Walking through her house--where she relaxed for several days last month after finishing her exams--Gardiner passes her sister's Tabasco T-shirt in the laundry room; the framed print from the 125th anniversary, "which we all celebrated," on the wall; and the empty bottle of garlic Tabasco from dinner.
She has found the Harvard Dining Services food--and Cambridge's latenight pizza--a little bland.
"Freshman year I didn't have any in my room," Gardiner says. "I stole a bottle from the Union."
Though named for an island in Louisiana, Gardiner is definitely a native Mainer. The state has a dialect all its own. Gardiner describes people--such as her mother--who've moved to Maine from other parts of the country as "from away."
Her sister Kate suggests that Augusta may not have provided Avery enough political stimulation as a child.
"The rest of our community wasn't really [politically-oriented]," Kate says. "In high school she was editor of the yearbook; she took on leadership positions but they weren't as politically geared. It was harder for her to do that here."
But Gardiner disagrees.
"We've got political history," she says. "We elect women like there was no tomorrow."