90 minutes of sun

Another overcast day with occasional spits of rain drops.  David had to work and I ran errands, among them, buying some flowers for pots on the back deck and front stoop.  Our next door neighbor, Melissa, has 3 sons, 2 of whom live out of town and are here visiting.  She invited us to join them for a "picnic" (outside or in, depending on the weather) late this afternoon, so some of my errands were preparing for that, including picking up charcoal.  I also stopped at EBS, a local Maine hardware store right up the street from our house.  

(Background on the EBS shopping spree:  When I was in Atlanta, we went out for lunch on Cello's 3rd birthday to The Cheesecake Factory.  On the way there, Cachao found a 'treasure' on the sidewalk outside - a very dirty and slightly rusty steel washer (as in bolts and washers).  We had lunch, rather quickly as Cello had seen someone else celebrating a birthday across the restaurant who had a group of colorful helium filled balloons and he became fixated on - and cranky about - having a balloon of his own.  One thing led to another and we left the restaurant rather quickly - with the result that Cachao forgot to bring his 'treasure.' Yep, the precious washer was left behind.  He was heartbroken, as only a 7 year old can be over a dirty "found" treasure.  I promised that when I got home, I would get him more washers and send them to him.  I thought we had some here at the house (and maybe David does have some) but I couldn't find any in my tool box or around David's workshop in the basement.  So I decided to buy him some washers - ergo, my visit to EBS today.)

A very nice man at EBS asked if he could help me find something.  I told him I was there to buy "some washers".  So he took me to the right aisle, and I explained about Cachao's tragic lost washer and why I wanted to buy him some replacements.  The EBS clerk was very kind, and helped me pick out 4 different sizes of washers, 3 of each size, at a whopping total cost of $1.42.  (It will definitely cost more to mail them than it did to buy them.)

Next, some bad news - my car did the stalling out thing again in the EBS parking lot.  Eventually I was able to keep it running long enough to get home (about a block away).  A trip to the mechanic is definitely in the car's future.

Then some good news - the sun came out.  Actually shone.  The sky was blue.  There were white puffy clouds floating overhead.  I seized the opportunity to plant the lovely lavender and arrange the  colors of coleus around it in the little bed by the back stairs.  I can't wait to see the coleus thrive and fill out the bed with bright colors:

I also planted pansies in the new clay pot I bought last week.  They will end up on the front stoop I think, but for now, they're next to the garage.




I planted another flowering plant in a hanging planter at the end of the garage.

I ended up with had a few extra coleus and pansies which I put in smaller pots on the back stairs together with one red and one yellow Purslane.  (Purslane is the plant I found late in the summer last year, that spread out so wonderfully across the large round planter.  I'm hoping these will do so again this year.  And Purslane is edible!  Can't say I tried it in my salad last year, but maybe this summer?) About the time I finished potting these, the sun once again vanished.  Gray skies, overcast, spritzing rain periodically.  Meanwhile, on the couch, near the front window, Ella sat guard, patiently, making sure no UPS driver sneaks up on us:  

Ella had received her own invitation to Melissa's tonight and joined us there after dinner.  Good food, and lots of it, and a good time had by all.  

David is off work tomorrow, and I - lucky me - am off tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday!  Best thing about that is being off three more days.  Next best thing is going back to work and having a 3 day week.  And then Susan F. called and we chatted about grandchildren, growing old, the relative wrinkled-ness of old friends, high school reunions, and, well, you know.  A lovely end to a good day.

May there be peace (and sunshine), near and far, for one and all.

One morning in May

Good morning.  Ella and I varied our walk this morning - first, by going out earlier (around 5:45) and second, by going to the dock at the Apprenticeshop (a local boat building school whose dock is open to the public).  The weather reports say today we will actually see the sun.  But at the hour of our walk, it was a grey day (but no rain, not a single drop.)  Here are a series of photos I took from the dock. 

First, some of the boat school's fleet of 15 foot day sailers, with Owl's Head peninsula in the background:

Next, a view across Rockland Harbor to the seaweed factory.  

Certainly puts a certain proletarian auto on an otherwise idyllic scene (the place always seem to be seeking employees, their ads pointing out that you have to be able to stand on your feet for 10-12 hours!!!).

Now a view from the dock away from the sea and back toward town - first the ferry, still tied up before her 7:00 a.m. run to Vinalhaven, followed by the boat yard where my next door neighbor, Melissa's, father stores his 35 foot sail boat over the winter.

And, finally, turning back to look to the north, a few of the masts of the schooners over at Ulner's Point - these, the same schooners I have posted photos of, taken on our usual morning walk, including a recent one of the beautiful white schooner hauled up on dry dock for season prepping.

That's the view from our morning walk today, May 21st.  Perhaps the sun will come out.  Perhaps it will even dry out the beds enough for us to plant a few seedlings.  At any rate, it marks the mid point in my week toward a 4-day weekend.

Hurrah.  Peace.

Rainy days

It's been raining, pouring, drizzling, misting or foggy for days on end.  Occasional sun peaking through generally overcast skies.  But these have been warm Spring days.  Already. green leaves are pushing bright yellow forsythia flowers off of their shared branches.  Tulips are opening. These are from our back yard:

The turned earth practically bursts with worms.  But we haven't been able to plant our seedlings because the beds are basically mud.  Here are our seedlings on the day we brought them home (which was sunny!).  That's lavender in the brick red colored pot on the right of the top photo.  We're also going to try planting garlic this year.

Ella and I continue our morning walks.  It starts my day off the right way - even if we're slogging through rain (thank heavens I bought my LL Bean rubber boots before we moved up here).  If we happen to reach the coast at or just before 7:00 am, we will see the Vinalhaven ferry heading out from Rockland, as we did one morning last weekend:

The schooners are being readied for the summer tourist trade, and the beautiful three-masted windjammer (whose name I forget right now) is back in town:

I'm enjoying my ukulele lessons very much, Tai Chi not so much.  That may be just because of the later hour - it's difficult to work a 9 or 10 hour day, eat dinner and then go out to exercise from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. (And many of you know, 8:30 is practically midnight in Maine!) At any rate, I've decided to focus on the ukulele lessons, and I've started practicing the tin whistle again.  

David continues to have heel pain that is actually very disabling for him. He has tried several different orthotic inserts and has tried to stay off his feet when not at work.  The pain seems to be lessening, slowly improving, but still not back to normal.  He was off work this past weekend and it was lovely to have two days together.  Next weekend - which is Memorial Day holiday weekend - he has only Sunday off.  I'm planning to take an extra day, probably Tuesday, for a 4-day weekend.  

Finally, here's a photo of Ella from several months ago.  But it is a classic Ella pose - and a common one these days as she waits, with canine patience, for the sun to come out and bring with it squirrels, chipmunks, cats and other creatures that seem to be hunkered down in these rainy spring days.

Peace.

Visting Atlanta

Just back from a quick visit to Atlanta for Cello's 3rd birthday.  Here are more photos than anyone other than an abuela probably wants to see:

When I got back, mid coast Maine Spring had sprung.  The trees' limbs, bare when I left, now glow with pale green fringe.  Tulips have lifted their colorful heads - still buds - but soon to bloom. We went to Waldoboro to the organic garden center and bought seedlings:  tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, Brussels sprouts.  We'll plant carrot and radish seeds.  Also bought lovely colorful Coleus and some Marigolds.   We bought manure and turned soil.  This weekend - planting.  Also I will buy some Pansies and Petunias for the planters.

Nothing says peace like freshly turned soil, bursting with worms, and warm from the afternoon sunshine.  

A deeply needed comfort in the wake of unhappy news about health challenges - and worse - impacting dear friends.  

Let there be soil.  Let there be peace.

Random spring thoughts

It's hard to say here in a few words what's been happening and what's been on my mind.  Not because so much  has happened (or even been on my mind), but if you let time slip by,  like a river, your memories and thoughts have rushed by.

Today is Cinco de Mayo.  Even in Maine.  I believe there are commemorations in Augusta and Portland, at least.  Apparently Maine like states in the west and southwest, now brings in Mexican farmworkers to work in the blueberry fields and other crops.  And some of the workers have elected to stay in Maine.  Not many yet.  But I recall when Georgia was 52% African-American and 47.55 white and .5% "other."  Now Georgia has a significant Hispanic population.  From what I can tell, housing and food are less expensive in Maine; depending on the town, property tax can be higher; gas is high; fuel oil is high (a lot (a lot!) of people still use wood stoves here; Lowe's and Home Depot sell a lot of log splitters - do-it-yourself log splitting!  And even people who use fuel oil or propane, often have a wood stove as a backup.  We've considered it, but if we did that, it would probably be a pellet stove.)  At any rate, I look forward to seeing more and more diversity in Maine!

Today is also the day the city is picking up yard waste, meaning pruned branches and leaves (which must be bagged).  We've had such lousy weather - seemingly every other day rain - and I unusually busy, so that I did not get to as much in our yard as last year.  I did cut back the forsythia, the beach rose, and the hydrangea.  But not the already overgrown bush/trees at the back of the property.

I did not win the local library's poetry contest; I did not even receive an honorable mention.  Oh well.  I admit I did not work hard at the poem I submitted this year; I like it very much, but I do not think it "fit" the library's "topic" in the way that they likely wished entries to do.  The results were announced and the winning poems read while I was out of town - on my trip to Connecticut.

The trip was good - also a whirlwind during which it seemed I ate too many meals in too many restaurants.  But my CT scan results were good - that's 4 years!  365 days (now down to 335?) to reach that important 5 year milestone.  A co-worker in my group - the 1 person in the group who has been there longer than I - announced her (early) retirement.  Good for her; a little stressful for those of us remaining, as there is already too much work.  Hopefully they'll replace her quickly.

My daughter's been struggling through the ups and downs of a new job in a far-away place - the Philippines.  It's always hard to learn life lessons, even in the best of circumstances, but far from family and friends, in challenging circumstances and in the midst of work that one feels is important - even harder.

My ex and his partner are off on a 3+ week jaunt through (mostly) Italy, although I understand an incorrectly purchased ticket serendipitously took them on a short visit to Switzerland.  The email and Facebook postings suggest a good time is being had, which both of them really really deserve.

I am drawn more and more into the inner workings of the local synagogue, as I have been asked to agree to be the new treasurer.  I turned down the request the first time I was asked, but when I was asked again, I finally agreed - on a short-term basis only, making it clear that 2 years is all I will commit to.  The annual meeting at which I will be nominated and, presumably, elected, has yet to happen, but already I am drawn in to multiple meetings and some synagogue politics.  What is it about we human beings?  I know they say "2 Jews, 3 opinions" but I think it is human nature.  Sometime ago, NPR's website ran a column inviting people to post Six Word Philosophies - saying in 6 words, your philosophy toward life.  I quoted Rodney King (do you remember Rodney King?  How quickly we do forget!):  "Can't we all just get along?"

My car is unhappy.  I don't know exactly what ails it, but I've had it a long time and I sense that something is bothering it.  (When the engine is warm, it ... runs unevenly; I guess that's as specific as I can be.)  This troubles me because I am flying to Atlanta on Thursday (for my younger grandson's 3rd birthday on Friday), and that means a 90 mile drive to the Portland airport (and, of course, a 90 mile drive home next Monday evening).  Worrying about the car has put a damper on my  anticipation for the visit to my son, daughter-in-law and grandsons.  I was able to get non-stop flights, which is great - after a 1-1/2 hour or more drive, it's not fun to look forward to an airport layover, running with luggage to get to another gate, etc.  If I can solve the car problem, I know I'll have a wonderful visit.

Last week was my first week in a 6-week T'ai Chi course through a local community organization and my first week in a 6-week beginner ukulele course at the Bay City Chamber Music building in Rockport, the same course/teacher that David finished not long ago.  He's now taking intermediate ukulele a different night.  I liked both classes.  I found the T'ai Chi more physically demanding than I recall it having been in Connecticut.  But that's good.

David's permanent part-time job was finally made full-time.  That's good for several reasons - money, earning vacation - but also physically demanding.  By this time last year, David was working full-time as a seasonal employee, but Lowe's also had a permanent part-time person so there were 2 people doing the job he's now doing by himself.  Supposedly they have made an offer to someone for a seasonal job.  Meanwhile, it's taking a lot out of him.

So that's what's going on.  Otherwise on my mind:

• my co-worker's retirement - making me feel how close and far away my own is;
• CT scan results and a dear friend's brother's cancer diagnosis
• snipping and snapping among coreligionists - being a Jew, what an "interfaith" couple means when neither person has "faith";
• a hail storm yesterday and Ella cowering in a tiny space between the couch and the radiator;
• racism in America, how Sterling was left undisturbed for decades and now there's so much self-righteousness;
• governmental intrusion, Guantanamo, what a disappointment Obama is;'
• reading "Junkyard Planet" - being reminded that in the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra, we have yet to begin to touch "reduce";
• aging - how you can reach your seventh decade without feeling "old," as if "old" is a soccer ball you keep kicking out in front of you as you move through life - I'm not "old" yet, not yet, not yet...
• a gaggle of teenage girls on the street this morning, chattering away, waiting for the bus - probably 15 year olds - me thinking how they will be my age in 2065!  And I'll be dust.  

What sound and fury we human beings make of of this thing called life.
Peace.