Maine
Once again it's a bit late, I'm tired, and I want to get this post done. So here goes.
...
Oh, the hell with it. I'll just post photos with notes.
This is me standing on a set of boulders next to my parents' house in Maine; they're perhaps 18 feet tall. I don't know what the expression on my face means, either.
This is the grave of my family's old cat, Pookie. It's on the top of that hill (above the boulders).
A caterpillar, obviously. We found it next to the lake. We also found an inchworm that fascinated Sebastian, but I didn't get a good sharp picture of it.
This is the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point. It's actually pretty small, no more than thirty feet high at a guess. We climbed up (except for Teri), and lit up the light. Speaking of which:
Nice close shot of the Fresnel lens, huh? Notice that the light was just in the process of fading.
Later we walked down on the long, sloping rocks next to the sea. Sebastian, my brother, and his two children were all walking around when suddenly someone pointed out something pretty surprising on the rocks nearby:
Yup, it was a seal. Smallish, between three and four feet long; it wasn't dead or obviously injured, but it didn't seem right that it wouldn't be moving away, since there were some people within ten feet of it. It moved a little every now and then, and seemed to be breathing a little hard. My brother went back to the lighthouse to get a staff member to come down; he also called a marine mammal number that was posted back on shore. I just stood (not too close) and stared. It was odd; I felt a bit paralyzed. I'm not sure why.
In a while a staff member came down, and told us that this might be a seal that had done the same thing in a nearby location yesterday. My brother came back with the marine mammal specialist on the phone, and arrangements were made to have someone check it out. The staff member suggested we all give the seal more room, so we moved away.
Incidentally, on the way to and from Pemaquid, there's something that I wish I had a picture of. A large stream parallels the road through an absolutely lovely small town, and at one point there's a swimming hole next to a dam and waterfall. It's surrounded by green grass and trees, and is one of the most beautiful and inviting spots I've ever seen. I'll try to get a shot of it next time. There's a sign that calls it "The Swimming Hole at Bristol Dam", but I haven't been able to find out anything about it online - it's probably too obscure.
On the opposite side of the road there's a small stone seat by the roadside. Carved from the same rock is a long white stone trough, and a small jet of water arcs into the trough from the side of the seat. Again, quite lovely.
Hmm...what else? Teri and I went downtown and got ice cream at a place that's simply not to be missed if you're in Boothbay Harbor. I figured "what the hell" and got a waffle cone with four scoops. The entire place - no exaggeration! - gasped when I was handed the cone. It was four huge scoops, far more than I'd expected, and it was already leaning precariously. Teri says I turned red as a beet.
Several people wished me good luck, and I could hear lots of people commenting. I tried to keep the scoops from falling, but ended up letting the top two fall into a cup that Teri had thoughtfully asked for. I ended up taking those two scoops back to the house and having them over the next two days.
Chocolate Fudge Oreo, by the way. And absolutely delicious.
On Sunday my brother and his family went out on the lake with the paddle-boat. He and his son (my nephew) went swimming from the boat. Suddenly I heard several gasps of horror. My nephew had disappeared.
It turned out he'd somehow gone underneath the boat, and gotten his head trapped (but not stuck) in the central channel where the rudder was - it scraped him badly. They could hear him banging his head against the underside of the boat. Talk about terrifying! Fortunately in less than a minute he managed to get out from under. Still, it gave us all quite a scare.
The weather was lovely, and Sebastian had a glorious time. It does makes me sad that the summer is passing so quickly, though, and that the odds are that the house will be sold before too much longer.
...
Oh, the hell with it. I'll just post photos with notes.
This is me standing on a set of boulders next to my parents' house in Maine; they're perhaps 18 feet tall. I don't know what the expression on my face means, either.
This is the grave of my family's old cat, Pookie. It's on the top of that hill (above the boulders).
A caterpillar, obviously. We found it next to the lake. We also found an inchworm that fascinated Sebastian, but I didn't get a good sharp picture of it.
This is the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point. It's actually pretty small, no more than thirty feet high at a guess. We climbed up (except for Teri), and lit up the light. Speaking of which:
Nice close shot of the Fresnel lens, huh? Notice that the light was just in the process of fading.
Later we walked down on the long, sloping rocks next to the sea. Sebastian, my brother, and his two children were all walking around when suddenly someone pointed out something pretty surprising on the rocks nearby:
Yup, it was a seal. Smallish, between three and four feet long; it wasn't dead or obviously injured, but it didn't seem right that it wouldn't be moving away, since there were some people within ten feet of it. It moved a little every now and then, and seemed to be breathing a little hard. My brother went back to the lighthouse to get a staff member to come down; he also called a marine mammal number that was posted back on shore. I just stood (not too close) and stared. It was odd; I felt a bit paralyzed. I'm not sure why.
In a while a staff member came down, and told us that this might be a seal that had done the same thing in a nearby location yesterday. My brother came back with the marine mammal specialist on the phone, and arrangements were made to have someone check it out. The staff member suggested we all give the seal more room, so we moved away.
Incidentally, on the way to and from Pemaquid, there's something that I wish I had a picture of. A large stream parallels the road through an absolutely lovely small town, and at one point there's a swimming hole next to a dam and waterfall. It's surrounded by green grass and trees, and is one of the most beautiful and inviting spots I've ever seen. I'll try to get a shot of it next time. There's a sign that calls it "The Swimming Hole at Bristol Dam", but I haven't been able to find out anything about it online - it's probably too obscure.
On the opposite side of the road there's a small stone seat by the roadside. Carved from the same rock is a long white stone trough, and a small jet of water arcs into the trough from the side of the seat. Again, quite lovely.
Hmm...what else? Teri and I went downtown and got ice cream at a place that's simply not to be missed if you're in Boothbay Harbor. I figured "what the hell" and got a waffle cone with four scoops. The entire place - no exaggeration! - gasped when I was handed the cone. It was four huge scoops, far more than I'd expected, and it was already leaning precariously. Teri says I turned red as a beet.
Several people wished me good luck, and I could hear lots of people commenting. I tried to keep the scoops from falling, but ended up letting the top two fall into a cup that Teri had thoughtfully asked for. I ended up taking those two scoops back to the house and having them over the next two days.
Chocolate Fudge Oreo, by the way. And absolutely delicious.
On Sunday my brother and his family went out on the lake with the paddle-boat. He and his son (my nephew) went swimming from the boat. Suddenly I heard several gasps of horror. My nephew had disappeared.
It turned out he'd somehow gone underneath the boat, and gotten his head trapped (but not stuck) in the central channel where the rudder was - it scraped him badly. They could hear him banging his head against the underside of the boat. Talk about terrifying! Fortunately in less than a minute he managed to get out from under. Still, it gave us all quite a scare.
The weather was lovely, and Sebastian had a glorious time. It does makes me sad that the summer is passing so quickly, though, and that the odds are that the house will be sold before too much longer.