Saturday, June 28, 2008

6/28/08 Lucky Tickets

The citizens of Sanford are way behind this baseball team. They volunteer at the ticket booth, in the gift shop, and in raising money for the scholarship fund. They can't pay these boys for playing on their team, but they can give them college scholarships. It's a win-win situation. Besides the typical 50-50 ticket sales (which you may remember I never heard of until the Farmington Fair, but now I can say it's typical), they sell "Lucky Tickets". Okay, so they're raffle tickets, but they give away so many free goodies during the game from local sponsors that it feels like practically every ticket is a winning ticket. One of the most coveted prizes you can earn with your lucky ticket (besides a free oil change) is the chance to watch the game from these two recliner lounges from the local furniture store. You sit right on top of the visitors' dug out. What a deal!! MRM's dad actually won those seats at the game on Friday night, but all he won on Saturday was the oil change. None of the rest of us won anything. But we all had a great time and the Mainers won their game in spite of the drizzle.

6/28/08 The Sanford Mainers Baseball Team

After our day of touring the coast, we ended up at our destination of Sanford, ME. MRM's parents live here. They had a baked bean supper waiting for us (it is, after all, a Saturday night) and then we all headed out to the Sanford Mainers' baseball game. The Mainers are in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). It's like the minor leagues of the minor leagues and it was a blast--in spite of the cold. I actually got the emergency blanket out of the trunk of my car to bring to the game for Rodney 'cuz he was cold during the day, but I ended up being the one who used it at the game. Front row--mom and dad. They have season tickets. They're such loyal fans that dad actually got to throw out the first pitch last week.

Next to dad sat MRM who read a book through most of the game. (Remember, she plays Soduku when watching Red Sox games at the house.)

Next to MRM are her niece and her sister-in-law--the nice folks that included me in their Thanksgiving dinner last year.


On the second row are me (not pictured), Rodney (who takes his baseball very seriously, obviously), RBF, MRM's brother, and her sister-in-law's mom whom I met at Thanksgiving last year, so it was like old home week!

There's a better picture of MRM's brother and his mother-in-law. Behind them you can see the Mainer's mascot, Broose the Moose.

6/28/08 What's the weather like there in Maine in the summer?

It turns out that Maine has the same expression that we have in Texas: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." But it's been rainy and drizzly most every day since I've been back and today was no exception. You don't see many pictures of OOB or Kennebunk or Ogunquit because the skies were gray and you couldn't see the horizon.


You might think you'd want a summer job lifeguarding on the beach, but not today:

6/28/08 The Celebration Tour -- Day 1

Rodney is moving to Oregon and has a list of places and people he wants to see before he leaves. We're calling it his "Celebration Tour" of Maine (I refuse to let him call it a farewell tour because that would imply he's not coming back). So he's letting me tag along with him whenever our schedules permit. It's so much easier for me to do my "Welcome Tour" of Maine with someone who already knows so many great spots and how to get there.


Today we went to Old Orchard Beach (okay, I was the expert on this one as we ate Pier Fries for the first course in our progressive lunch), then to Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. I had driven through Kennebunk and Kennebunkport on Easter Sunday of 2007 with Grace when she gave me that amazing tour of the coastline, but we didn't stop. Rodney and I drove past Walker Point (which I had also done with Grace) and we're pretty sure by the number of secret service we saw, that the former president must've been home. We had lunch at Federal Jack's. When we told MRM's mom later where we ate, she said it was located in Taint Town . . . right in that area you're not in Kennebunk and you're not in Kennebunkport, so you "tain't in either town". Federal Jack's is affiliated with a bookstore that we went to downstairs. They had a lot of cool stuff, but this was my favorite:

That has nothing to do with Maine but it is just one of the many good laughs we had on the Celebration Tour.

From Kennebunk we drove to Ogunquit. It was very quaint. I took this picture for my friends back in Dallas that have West Highland terrier dogs. It gives you a feel for the quaintness.



This part of the state is overrun with Canadians in the summer. They love coming south to Maine for their vacations. There are plenty of folks who speak French that live in Maine year round, but signs like this are intended for the tourists who speak French.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

6/26/08 wildflowers in the parking lot

I drove to work today because I was dropping off a bunch of stuff that was too heavy and big to carry when walking, plus I had more errands to run. These are some of the wild flowers right at the edge of the parking lot. They are literally "growing wild" and are just spectacular. You couldn't have planted a more beautiful garden if you tried. God is such the perfect gardener.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

6/24/08 A Perfect Match

One of the things I got out of storage in Dallas were all the blankets I could find. In my old furnished house, I had plenty of blankets, so I didn't bring any with me. But in the new place, the bed is provided but not the linens. And even in summer, I need extra covers. This throw is two pieces of fleece that have been knotted together at the fringe. Dr. Mari made it for me for Christmas one year. It matched the turquoise and brown in my old living room but the dusty rose patches in it match the chair in my new apt. perfectly. I love it when things come together like this. :-)

Thursday, June 19, 2008

6/19/08 dinner at Huot's in Cape Ellis

What's for dinner? I told Grace, I wanted seafood (I had my lobster roll for lunch yesterday, so I was good to go on that front). So we went to Huot's Seafood Restaurant in Cape Ellis (just down the shoreline from Old Orchard Beach) which is her dad's favorite place. It's been there since 1935. On Grace's recommendation, I ordered halibut chowder and clam cakes. I've had clam chowder before but not halibut and I've had crab cakes but not clam cakes. Both were delicious.

6/19/08 they're not shopping carts . . .

I came "home" to Maine on Tuesday night, the 19th, and caught my ride on Mermaid Transportation without a hitch. My driver dropped me off at the Park 'n Ride in Biddeford and there was my car, waiting for me, courtesy of Grace and her parents who babysat (carsat) for me while I was gone. Then I drove to Old Orchard Beach and Grace and I worked all day Wednesday and Thursday morning. We got a LOT of work done including data analysis and paper writing for our proposal for SITE 2009, and agenda planning and research for the Tools Retreat in August. We treated ourselves to an afternoon of fun for our reward. First on the list was a trip to The Christmas Tree Shoppe for goodies for my new apartment. Check out the sign in the parking lot. Well, first notice that the parking area for shopping carts is covered . . . that's pretty cool and in winter that means your carts aren't covered in snow. But notice that the sign says, "Please return carriages here". Carriages? Even Grace, a true Mainer, calls them shopping carts. At The Christmas Tree Shoppe in Augusta, they call them carts. But someone somewhere calls them carriages and it's someone important enough to determine verbiage on the sign!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dr. Theresa Overall
Assistant Professor
University of Maine at Farmington
Secondary/Middle Education Department
office: Education Center 220
phone: (207) 778-7049
email: theresa.overall@maine.edu

Monday, June 9, 2008

6/9/08 Communities and Abbreviations

I'm still working on figuring out the difference between a city and a town here in Maine; then throw in township and a funky numbering system of NWPs (whatever that stands for). For example, an area that isn't a town or city may be classified as T23 R35 NWP. It's all so new . . . there's so much to learn . . . still.

Today I received an email from a colleague with her address at the bottom. Where the city/town would normally be located was written "Sandy River Plt., ME" So what is PLT? I thought of PiLoT and PLaTte but wasn't sure. I searched a lot on the web but kept getting addresses with Sandy River Plt. and nothing which spelled out what PLT stood for. I even found a school district for Sandy River Plt but they just referred to themselves with Plt in the name. Now I'm thinking it's a big PLoT to conspire against those of us who are "persons from away."

I finally found a fabulous website called "Maine Local Government" which lists every city/town/township/incorporated area/whatever in the state, in alphabetical order, and when you click on the name, you get a little description of the area, its history, its county, etc. And on that page, I found out that Plt. stands for PLanTation! I didn't know there were any plantations in Maine, much less towns named for one. But now I know. And so do you. :-)

Sunday, June 8, 2008

6/8/08 MADISON Severe crash victim doesn't know quit

Here's a news story, one year later, on my student Sarah who was in that horrible car crash last year. I blogged about it several times and asked for lots of prayers. Shame on me, I don't think I ever reported on her miracle recovery and return to UMF. Inspired by the amazing people that helped her recover, she switched her major from Secondary English (being a high school English teacher) to Rehabilitation. But then her love of teaching kept rising to the top so she switched her major to Community Health, so she's still involved in health and rehabilitation AND she can be a teacher. I'm very excited for her.

Here's the newspaper story, retrieved 6/8/08 from http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5118440.html

MADISON Severe crash victim doesn't know quit
BY LARRY GRARD
Staff Writer

Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel
06/08/2008

MADISON -- Don't let her soft, sweet voice fool you.

Sarah Mueller is steely when confronting her demons. She defeats them.

The 18-year-old Madison resident, who just finished her sophomore year at University of Maine at Farmington, was nearly killed in a horrific car accident last year in Mercer. The crash killed the drunk driver with whom she collided, leaving Mueller in critical condition.

That was on the night of May 5 -- a month before Mueller was to ride her bicycle in the annual Trek Across Maine for the American Lung Association of Maine.

But this year, Mueller is back. Not only will she ride in this year's Trek, but on the anniversary of the accident, Mueller rode her bike from Farmington to the accident scene.

"She called me from her cell phone just to say she was alive," said her mother, Lisa Mueller. "That's how determined she is."

Sarah Mueller said she wanted to prove something to herself. Besides, it was a nice day.

"I just wanted to go back and say, 'ha-ha,'" Mueller said. "It felt good to do it. I'm just amazed at what the human body can do. My legs were shattered."

Mueller also suffered other fractures, chest trauma and a brain injury. Rescue personnel flew her to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where doctors induced a coma.

"I can't remember what happened about half an hour before it happened," she said. "I was at the Opera House in Waterville, for a friend's play."

She spent a month and one-half in the hospital.

On Tuesday, Mueller began training in earnest for the Trek. She rode the 40 miles from UMF, where she holds a summer job, to her Madison home, by way of New Portland.

It might be shorter by way of Starks, but Mueller wants to increase her mileage, not shorten yet. The Trek, after all, average sup to 60 miles a day.

"Through New Portland is less curvy," she said. "There are a lot of crazy people on the road. "It probably would have been better if it hadn't started pouring. But I'll go back out again on Thursday."

Mueller, majoring in community health education at UMF, is a 2006 graduate of Carrabec High School. She was still living in Anson when she became inspired to ride in the annual benefit.

"Two years ago, I saw them along the Trek route in Anson," she recalled. "There were hundreds and hundreds. Just seeing so many people doing this, it was so inspirational."

Now, Mueller serves as inspiration. Her older sister Crystal rode in her stead at last year's Trek, but Sarah Mueller will be at the starting line on June 13.

"She was determined from the time she came out of her coma she was going to do the Trek," her mother said. "She worked hard. She has bad days with aches and pains, but she's doing well."

Ha-ha.

Larry Grard -- 861-9239

lgrard@centralmaine.com