Hi Maine,

I love you. It took my going away to know that I needed to move home, and it took me two decades after that to realize what it is about you that keeps pulling me back.

In the summer of 2013 I was living in Park City, Utah, doing physical therapy and hating the place. Looking at historical maps at Dinosaur National Monument, I saw that, as the inland seas rose and dissipated in the Southwest, as Florida appeared and disappeared, as North America transformed—you remained. Geologically unchanged.

I left you in 1994 to go to college while I also pursued a profession in snowboarding. I returned in 1995 to train under Eric Webster at Carrabassett Valley Academy. That winter, I made the podium at my first pro tour event. I chased my dream. And when I was tired, I came home to your foundation.

From the air, you can see how the glaciers swept off the continent and aligned all the islands of Casco Bay, north to south. Deep in the woods of Carrabassett I find glacial erratic stones, pushed off the summit of Bigelow thousands of years ago. I breathe deeper. I sleep better. You are the unchanged force of nature that stands as our eastern sentinel, leading the nation with every sunrise and every season.

I will forever love you. Thank you for being what you are and always will be: Home.

Seth Wescott is a two-time Olympic champion in snowboard cross and graduate of Carrabassett Valley Academy.