Here's a sampling from the Events Calendar for this coming Saturday as listed in today's new Free Press, our weekly local paper, which I think is a fair example of typical local events:
* Liberty Library Pie Sale, 10 a.m.-noon, 59 Main St. Last sale of the summer.
* Fiber Arts Demonstration, 10 a.m.-noon, Georgetown Historical Society, 20 Bay Point Rd. Rosemary Hentz shows rug embroidery techniques and Juliana Cliffe demonstrates hand quilting. Free.
* Hike Up Hogback Mountain, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Buck O'Herin leads the five-mile hike up the Montville mountain, offering views to Penobscot Bay. Bring water and snacks. Registration required by Thurs., Aug. 15: www.swlamaine.org or 589-3230.
* Ikebana Class,Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay. Betty McCarthy offers a demonstration on the Japanese art of flower arranging from 9:30-11:30 a.m. ($42/$35 members) and a hands-on workshop from 1-4 p.m. ($95/$80). Sign-up: 633-4333 or www.mainegardens.org.
* Chain Saw Artists in Action, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Maine Wildlife Park, Gray. Watch Ron Carlson, Tim Pickett and Dan Burns carve wildlife images. Bring your camera. And your earplugs. FMI: 657-4977 or www.mainewildlifepark.com.
* Pekingese Rescue Group Visits, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., The Animal House in Damariscotta hosts the Little Paws Big Hearts Pekingese Rescue.
Pretty much something for (almost) everyone, right? I particularly like the contrast between the Ikebana Class in Japanese flower arranging followed immediately by Chain Saw Artists in Action. Who knew?
Meanwhile, we are enjoying cucumbers from our "garden" on a regular basis now, and the first almost-red tomato is further ripening on the window sill. I see at least 2 others turning red, probably soon to be following by many many more.
Both David's car and mine are now running again - after about $1000 in work. Oh well, my truck is the "youngster" and it's 14 years old.
Looking forward to the weekend - kayaking with Pemaquid Paddlers group, if the weather is good.
Watching Little League World Series and remembering Sam's little league days. That boy could sure catch, pitch and play short stop!
Some "weightier" ruminations to come, when I can find time to sort through my own thoughts AND get them down here.
Meanwhile ...
Peace.
In October 2012, I bought a 152 year old house in Rockland, Maine and moved here "from away." Now I walk to the harbor at dawn every day and wait to see what life will surprise me with next.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Summer in our yard
Summer in our yard. Coleus ...
Zinnias in the raised bed ...
White and red purslane. Here's part of what Wikipedia has to say about purslane:
"Although purslane is considered a weed in the United States, it may be eaten as a leaf vegetable. It has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout much of Europe, the middle east, Asia and Mexico. The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible. Purslane may be used fresh as a salad, stir-fried or cooked as spinich is, and because of its mucilaginous quality it also is suitable for soups and stews. Australian Aborigines use the seeds to make seedcakes. Greeks, who call it andrakla (αντράκλα) or glystrida (γλυστρίδα), fry the leaves and the stems with feta cheese, tomato, onion, garlic, oregano, and olive oil, add it in salads, boil it or add to casseroled chicken. .... "
Who knew? A weed? I bought two 4 inch plants from a local garden store. Soups, stews, fried with feta cheese? Hmmm…. All I know is, once released from the 4 inch pots, both purslane plants have burst out and grown by leaps and bounds, actually rather "like a weed"!
I'm missing my kids and grandsons. It's beautiful here and I wish all the people I love were here to share it with me. I'm thinking about and missing Aunt Maro, Carol and Debi. I want a cut throat game of Hearts with brother John and the cousins, with Marianne cooking up dinner and laughing at our antics.
I am very glad and grateful to be alive and healthy and living in a beautiful place. Today I intend to write a note to Bradley Manning to apologize to him for not doing more on his behalf sooner. I wonder if he gets to see the sun.
Peace.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
48 hours in Rockland
Thursday I took the morning off from work to take care of a few errands that need to be done during the work day. First, I went to the DMV to (finally) get my Maine driver's license. The office opens at 8:00 a.m. We (David was with me, having the day off of work) arrived at about 7:55. There were 3 other cars in the lot. I was first at the door, and the number machine gave me number 001. Within 3-4 minutes I was called to the counter. Turns out I forgot to bring a second form of identification, so I had to go back home and get my birth certificate. The DMV clerk signed my number 001 so I could come right back up when I returned. Ten minutes later I was back with the birth certificate. We went through the various forms. Then she told me that unfortunately she wouldn't be able to complete my application at that time because their camera was "down." It turned out to be "system wide" which meant it was a priority for Maine IT to fix. She took my phone number and said she'd call me when it was fixed.
David and I went had breakfast at our favorite local cafe, went to the post office, where I had to wait in line behind two persons (the first who couldn't get it through his head that if he lives on Main Street in Rockport and has a house with an in-law apartment - #41 and #61a - he does NOT need to fill out a request to establish a Rural Route delivery in order to have mail delivered to the in-law apartment). After the PO, we went to the vet's office so I could buy heart worm and anti-flea and tick meds for Ella. Back home to a message from the DMV woman. Camera fixed.
I went back to the DMV, waited about 3 minutes for the clerk to finish serving another customer, and then went right up. My photo was taken and I received a temporary license. Done. A typical example of what "bureaucracy" means in Maine.
* * * * * * * * *
8:00 p.m., I take Ella for her evening walk. It's raining, it's been raining almost all day, off and on. Grey and pretty dreary, but cool. Ella is doing her normal Cat Scanning, Squirrel Scanning action, but there's not a lot of targets, in fact none, as I guess all creatures are hunkered down wherever they can get out of the rain. Suddenly as we pass a parked car, Ella stops, and then Zap! A cat springs out from under the car and it and Ella face off. It's a fairly small, normal seeming black and white cat. I don't recall if it's a cat we've seen before (Ella and I know almost ALL of the cats in our neighborhood). It does its arch-the-back and hissssss! thing.
I'm holding Ella back. She thinks she'd like to grab it by its little scrawny black and white neck and toss it around, but... I start pulling Ella back, thinking that as we move away, the cat's back will lower and it will slink off. But no, that's not what happens. The cat moves forward, toward us. Of course, that makes Ella more interested. It's a challenge! Even more determined to rip its little head off, Ella strains at the leash. I pull her back and start pulling her down the street. The cat keeps coming toward us, it's chasing us, the little sucker. An 8 pound pissed off cat is chasing a 74 pound dog and a woman down the street!
The cat is not afraid of us, but truth be told, I'm a little afraid of it. It looks crazed, like a cat gone mad. I have a sudden thought - rabies! I slap out toward it (not actually trying to hit it) with Ella's leash. Doesn't phase it. The cat keeps coming after us, and ends up chasing us 20+ yards down the street. I'm laughing out loud, Ella is pulling back, wants to take on the little tough beast and best it, but I'm not a little freaked out. Chased down the street by a cat???
We turn the corner and I make Ella pass the next street because I'm thinking, what if the cat cuts through the back yards between its street and this one and comes after us. Okay, I admit it's a stretch, that that cat chased us! So we go a couple streets up and then turn back toward home. Done.
* * * * * * * * *
David and I went had breakfast at our favorite local cafe, went to the post office, where I had to wait in line behind two persons (the first who couldn't get it through his head that if he lives on Main Street in Rockport and has a house with an in-law apartment - #41 and #61a - he does NOT need to fill out a request to establish a Rural Route delivery in order to have mail delivered to the in-law apartment). After the PO, we went to the vet's office so I could buy heart worm and anti-flea and tick meds for Ella. Back home to a message from the DMV woman. Camera fixed.
I went back to the DMV, waited about 3 minutes for the clerk to finish serving another customer, and then went right up. My photo was taken and I received a temporary license. Done. A typical example of what "bureaucracy" means in Maine.
* * * * * * * * *
8:00 p.m., I take Ella for her evening walk. It's raining, it's been raining almost all day, off and on. Grey and pretty dreary, but cool. Ella is doing her normal Cat Scanning, Squirrel Scanning action, but there's not a lot of targets, in fact none, as I guess all creatures are hunkered down wherever they can get out of the rain. Suddenly as we pass a parked car, Ella stops, and then Zap! A cat springs out from under the car and it and Ella face off. It's a fairly small, normal seeming black and white cat. I don't recall if it's a cat we've seen before (Ella and I know almost ALL of the cats in our neighborhood). It does its arch-the-back and hissssss! thing.
I'm holding Ella back. She thinks she'd like to grab it by its little scrawny black and white neck and toss it around, but... I start pulling Ella back, thinking that as we move away, the cat's back will lower and it will slink off. But no, that's not what happens. The cat moves forward, toward us. Of course, that makes Ella more interested. It's a challenge! Even more determined to rip its little head off, Ella strains at the leash. I pull her back and start pulling her down the street. The cat keeps coming toward us, it's chasing us, the little sucker. An 8 pound pissed off cat is chasing a 74 pound dog and a woman down the street!
The cat is not afraid of us, but truth be told, I'm a little afraid of it. It looks crazed, like a cat gone mad. I have a sudden thought - rabies! I slap out toward it (not actually trying to hit it) with Ella's leash. Doesn't phase it. The cat keeps coming after us, and ends up chasing us 20+ yards down the street. I'm laughing out loud, Ella is pulling back, wants to take on the little tough beast and best it, but I'm not a little freaked out. Chased down the street by a cat???
We turn the corner and I make Ella pass the next street because I'm thinking, what if the cat cuts through the back yards between its street and this one and comes after us. Okay, I admit it's a stretch, that that cat chased us! So we go a couple streets up and then turn back toward home. Done.
* * * * * * * * *
Next day, 5:00 p.m., David's home, I'm taking a break to start dinner before going back to work for a couple of hours, when there is a "thud" sound at the window that looks out on our little back "deck." "What was that?" David asks. I don't know. He goes and opens the back door, "It's a bird," he calls. I go to see. It's a baby, most likely some kind of sparrow, tiny. It must have flown into the window. It looks dazed, but definitely alive, kind of standing with legs spread apart, the way a toddler does when he or she is learning to stand up, shaky but determined.
I come in the house to get a little bird seed to put on the deck for it. When I come back with the seed, it must see me and it flutters its little wings, rises wobbly into the air, lands on the edging of the window on the back door, which is still half open. I have a sudden vision of trying to catch a baby sparrow flying around our house, and I move to pull the door shut before it flies INTO the house. It takes off and flies up and into the thicket of trees in our back yard. Go, baby, go! Grow up, be well, thrive and come dine at our feeders! Done.
* * * * * * * * *
48 hours in Rockland.
Peace.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Summertime, and the living is...
Hot, humid summer weather - but usually with a breeze by late afternoon, early evening. This past weekend included Friday day Kabalat Shabbat services and dinner at the synagogue, Saturday morning services and lunch at the synagogue. Both Saturday and Sunday evenings, after David got home from work, we went to the North Atlantic Blues Festival in Rockland. We sat on lawn chairs with six or eight thousand other people down at Rockland Harbor and listened to heart-felt music. We learned about a good organization called "Raise the Blues" which works to get music and musical instruments into the hands of kids with problems - physical, social, and otherwise.
I also worked in the yard and garden Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning - watered the garden, mowed the grass, weeded, put in some new annuals. We have baby cucumbers and tomatoes! We're still waiting for the peppers, but I think I see buds. And our carrots are coming up.
First cucumber!
Heirloom tomatoes.
This Friday evening is the "open mike" poetry reading at Bell the Cat in Belfast. I hope I have the courage not just to attend, but to read a few poems.
Meanwhile, American Goldfinches came to eat at the refilled feeder :
All in all, a real summertime weekend in Midcoast Maine.
Except learning that George Zimmerman was found "not guilty". What a world we live in - oh, wait, that statement no longer includes Trayvon Martin, does it? Well, what should we do about it?
I'm trying to keep in mind that while it is not my personal, individual responsibility to "solve" the world's problems, neither am I free to ignore them.
Peace.
I also worked in the yard and garden Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning - watered the garden, mowed the grass, weeded, put in some new annuals. We have baby cucumbers and tomatoes! We're still waiting for the peppers, but I think I see buds. And our carrots are coming up.
Heirloom tomatoes.
This Friday evening is the "open mike" poetry reading at Bell the Cat in Belfast. I hope I have the courage not just to attend, but to read a few poems.
Meanwhile, American Goldfinches came to eat at the refilled feeder :
All in all, a real summertime weekend in Midcoast Maine.
Except learning that George Zimmerman was found "not guilty". What a world we live in - oh, wait, that statement no longer includes Trayvon Martin, does it? Well, what should we do about it?
I'm trying to keep in mind that while it is not my personal, individual responsibility to "solve" the world's problems, neither am I free to ignore them.
Peace.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Of Schooners and things
Friday afternoon there was a schooner race from Camden or Rockport down to Freeport, passing by Rockland. I didn't get to the breakwater early enough to get the best photos but here's what I did get:
The field passing by, low tide at the breakwater in the foreground
3 masted schooner passing the Rockland Breakwater Light
Yesterday afternoon and this afternoon there are "schooner open houses" and it is possible to "tour" several of the schooners at their docks. We hope to do that here in Rockland this afternoon, after helping prep and serve at the soup kitchen.
Yesterday we went kayaking from South Bristol with a group organized by the Pemaquid Watershed Association paddlers - out in the ocean and around a small island, where we stopped and had lunch. As we launched, I spied a luna moth that appeared to be dead, floating in the water. I fished it out of the water with my paddle and layed it on the deck of my kayak. Gradually in the warm sun, its wings and antenna dried and it began to move. It wasn't dead. Meanwhile we paddled further and further from shore out toward the island. By the time we closed in on the island, it was crawling all around the desk of my kayak, my water bottle, my hand. When we landed on the island for lunch, I carried it up to the vegetation and released it I hope it lived.
A beautiful - if very warm - day yesterday. Promising to be the same today.
Thinking of Bradley Manning in solitary confinement, facing life imprisonment, even death, not seeing schooners on the wide blue sea. Remembering Daniel Elsberg. Trying to imagine me in his/their place....
Peace.
3 masted schooner passing Owl's Head Lighthouse
3 masted schooner passing the Rockland Breakwater Light
Yesterday afternoon and this afternoon there are "schooner open houses" and it is possible to "tour" several of the schooners at their docks. We hope to do that here in Rockland this afternoon, after helping prep and serve at the soup kitchen.
Yesterday we went kayaking from South Bristol with a group organized by the Pemaquid Watershed Association paddlers - out in the ocean and around a small island, where we stopped and had lunch. As we launched, I spied a luna moth that appeared to be dead, floating in the water. I fished it out of the water with my paddle and layed it on the deck of my kayak. Gradually in the warm sun, its wings and antenna dried and it began to move. It wasn't dead. Meanwhile we paddled further and further from shore out toward the island. By the time we closed in on the island, it was crawling all around the desk of my kayak, my water bottle, my hand. When we landed on the island for lunch, I carried it up to the vegetation and released it I hope it lived.
A beautiful - if very warm - day yesterday. Promising to be the same today.
Thinking of Bradley Manning in solitary confinement, facing life imprisonment, even death, not seeing schooners on the wide blue sea. Remembering Daniel Elsberg. Trying to imagine me in his/their place....
Peace.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
To and back From Away
Back from away - Atlanta, specifically. A good if short visit, full of family. Hayne and Georgie, Sharyn, Alyson, Gavin, Corinne, Sam, Melina, Cachao, Cello and John - love to you all.
A few photos:
Cachao - big brother, master "maze" maker and guesser, new Backgammon player and excellent Captain Underpants reader!
Cello - little brother, mad into cars, tough cookie, sweetie pie.
Corinne, her nephews Gavin, Cach and Cello:
Grandpa, Abuela and the guys!
Last night David and I went to a Poetry Slam in Belfast. It was "open to the public," not just to attend but to participate and I thought about bringing poems to read, but was intimidated. Later I felt very humbled; about 12 or 15 poets participated and for at least 4 or 5 of them, it was their first "slam" experience. I did learn that they do a slam every other month, so I can participate in August if I have the nerve. David (along with 4 other "randomly" chosen audience members) was chosen to be a "judge". The judges use Olympic style cards to give scores between 1.0 and 10.0. It was fun and mostly but not entirely tongue in cheek "judging". In the end, weird how the judges' numbers came out. After 3 rounds and a lot of "scores" with decimal points in them, there was less than a 1 point difference between the person who won and the person who came in second. Then we drove home through heavy fog along the coast; a little scary, but arrived safe and sound.
Today we finally had sunshine. After relaxing with coffee, I went out to mow the backyard with our push mower, got out our electric weed wacker, trimmed edges and wacked those hard weeds that stick up throughout the yard the mower won't cut. After cooling off inside, and schmoozing with David when he came home for lunch, I vacuumed the living room, dining room and kitchen, cleaned the bathroom.
I was putting the vacuum away when I slipped on the rug in our hall, lost my balance, and put out my arm to catch myself. Unfortunately a broken brass hook on the wall caught and slashed my forearm instead. Hurt like hell - and blood! I took one look, saw a big ragged gash and a lot of blood and thought for sure I'd cut an artery. I grabbed a clean kitchen towel, wrapped it tightly around the gash. David was back at work until after 4:00, I didn't think I could drive my manual transmission truck with the "tourniquet" on and our neighbors' car was gone. So I called 911. About 10 minutes later the EMTs arrived. They took off the dish towel, and the bleeding had more or less stopped. No artery, just a messy gash. They said I needed stitches. Since I didn't have any way to get to the hospital ER, they took me. A couple of excellent nurses, a doctor to suture me and a tetanus shot (with Pertussis vaccine included - apparently there's a new wave of whooping cough, who knew?).
A couple of hours, 7 stitches and a big bandage later, I'm back home and feeling foolish. Thinking if I had had the guts to look at the cut, I might have skipped calling 911 and the ambulance ride and figured out how to get to the ER on my own for the stitches. Oh well, live and learn.
Wishing I didn't have to work tomorrow. That's the problem with taking a week off of work - it's just long enough to make you NOT want to go back... Next weekend there are synagogue services to look forward to and the soup kitchen on Sunday. The following weekend is the North Atlantic Blues Festival here in Rockland. We bought our weekend passes today. Meanwhile, work, work and more work, fireworks, fireworks and ore fireworks (poor Ella! Ella HATES fireworks and the teenager next door has been "practicing").
Peace ... from a worn out, cowardly and clumsy poet-friend in Maine.
A few photos:
Cello - little brother, mad into cars, tough cookie, sweetie pie.
Corinne, her nephews Gavin, Cach and Cello:
Grandpa, Abuela and the guys!
Last night David and I went to a Poetry Slam in Belfast. It was "open to the public," not just to attend but to participate and I thought about bringing poems to read, but was intimidated. Later I felt very humbled; about 12 or 15 poets participated and for at least 4 or 5 of them, it was their first "slam" experience. I did learn that they do a slam every other month, so I can participate in August if I have the nerve. David (along with 4 other "randomly" chosen audience members) was chosen to be a "judge". The judges use Olympic style cards to give scores between 1.0 and 10.0. It was fun and mostly but not entirely tongue in cheek "judging". In the end, weird how the judges' numbers came out. After 3 rounds and a lot of "scores" with decimal points in them, there was less than a 1 point difference between the person who won and the person who came in second. Then we drove home through heavy fog along the coast; a little scary, but arrived safe and sound.
Today we finally had sunshine. After relaxing with coffee, I went out to mow the backyard with our push mower, got out our electric weed wacker, trimmed edges and wacked those hard weeds that stick up throughout the yard the mower won't cut. After cooling off inside, and schmoozing with David when he came home for lunch, I vacuumed the living room, dining room and kitchen, cleaned the bathroom.
I was putting the vacuum away when I slipped on the rug in our hall, lost my balance, and put out my arm to catch myself. Unfortunately a broken brass hook on the wall caught and slashed my forearm instead. Hurt like hell - and blood! I took one look, saw a big ragged gash and a lot of blood and thought for sure I'd cut an artery. I grabbed a clean kitchen towel, wrapped it tightly around the gash. David was back at work until after 4:00, I didn't think I could drive my manual transmission truck with the "tourniquet" on and our neighbors' car was gone. So I called 911. About 10 minutes later the EMTs arrived. They took off the dish towel, and the bleeding had more or less stopped. No artery, just a messy gash. They said I needed stitches. Since I didn't have any way to get to the hospital ER, they took me. A couple of excellent nurses, a doctor to suture me and a tetanus shot (with Pertussis vaccine included - apparently there's a new wave of whooping cough, who knew?).
A couple of hours, 7 stitches and a big bandage later, I'm back home and feeling foolish. Thinking if I had had the guts to look at the cut, I might have skipped calling 911 and the ambulance ride and figured out how to get to the ER on my own for the stitches. Oh well, live and learn.
Wishing I didn't have to work tomorrow. That's the problem with taking a week off of work - it's just long enough to make you NOT want to go back... Next weekend there are synagogue services to look forward to and the soup kitchen on Sunday. The following weekend is the North Atlantic Blues Festival here in Rockland. We bought our weekend passes today. Meanwhile, work, work and more work, fireworks, fireworks and ore fireworks (poor Ella! Ella HATES fireworks and the teenager next door has been "practicing").
Peace ... from a worn out, cowardly and clumsy poet-friend in Maine.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Only in Maine?
Last Sunday, Father's Day, David and I had dinner at the Rockland Cafe, a little restaurant on Main Street in "downtown" Rockland. A man and his daughter sat at the table next to us. I happened to overhear part of their order, which included a lobster for the father.
When their server brought their food, he put the lobster down in front of the man and asked him, "Are you familiar with how to approach the lobster?"
Approach the lobster?!??!
As it turns out, the man was not familiar with "how to approach the lobster," so the server politely assisted.
Reminds me of another evening in the same restaurant a few months ago, a woman at another table was considering whether to order lobster and she asked her server, "Does it hurt the lobster when you cook it?"
I didn't hear the server's response, but it it had been me, I would have told her, "Nah, we all love a quick dunking in boiling water."
Peace.
When their server brought their food, he put the lobster down in front of the man and asked him, "Are you familiar with how to approach the lobster?"
Approach the lobster?!??!
As it turns out, the man was not familiar with "how to approach the lobster," so the server politely assisted.
Reminds me of another evening in the same restaurant a few months ago, a woman at another table was considering whether to order lobster and she asked her server, "Does it hurt the lobster when you cook it?"
I didn't hear the server's response, but it it had been me, I would have told her, "Nah, we all love a quick dunking in boiling water."
Peace.
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