it was an isolation thing.

So I wasn't with anybody, it was just me, alone.

And so it really gets you outta that box of the isolation, and into, you know, a community that you can feel safe in.

Yeah.

- What role does nature play, and the outdoors play, in providing a safe space?

You know, are people like, that's not safe at all, that's dangerous.

(all laughing) Or does it feel like such a shift from what folks are used to, that it actually becomes a safer space?

- I think it's definitely a shift.

If you're in an environment that's got drugs, got alcohol, maybe violence, you know, you come out here, there's that peace.

It's more of a positive place to be in.

You get that relaxed feeling when you're out in the woods, and you're making friends.

You're talking with people, you know, from different backgrounds.

- It's very calming, it's very relaxing.

And in a time when life can be very busy and very hectic, it's just a good way to come out and, you know, be with like-minded people and just relax for a little bit.

- How do you encourage people to move through that, and embrace nature in the cold as well?

- You just do different things than you do in other seasons.

And you bundle up, and once you get out there and you do it, and you're in the cold and having fun, your perspective on it changes.

You know, I forget, like, we're in Maine, it's pretty cold here, kind of thing, but yeah, I don't know.

You just get out and do it.

And then when you have fun then you keep doing it.

- Yeah.

- You know, you wanna go out and do it again.

If you live in Maine, you have to be into winter activities.

Either that or you're gonna be inside.

- Yeah.

- All winter.

And it's so different too, right?

Getting out in the winter versus getting out in the summer.

It's like you get to experience where you live in a completely different way.

The animals are different.

You can see through the trees.

- Yeah.

- And you can see the lake.

And where in the summer you wouldn't be able to see that.

- [Baratunde] Exposure to nature is key to WMARI's mission.

And yeah, for much of the year here, it's cold, it's dark, it can be isolated.

Maybe not the most ideal place for people struggling with addiction.

These are conditions that might cause someone to coop themselves up inside, and get stuck in their old behavior patterns.

But getting outside can help break that cycle, and is one of many pieces to the puzzle of a healthy recovery.

- If somebody's active in drugs or alcohol, that's pretty much their entire life.

And if you take that away, you have to replace it with something.

With so many options and opportunities with the recovery outings, let's say yes, try hiking, try this or try that.

I think it's a great opportunity to show that there's other things, much bigger things out there, than what the drugs and alcohol provide.

- What do you think contributes to if there are unique factors to substance use disorder in Maine?

- Yeah, I think Maine is not unlike a lot of other rural communities across the United States.

There's still unfortunately a lot of stigma here.

And I think you find that in rural communities across the United States.

It's just a matter of like getting out, and this is what WMARI does, getting out and educating people.

'Cause most of the time, people don't know what they don't know.

You know, I have been sober for several years, but it was very private.

It's not something I shared with people.

And yeah, some of that, I mean a lot of that, is shame.

When you're in active addiction, you do things that obviously you're not proud of, but when you do them, you think you're doing them because you're a bad person.

(solemn music) I have kids, I'm a mother, right?

- Yeah.

- And I've been dealing with addiction on and off, while raising them.

And they're both older now, 23 and 18.

And I'm grateful to have been sober the last five and a half years.

But some of the things they had to experience, it hurts.

And to know now that I have a disorder, that I wasn't a bad person, I was sick.

You know, if, if I had known that when I was in active addiction, if somebody had reached out to me and said that to me, maybe things would've been different.

That's why I share my story with people, is because I want other people who are in the middle of it to hear that, and not feel alone.

- I'm not gonna lie, Kari's story is tough, but it's also inspiring.

It's about giving yourself permission to redefine who you are.

This journey isn't a straight line, but the community she's built exploring the outdoors is giving her the opportunity to change the narrative.

Recovery is natural.

Trees help each other out when one of them experiences disease.

And as humans, we do the same, sometimes with nature's help.

Now in Maine, nature can be cold, but nobody here seems preoccupied with that.

In fact, they appreciate the power of the seasons to let us see the same things in new ways, including ourselves.

And after winter comes spring, a chance to grow new things, a chance to try again.

Mainers heal in the outdoors, they work in the outdoors, and they play in the outdoors.

Come rain, sleet, or snow.

They take full advantage of this resource, no matter the season.

- [Stephanie] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 kids, including your head.

So we are gonna keep making sure we have the right head count.

We won't lose anybody.

We've only got five kids today.

- [Baratunde] And that love, that connection, starts young.

- [Stephanie] All right, so we've got pine, pine needle's a hard no, we've got Christmas crookies, we've got crookies, we've got pine crookies.

- Stephanie McDonough, or Farmer Steph, runs a program called Farm to Table Kids in Freeport.

Throughout the Maine summer, she teaches kids how to plant, grow and harvest crops.

But in the wintertime they don't just stop.

No.

They continue with the age old tradition of tree tipping.

Maine is 90% forest, which is more woods than any other state in the nation.

So if you wanna live in Maine, you might need to get over your fear of being alone in the woods, and learn to love a tree, or two, or a thousand.

Hello.

- [Stephanie] Hi Baratunde!

- You must be Farmer Steph.

- It is so fantastic to meet you!

- It's so good to meet you.

- Thank you so much!

- That's the longest walk through the snow I've taken in a while.

- Well, I appreciate your effort and energy to get here.

Thanks for coming with us.

I can't wait to show you this forest.

- Okay.

- These are my farm kids.

- Hello farm kids.

Do you have names?

- Today they're my forest kids.

Yeah, lemme introduce you to the forest kids.

You guys go ahead and introduce yourselves.

- Joey.

- I'm Emmy.

- Declan.

- Kathy.

- Arrow.

- Baratunde.

- Baratunde, we are psyched you're here.

- I'm excited to get going, are you?

- Yes, let's go!

- Then lead the way.

- Let's go kiddos.

- [Stephanie] If you find a grizzly bear, absolutely.

- [Baratunde] Did he just ask for a selfie with a grizzly bear?

- Yes he did.

- Okay, that's cool.

If I see a grizzly bear, selfie is not gonna be on my mind.

I love the snow.

I'm not used to walking through woods with snow.

It's been a long, long time.

And that contrast, it just makes the forest kind of pop.

- Isn't it beautiful?

- Yeah.

It might seem like it's getting harder and harder to convince kids to enjoy the outdoors, but not here.

It's embedded into the traditions.

Trudging through snow and ice, snipping the tips of branches from balsam pine and fir trees to make a wreath is a rite of passage for many young Mainers.

(calm music) I knew these woods were gonna look beautiful, but it was the smell that woke my senses.

- [Stephanie] Isn't fresh air great?

Like take it in through your nose.

- Yes.

- [Stephanie] It's got a smell to it.

- [Baratunde] It smells like soaps that I buy.

- [Stephanie] All right, this is gonna be home base.

- All right, so this activity, I've heard you call it nature harvesting, but also tree tipping.

- Yes.

- Why is it called tree tipping?

- Thank you for asking, that's always confusing.

it's not what it sounds.

- 'Cause it sounds like we're shoving trees, that didn't do anything to us.

- We don't wanna do that.

- Knock 'em over.

- Exactly, we don't wanna do that.

So what we're gonna do is, we're snipping the tips of the trees.

- The tip of the tree, okay.

- You're gonna harvest pieces about this big.

It doesn't have to be a huge branch, it just has to be about this big.

And we need way more than you think.

- Okay.

- Each of you need to harvest about three pounds.

- Pounds?

- Yeah man, we gotta get busy.

- Oh, so you're putting us to work.

- Yeah, we gotta go to work.

- Okay, okay.

We're her little forest workers now.

I see what's going on here.

You're running like a labor syndicate.

- [Stephanie] We are working.

- So we're excited to go tree tipping?

- Yes.

- Yeah!

All right, let's get it.

- [Stephanie] Let's go.

- Steph shows us how to tip the trees in a way that's not harmful.

More like trimming its nails.

My first snip.

It's a chance for the kids to get up close and personal with the woods.

Not only to learn about nature, but to instill a sense of caretaking.

Taking only what you need to make a wreath.

These kids will grow up understanding their roles in stewarding this land.

- [Stephanie] These ones wanna be a part of a wreath, right here.

There you go, you got it.

Good.

- It's easy to see how this sort of primes you for working outside in cold conditions.

And actually, it has to be cold.

The trees need to be exposed to at least three nights of sub 20 degree temperatures, in order for their needles to set.

Otherwise they'll fall off.

And your wreath is gonna look like you forgot to take it down after last winter.

You're trying to hit that three pound quota.

Here you go.

Oh my God, Kathy, you have to be so careful.

I cannot have you fall down the hill.

No, no, Kathy.

Kathy no!

Kathy no!

(Baratunde and Stephanie laughing) - And they're gone.

- And there's Emmy, and now it's a whole different kind of a day.

- That's what we're looking for though.

Take that energy and ride it to the river, let's go.

- I feel like a kid again.

(calm guitar music) Clearly these kids are not shy about snow and ice.

And whatever they're doing to get their young ones outside in Maine, it's working.

Because all over the state, there's kids on skis, on sleds, and on the ice.

It's obviously a part of the culture here to get children into the outdoors even before they're up on their feet.

- [Stephanie] Okay, everybody grab your wire.

- So we need our fingers for this.

- And your ring, you need your fingers for this.

So luckily we have an awesome fire if you need to warm up at all, okay?

- Thank you.

- So what you're gonna do is you're gonna make a bunch of little hand bouquets.

- Okay.

- And we're gonna wire them on with the wire, just like that, yeah.

- Okay.

- And now we're gonna take the wire, and wrap the wire around the ring.

Did you know that trees, they can make their trunk taste bad, and they can also send off smells to make pests stay away?

(all laughing) - Oh my gosh.

- You're killing me.

Absolutely.

- [Stephanie] So this is what it looks like.

- Yeah.

We're just gonna add one more orange and pine cone, and Baratunde, I wanna give you this wreath, so that you can remember us.

- [Baratunde] Oh my goodness.

- [Stephanie] I dunno if you can take it on a plane.

- We'll figure it out, maybe wear it around my neck.

- You've surely got it.

That's right.

- So I want to thank all of you for spending this forest time with me.

There's a lot of elements going on.

We got rain, we got snow, we got ice, we got fire, we got wreaths, and smells of orange and pine.

It's a lot of natural stimulus, and a lot of fun.

And you all have been troopers.

I'd be honored to go tree tipping with you.

Anytime.

You can immerse yourself in winter activities like snowshoeing or skiing, or you can go a step further and literally immerse yourself.

So here I am in my swimsuit, on the beach, in the middle of winter, and I'm finally starting to see why Mainers are sometimes called Maine-iacs.

Next to me are Kelsey and Caitlin, known to some as Ebb and Flo.

They and their crew of amazing women have rediscovered a solution to coping with long winters.

For people across northern regions, plunges like this have been a tradition to cope with the challenges of sedentary winter life.

None of this will make sense to me until I take a plunge with their group, known as the Ice Mermaids.

(waves crashing) Hello?

- Hi.

- Who's Kelsey, who's Caitlin?

- That's us.

- Hugger?

- Yeah!

- All right.

- It's so nice to meet you.

Baratunde, really nice to meet you.

- Baratunde, Caitlin.

- Hello Caitlyn, nice to meet you too.

So I've heard of you as the Ice Mermaids.

- [Caitlyn] Yeah.

- [Baratunde] Cold dippers.

- [Caitlyn] Yep.

- Can you just briefly tell me about what we're about to do here?

- Okay, so what we're gonna do is how we're gonna get in the water.

- Yes.

- It is February in Maine, so it's gonna be really cold.

- We recommend a nice slow, steady walk-in.

So that's just a chance to have a nice conversation with the nervous system.

- Mm.

- And it also kind of slows down the cold shock response that your body is gonna have.

So a lot of people will run into the water and dive in.

- Yeah.

- That causes like a little bit of shock, and that's the dangerous part.

- Dangerous.

- They didn't tell you?

They didn't tell me make you like sign a waiver?

- Danger.

I did sign something, now that you mention it.

My lawyer's gonna be very annoyed with me.

Okay, so we're not trying to shock the system, we're trying to ease the nervous system into this new environment.

- Yes.

And then we'll get you to wherever you're comfortable with, floating in the water.

Everyone will start laughing, giggling.

- Yeah.

- Everyone's gonna start bonding and like, it's been so helpful for so many people.

I mean, so many people use it for mental health, and just like general wellbeing.

- Yeah.

- But I mean, that's where we've all, we've all come together in this amazing way, because we're all bonding from a place that's like, human to human.

It's not like, hey, what's your job?

It's like, oh my God.

We're in our bodies.

Like, how amazing is it to be alive right now?

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- In our normal day to day, we don't get a lot of extremes in our body.

Like we don't really, - [Baratunde] We're about comfort.

- [Kelsey] We're all about comfort.

- Look at me.

- It's like 65 degrees.

Like we're always like at this stasis.

And so like today you're gonna get like this huge experience of what your whole body is capable of.

- Yeah.

Well, I'm ready.

- You're ready?

- Yeah.

Okay.

- You ready?

- We're ready.

- Are you ready?

- [Caitlyn] I was born ready.

- Are y'all ready?

(all cheering) Mainers have always relied on these waters.

Come rain or shine, hot or cold.

A Mainer's relationship to the coast is in their bones.

- Here we go.

(all cheering) (uplifting music) Still, to enter these waters in the winter feels like I'm breaking the rules.

Like I'm trespassing.

Why do people do this?

Why am I doing this?

Okay.

- So we can stop right here.

(all exhaling) - Yeah, good breath, good breath.

- [Baratunde] Okay, now we're getting to the special part of my body.

(all laughing) Here go my bits!

(all cheering) (all cheering) This is so cold.

- [Ice Mermaid] But you know what, you got a smile on your face.

I see that smile on your face.

- I do.

- I'm so connected to the water.

It's been kind of like my safe space my whole life.

It became like a place for me to go and just like hide.

- What were you hiding from?

- Life, you know, just like an escape.

My parents were divorced.

- Yeah.

- And there was a lot of like, let's put kids in the middle, kind of feelings.

- Right.

- I was hiding.

- Yeah.

- Now I'm like starting to find myself in the water.

- You've been in here for three minutes and 30 seconds.

- Wow.

- Wow.

- I was starting to get sober, and everything felt terrible.

I saw somebody online getting in cold water, and like, everyone was laughing.

And so I was like, that looks amazing.

I'm gonna try that.

I just jumped in and came up laughing like I've never laughed before.

(laughing) My orientation I think was like, I'm not okay.

I'm not okay.

And then it was like coming back into the world, and you're like, oh, there's people.

People are amazing and kind, and like, I wanna connect with people again.

So my connections started becoming stronger.

I started searching them out and yeah, it was kind of like reawakening a little bit.

- Six minutes.

- Whoa.

- Six minutes.

- [Baratunde] How long do you normally stay in?

- [Kelsey] This is a lot.

For someone who's just gotten in the water for their first time, six minutes is insane.

- [Caitlyn] Yeah.

- When you're doing something and everybody that goes by you is saying, how could you do that?

You're crazy to do that.

- [Baratunde] Yeah.

- And there's something powerful about being able to do something when nobody else wants to do it, or feel like they can't do it.

- Yeah, yeah.

- The cold gives me a rush.

Like if it's a nasty day outside, I want to go out and be in it, you know?

I wanna wrap myself up and put my goggles on, and be out in the worst of the storm.

- Yeah, yeah.

I feel, I don't know, like the water feels thick.

The water feels thick.

I'm not capable of any sudden movements, and I'm not fighting it anymore.

- Mm.

- Right.

(calm guitar music) - At 40 degrees Fahrenheit, it feels like a cascade of needles across my skin.

My breath is hard to control.

But after the initial shock, I realize it's okay.

I'm okay.

As my body adapts to the winter, it's teaching me a lesson.

You have to be cold to appreciate the glorious sensation of becoming warm again.

Can I talk to you two?

So there's, I'm feeling a lot of emotion.

- Mm.

- And I don't know if that's like, a normal part of your practice.

I thought the tears was just my body's reaction, but it's actually, I think it's like my heart's reaction, and yeah, it's just such a, that was a really powerful experience.

- Yeah, I think like, you don't get to like experience how deep our bodies are.

- Yeah.

- Like all the things that we carry all the time.

- Yeah.

- Our capacity, I mean, that's the ocean and the cold water is just gonna show us like our full capacity as a human, and we don't get that every day.

- [Baratunde] It's kind of like a rebirth.

But yeah, I think I just like left some burdens out there.

- Beautiful.

- Yeah.

Wow, that was unexpected.

Everything is slow.

(exhaling) And that tear is involuntary.

I think my body is just like, letting some stuff go.

(uplifting music) For most Americans, when it's freezing outside, the natural choice is to hunker down inside.

You know, avoid the elements.

But Mainers have learned to embrace the harsh winters, and find bounty for their bodies, minds, and souls.

- [Ken] Don't be bashful.

Grab a saw, and take the whole raft.

You guys are cooking.

- [Baratunde] In some cases, the more extreme the conditions, the greater the reward.

- [Stephanie] Walk right into the forest, okay?

You're doing such a good job.

- [Baratunde] Here, it's not just about creatively figuring out how to do things in the winter to bide the time until the warmth returns.

It's about actively seeking out these conditions for the riches they have to offer.

- You've got to embrace the cold.

- [Baratunde] Yet even in cases where your back is up against the wall, and life is proving to be just too much, it could be nature that helps save you, and helps ground you, literally and figuratively.

- [Kari] Once you get out there and you do it, and you look around, and it's all worth it.

- [Baratunde] Mm.

Here in Maine, winter is not a problem to solve, but an opportunity to experience the world in a different way.

A way we would miss out on if we were afraid of the cold.

Mainers understand that winter is a way of life, and a force that has formed everything from the metamorphic coastline eons ago, to the industries that have built this state for generations.

The cold isn't something to be avoided or feared, it's something to be owned.

To jump right into.

- People ask me, when I'm in the water, is it cold?

And I say, you bet your sweet ass it's cold.

(laughing) (uplifting music)