John Clark battling the fifth episode of a malady I never heard of until it struck, ingrown eyelashes. Whether they’re related to cataract surgery, or will eventually go away on their own, remains to be seen, but each occurrence seems to happen about three months apart and feels like someone glued a tiny strip of sandpaper on the inside of my lower eyelid. Unfortunately, this time it hit on Thursday night and my eye doctor is closed on Fridays, so I’m making do with pain relievers and maudlin thoughts.

Back in the mid 1980s, I tried out for MPBN’s So You Think You Know Maine quiz show. Preparation included sitting on the hopper after the kids went to sleep and memorizing every question and answer in the box version of the game. I won three times and finished third in the final that year which was filmed in Deering Oaks Park. It was a fun and memorable experience. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to challenge readers of the blog with some Maine trivia. (answers at the end of the column.)

1-Maine has numerous towns sharing their name with U.S. Presidents. How many are there and who was the last elected president sharing his surname with a Maine municipality?

2-Maine has sixteen counties. Several municipalities have the same name as a county, but not all of them are in the county whose name they share. Out of the following, which are in a different county? Cumberland Center, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox Center, Lincoln, Oxford, Penobscot, Somerset Junction, Waldo, Washington, York

3-Kate and I grew up in Union. Like several other Maine towns, there was Union, North Union, East Union and South Union. Our father grew up in West New Portland which also had North New Portland and East New Portland. As far as I can tell, no town in Maine has entities with all four compass directions in their name (formal or informal). I’d love to be proven wrong.

4-There’s Northport, Eastport, Westport and Southport. Do they share anything in terms of proximity?

5-Let’s talk body parts (this is a mystery blog after all). How many towns/locations have a body part in their name. No need to list multiples, and towns like Livermore Falls don’t count.

I gave into a COVID-19 isolation impulse and had five of these bumper stickers made. The first day it was on my car, some woman who thought I was going too slow, tried to smooch my bumper. As soon as she saw this, she backed off and stayed far away until turning.

And now for some answers.

1-Nine, and Clinton was the most recent

2-Franklin is in Hancock, Kennebec is in Washington, Knox Center is in Waldo, Lincoln is in Penobscot, Washington is in Knox

3-I’m curious.

4-They’re well apart with Eastport in Washington County, Northport in Waldo, Westport and Southport are in Lincoln County, but on opposite sides of the Sheepscot River.

5-South Arm, Owls Head, Shin Pond, Prouts Neck, Back Cove, Kidney Pond, Heart Pond, Blood Pond, Lower Elbow Pond, Townsend Gut, and colloquially Finger Lakes http://lakelife.dovewayme.com/diving-into-maines-finger-lakes along with Nipple, a spot of land lying southeast of Virgin Island off the coast near Jonesport.

If you’re looking for a good spot to dispose of a body Consider Industrial Waste Pond in Easton because nobody is gonna fish in a place with a name like that. For those who like interesting websites, I found this which lists all freshwater bodies in Maine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lakes_of_Maine