In June 2017, Terry Heller and her black lab Etta left Heller's hometown of Austin, Texas, destination to be determined.

Austin, where she grew up along the Colorado River, is magical, she said. But it was time for a change. She wanted four seasons.

She found them in Wiscasset, in a neighborhood and town she now loves.

Other than a stop in Alexandria, Virginia to visit daughter Brooke, Heller was going by intuition. Then one day in December 2017, she was on Route 1 in Wiscasset, followed her intuition to turn onto Federal Street, saw a for sale sign at the corner of Morton and Federal streets, and bought 2 Morton St. that day.

She just knew. "It felt right."

The circa 1820 cape near downtown wasn't quite her dream home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It's better, she said. The other would have been isolated.

Not here, beside the Sheepscot River. From a neighbor bringing her soup, to all the friends she's made joining Garden Club of Wiscasset and Friends of Wiscasset Village, Heller said she has found a beautiful place with beautiful, special people.

"That is such a special thing. And when you find it, you have to celebrate it."

Part of that celebration for Heller is joining those local groups and recently another, the appearance of the town committee.

Another part of celebrating is tending the rose garden along her fence. With Etta, 6, by her side, Heller, 73, was deadheading in the gray early morning on Saturday, June 29. Based on her research, the garden dates back decades and includes royal bonicas and another rose she calls great big pink, because she's still researching it. It might be a bygone hybrid, she said.

The garden helped inspire Heller to add a porch facing Federal Street. When you have a rose garden, you need a place to sit and enjoy it, she explained.

After the deadheading and some intermittent fetch with Etta, she was headed to Morris Farm's new weekly free community breakfast she said was fellow Friends of Wiscasset Village member Elizabeth Palmer's "brilliant" idea. The group is "trying to bring a positive 'come together' feeling for the downtown area," Heller said.

Palmer, Morris Farm Store’s operator, said Sunday, people like Heller are the reason the breakfasts have been a success.  At Saturday’s installment, Heller got on the piano and played “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” Palmer said.

Is there anything Heller doesn't like about Wiscasset?

No.

"There’s so much that is special about the history and the people here...and it really is the hidden jewel of the Midcoast." She's found living in Maine is a wild and beautiful dream, she said.

Heller recently helped see off the repaired sloop Providence when it left Wiscasset for Alexandria, Virginia. She said the spot where it was worked on here is about the same distance from her house as the sloop will be from her daughter's home in Alexandria.