I recently noticed how rarely I used the blog during the last year. I'm not one for new year's resolutions, it seems to me they're just a way of being clear about what I'll fail to get accomplished, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and at least say that I hope that I'll do a better job keeping up with entries this year. As I read through some past postings, it was surprising to see how much I have forgotten about the last few years. Even the mundane stuff was interesting.

In light of that, and because I'm not feeling especially creative at this moment, I have decided to do a sort of "time-stamp" by creating a where-we-are-at-the-moment sort of list.

• Kim's job has changed again this school year. Although she's still working with Dylan, Grace and one other new student, she spends the bulk of her day in a Kindergarten classroom working with other teachers. My understanding is that this is partly because of the goals that have been set to see these kids mainstreamed for as much of their program as possible.
• Abbie's in eighth grade. She's having a much better year than last year; she's healthier, her grades are better, and she's seems to be less adversely affected by the social pressures of friends and school. She still texts constantly though, and her Facebook photos and self-portrait postings are becoming the punchline of many jokes. Last night, we had Lynn and Dave Barnes over for dinner. Nate and Abbie each invited one friend, and when Lynn introduced herself to Abbie's friend, she started by speaking to Rachel by name, and then added, as if to explain, "I feel like I already know you from Facebook." I'm not sure Lynn intended to call them out on all of their postings, but her comment was brilliant. I have to remember to thank her for it.
• Abbie's currently taking three dance lessons. Wednesday evenings are for ballet. Thursday nights are for tap and jazz. Because she has an hour break between her two Thursday evening lessons, she and I have been having supper together at the diner that's next door to the dance studio. I'm enjoying our once-a-week dad and daughter time.
• Abbie's also continuing to take guitar lessons from Jordan. I think that this is her third year. She still doesn't "practice" all that much, but plays all the time. I'm fine with the lack of focus on scales and things since I know that she's playing so well, and is getting so much enjoyment out of it. Every now and then we can here her singing too, off in her room or the basement.
• Nate's a junior. He also seems to be having a better year at school. This was the year of testing and trying to get to the bottom of some of his schoolwork issues. At this point, it seems that he's made progress, but I think that he's also become much more aware of how far he has to go. Tech Valley continues to be a great match for him and I know that he's well connected to the kids there.
• Nate's taking tap lessons with Mr. Pigliavento. He's been taking voice lessons with Mr. Gleason since September. He's in his third year with CDYC. He's been cast in the SLOC production of "Les Mis" that will performed in April. He's also recently expressed interest in resuming piano lessons.
• He's not real motivated about getting ready for college. It's time for us to start pushing the issue, since he'll need to start taking tests this spring and we should be visiting a campus or two every month or so. Of course, it's hard to predict, but I'm not sure he's going to be ready to go away to school at the end of high school. The next few months will, no doubt, be pretty important. The thing that I need to keep reminding myself is not to care about it more than he does.
• Work seems to be going better for me this year. It's not that anything significant has been a problem over the last few years, but I was beginning to feel restless and uninspired. During the summer I took the Orff Level I training at Eastman, and it's had a big impact on my teaching. I'm in the process of refining some of what I have always done, as well as, incorporated some new strategies and techniques. Overall, it has made work so much more enjoyable for me, which clearly is also affecting my students. A highlight of this fall was the Amidon's residency in early December. They are amazing with kids, and I learned a great deal from watching them and working with their materials. It was also wonderful to see the effect that their songs had on our school community.
• BRC seems to be getting along well. Our youth work continues to be both satisfying and challenging. It's clear to me that the kids don't view us the same way that the kids ten years ago did. It's also clear that being the parents of two of the youth group members means that most everyone else views us as being "parental." Nevertheless, we're blessed to be working with such great kids in such a supportive environment.
• The dogs are now 18 months old. We seem to be through the most difficult aspects of training. They aren't having any accidents in the house anymore, and we feel as though we can turn our backs for a couple of minutes without having to fear that they'll chew on something. They are great fun, and we all are enjoying them so much.

So hopefully, I can post a few more details in the coming weeks and months. Hopefully, I haven't already doomed myself by committing such an idea to writing...

Prec-i-pice [pres-uh-pis]

1. A cliff with a vertical, nearly vertical or overhanging face.

Each of the past several years we seem to have an adventure in Maine. Hiking, blueberry picking, rope swings and swimming in random ponds, sea kayaking, etc. Common to each adventure has been Paul and Donna. They live here in Owl's Head. We have known Paul and Donna for about 5 years now, and although we rarely have any contact with them when we're at home, our time with them here is increasingly open and comfortable. They're close friends.

Donna grew up in the Bar Harbor area. That's where she met Paul during their time at College of the Atlantic. After school they bought a house there. They still have family in the area. They know the Mount Desert Island area very well, and they wanted to take us up for a day. The chance to see Acadia and other spots around the area is something that we've always talked about doing, and the chance to spend a day with two people who know and love the area so well was a no-brainer.

They picked us up a seven, a detail that Paul insisted was necessary in order to beat the traffic. The two hour drive along Route 1 can stretch out tremendously on summer days. After a quick stop at McDonalds for coffee and Frappes, we were underway. Once in Bar Harbor, we made a quick stop at their son's house, where Donna wanted to drop off a few things and hug the grandkids. Then we headed to the beltway that runs through Acadia.

Initially Paul's suggested agenda for the day was very loose. He loves to hike (and as we have learned, climb), so walking in the park seemed like an obvious activity. Kim declined the chance to hike on the park trails, preferring to ride with Donna to see some of the beaches and spots like Thunder Hole. So Paul, Nate, Abbie and I got dropped of at a parking lot near a trail head. After exchanging some insider lingo about our route and destination with Donna, Paul led us up the trail as the ladies drove away.

Paul had asked some questions about how each of us felt about heights and steep areas. Assuming that this was similar to other hiking experiences that I've had, I didn't make much of his questions. I know from hiking in the Adirondacks that I feel uncomfortable on high ledges, so I just stay back away from the edge. I also understand that steep trails are tiring. This all seemed like good perspective to have before setting out. Fortunately, I didn't really understand at all.

When we reached the top an hour or so later, a sign posted there drew a subtle but important distinction between this trail and others that I have been on; this was climb, not a hike.

A quick Google search lead me to this information this morning.

This is the most challenging and well known hiking trail in Acadia National Park with an exposed and almost vertical 1,000 foot climbup the east face of Champlain Mountain. The trail is only recommended for physically fit and experienced hikers who have no fear of heights. The Precipice parking area is at the base of the Precipice cliff on the east side of Mount Desert Island about 1 mile north of the Schooner Head entrance fee station on the Park Loop Road. We suggest that you do not hike this trail alone and that you verify weather conditions before the climb.

The hiking trail has many rungs and ladders along the trail's length and is approximately 1.6 mile/2.6 km round trip

Sometimes it's better if we don't understand what we're about to do. Of course, this approach can often lead to disastrous consequences, but in this situation, we were in good hands. Paul is an experienced hiker and he knows this trail very, very well. He proved to be an excellent coach and guardian through the whole event. I'll admit I was quite anxious at times, but oddly, I never experienced any real sense of fear.

One of the amazing gifts of this experience was watching Nate and Abbie. During this hour I came to a much greater understanding that Nate doesn't fear things the way that I do. I guess that should have been obvious after raising him for 15 years, but it wasn't. Not only was he not afraid of the climb, at times, his bravery added to my anxiety. At one point, Paul made it clear to Nate that part of making the event less stressful for me was exercising caution and restraint to minimize my worrying.

When we were nearly at the summit, Paul took a detour, leading Nate off the trail to a 20 foot vertical wall of rock. He asked me if it was okay to have Nate "free climb" it. Although I was aware that a fall from this wall might result in a fairly serious injury, there was no danger of Nate falling to a lower or more dangerous spot than where they were standing. I trust Paul, and he said that he would spot Nate, so I said, "yes." Nate struggled to get started, but within a few minutes was about 8 feet off the ground. At that point Paul discouraged Nate from going any further unless he was comfortable. Nate pressed on, but Abbie and I left that spot to return to the trail. Before we were able to get back to the trail and climb to the ledge above Nathan, I heard his victory cry. When we arrived, he was standing on the ledge beaming.

Within a few minutes our party reached the summit. There was quite a crowd there, most of whom were gathered around the sign post that directs hikers (and climbers) to the trails leading off of the mountain. Paul spent some time acting as an advisor to folks who weren't exactly sure what they should do.

After several minutes there, I told Abbie how impressed I was and asked if she had been nervous during the climb. To my surprise, she told me that she had nearly thrown up. Even now, I'm getting choked up thinking about that. She really amazes me. She never hesitated, complained or whined. She just pressed through it. When I commented on how impressive that was, she told me, "What choice did I have?" Her question seemed free of resentment, but instead, strikingly mature. She seemed to be saying, "This is what had to be done. Whining about it wasn't going to change anything."

I hope to write more later about the rest of our day. For now, it's important to me to have a record of this event. I'm continually grateful for our time in Maine. Our ongoing relationship with this place and the people we meet here has given us countless experiences (and challenges) that we simply would not have anywhere else. As I watched Kim and the kids on the beach several hours later, it was hard not to wish that I could freeze the moment. We're a team here. Everyone was content and having a good time. We're blessed people.

-- Our climb took place on Thursday, August 19, the date on this post. I added most of this text the following morning.

The following conversation took place while Abbie and I played cards at the picnic table on our front porch this morning. It's very foggy here today.

Abbie: Are we in the middle of a cloud, but we just can't tell?

Me: Yes.

Abbie: Huh. It's not as fluffy as I imagined.

Baggage Claim

by Rob

Nate's home. Well, actually, we're not at home, as in our house. But last night he arrived back in the states after 14 days in China. Today, with some help and support from Lynn and Lis, he joined us in Maine. For me, he's with us, and so he's home.

A very cool added bonus of this great place where we vacation each year is the regional airport that's about 5 minutes from the cottage. It cost us $20.00 more to fly him here, rather than to Portland, which is at least an hour drive away.

Is this a small airport? Well, when we parked, we pulled onto a section of lawn. I told Kim that it felt like we were parking at the fairgrounds. But, for me, the feature which best summarizes this airport is the baggage claim. Yes, this is a picture of it. Nate and the other ten passengers disembarked and entered the "terminal building." Then we all walked outside to the baggage claim.

It is so great to have him "home."