Morning by Morning

by Rob

Where does it go? It's such a cliche, I know, but it's now the final morning on the final day, and I can hardly understand how two weeks have passed so quickly. It's all been great, a good break from hussle-'n'-bussle, enjoyable and relaxing, but the addition of the great weather during the last few days has made it seems incredibly pleasant; dare I say, "perfect?" Add to this, that Mom and Dad are here now, and it's even better.

As usual, my blogging dropped off. Not a surprise really (just wait 'til we get home), but I want to be sure to jot a few things down. Just this morning, I looked back on some of the entries from last August and it was helpful to see some of the details that I have forgotten. I have no idea how long these notes can be saved in cyberland, but it's my hope that these entries will be useful and enjoyable for the kids to read years from now.

Daddy did this for you two, okay?

On Sunday, Nate and I took our bikes out and traveled over to the Owls Head Lighthouse. I was more interested in the activity than the location, since the weather was beautiful and it seemed like a waste to sit around here for the whole day. I like visiting there each year, and since it's an easy bike ride, it was a good plan. Turns out it was an especially well timed plan too, because the light house was open and we got to go inside. I have no idea what the schedule is for that, but in all of the years that we have been coming here, it's the first time that we've been able to go inside of it. The man who was monitoring things was wearing a shirt that had the name of some lighthouse preservation society on it. The building itself is not really tall, but because of it's placement high on the rocks it's easy to see in every direction.

Abbie has been dog sitting this week. Paul and Donna have gone to visit their son in Bar Harbor this week. Last week, as they watched Abbie interacting with Toby, Paul got the idea that a "win/win" scenario was forming. He needed a dog sitter and he figured out that Abbie would love having the job. So Abbie has been getting out of bed before 8:00 each morning and heading over to their house. She takes care of the obvious things, food and water, but also takes Toby for a walk. She also checks on the chickens, and if there's an egg (there has been one each morning), she brings it back to our cottage.

We also have been taking Toby with us when we've headed to the beach. Yesterday we went back to the trail head for Ragged Mountain and took another hike. This time we crossed the road and headed up East Peak, which may not be the actual name of the hill, but that's how it's labeled on the map. It was a much shorter hike, and the view at the top is more obstructed than Ragged Mountain. Nonetheless, the sky was so clear that the view was more than worth the trip. It was also interesting to be able to look back at Ragged Mountain and see where we had hiked last week. Oh another difference, far less berries on this trail. That's wasn't a problem, because we wouldn't have picked any more anyway. They were good while they lasted, but after blueberry pancakes, two batches of blueberry muffins, and a (really good) blueberry pie, I think that we're about blueberried out for awhile.

Nate's been working on homework this week. He had planned to work on things while we were here, and he didn't really do much of his work last week, so he's been putting in a daily session this week. I'm sure that he's not happy about doing it, but I doubt that it's ruined his week. When we get home, the rest of us will have to join him in the "work-mode." I have painting to finish and we have a slew of appointments and things during the week. It all starts with a doctor appointment for Abbie on Monday morning. Grrr...

We continue to be able to connect with people that we have met other years. On Monday, we ran into Harrison and his family. Nate and Harrison played together on the beach at Birch Point years ago, so we got acquainted with his parents, Jamie and Margie. They live in Connecticut and Jamie works as an antique and art appraiser. He helps folks get some really high-end stuff to auctions at places like Sotheby's. We seem to run into them every August at this point, and although Nate and Harrison seem less compatible right now, I think that they get a kick out of reconnecting each year. We were at Crescent Beach when we met up with them this time. The boys headed down to the water to fool around; I stood near the parking area and talked to Jamie. He's an interesting man, very intelligent and forthright with his ideas. I'm sure that we'd never end up hanging out with each other, but I find it interesting to talk with him. I usually end up with a sense that he and I are from different worlds.

As our conversation was winding down, another acquaintance from year's past spotted us and came over to say hello. Erin is a police officer from Albany. He and his wife, Stephanie, have been coming here for several years now. They missed last summer, because the cottage that they had been renting was torn down and a new cottage was being built. I remember that two years ago they were aware that the old cottage was about to go. They also were pretty sure that the new building would not be available for rent. As it turns out, the family that owns the place had planned to be away this week, and although they are not actively trying to rent the new house, they offered it to Erin and Stephanie for the week. Their boys, Ryan and Jack, are younger than our kids, so they don't really play together. It was great to see them again, and yesterday we spent some time talking with them while we were hanging out on the beach. We have never spent any time with them at home, but I can imagine that we could. It's kind of funny that we know them, but have only ever seen them here; Stephanie's office is only about 1.5 miles from our house.

Dad has been picking up realty fliers throughout the week. He made a comment yesterday that he thinks that there are more places for sale this year than other years. I hadn't consider that, but I'm inclined to agree. I actually called a realtor yesterday about one of the listings; it's a couple of acres of land just down the road from where we rent. The listing said that it had 50+/- of waterfront, but it turns out that it's "rights" not actual waterfront. Instead of being on the water, it's sort of in the water; most of it is swampy and could not be used for building anything. There is a spot for a house, but there wouldn't be any view of the water... except maybe the pond. All this could be ours for just $125,000.00. So imagine what a decent parcel costs.

Why is it that what you dream about can be such a pleasant thing, but the experience of dreaming about it ends up feeling so unsatisfying?

Last night was one of the warmest and clearest that I can remember. Abbie and I decided to brave the bugs and sit out on the porch. I lit up our "Off Lantern," and we sat together on the steps of the porch. I played the guitar a little bit while she read by flashlight. After awhile I began to notice the stars, and before long, we were walking around in the yard together, holding hands, whispering to each other, and gazing up at the sky. It was so clear that we could see the bands of the Milky Way. Amazing. Abbie commented that she would like to see the Big Dipper, and when we turned around to walk back to the porch, there it was all at once, beautifully clear above the cottages. She was so excited.

Another detail that captured our attention remains a bit of a mystery. To the southwest, above the tree line we could see three stars... or were they all stars? They kept their relationship to each other, so I'm sure that none was a satellite or a plane, but the center light, just slightly above the line between the outer ones was twinkling. Actually "twinkling" doesn't really fit because this thing was so active that it was almost flashing. And to our eyes it seemed to be changing color constantly. We looked at it through binoculars and the display of color was even more impressive. But what was it? It was no bigger than the other stars in the sky, and although we watched for the better part of 30 minutes, it didn't move. I'm not sure how to begin to find out what it was, but I intend to try. Maybe, if this evening is as clear, we'll get to see it again.

I woke up this morning at about 5:45, which is a bit earlier than normal. I could tell that the sky was still clear, so I decided that it was worth getting up, on the chance that I'd see the sun rising. I was right; it was worth it. Based on the cold and foggy mornings of last week, I would have guessed that this type of a morning was out of season, but we're enjoying another warm, clear and sunny morning on the porch with our coffee.

Abbie has been teaching us the art of self-portrait photography. These are a couple of photos that Kim and I took this morning. We took dozens, and at one point we were laughing so much that I was afraid we would wake up other people. Okay, we're not really very sophisticated, but we have fun.

Today, there are a few things that are planned; we'll head to the beach this morning while the tide is out, Toby will need to be cared for this morning and this evening, and we will go out to dinner tonight at Cafe Miranda. The restaurant is a bit of an "adventurous" choice, but we believe that the payoff will be worth the risk; the food is unusual but very, very good. We hope that Mom and Dad will agree.

But as far as the day's events go, there is also the unspoken agenda... and yes, I'm going to say it now: packing and cleaning. Between all of that, and trying to read a few more pages in our books, or play a few more rounds of Bananagrams, the day is looking pretty full.

No complaints.