9/30/08 Mystery Lights at the Gazebo on a Tuesday Night

This morning on my way to work, I noticed a woman wrapping Christmas lights around the trees at the town gazebo and another woman standing outside the gazebo, holding a camera, watching and chatting with the woman wrapping the Christmas lights. It seemed an odd scene and I couldn't imagine who they were or why they were there.

Tonight, on my way home from work, I saw these purple lights on the trees and the gazebo. I had to assume it was the lights being put on this morning. The mystery seems even greater now: who were they and why the lights?

I ventured across the street to get this closeup photo and could hear voices coming from inside the gazebo. Apparently, a couple was sitting on the floor of the gazebo having a conversation. I quickly took my photo and left. I didn't want to disturb them. I don't know if the woman in the couple was the same woman as this morning. The mystery only deepens.

9/29/08 Today's weather report

From the verandah, fog over the Sandy River was visible, probably the last remnants of Tropical Storm Kyle. We never did get the bad weather we were warned about, though there was a constant gentle rain for almost the entire weekend.

By 9:00 the fog had burned off and sunshine through the clean rain-washed air was the norm. These were photos taken on my walk to work showing not only sunshine but autumn in progress.

9/28/08 Needhams

Just when I think I'm aware of all things uniquely Maine, I find out about another thing: Needhams. They're a potato candy made with Maine potatoes???? I saw it on FB (of course) 'cuz it was a blog entry imported into FB by my friend Michael Johnson. I went and read his blog:
http://keatsfan.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/rainy-day-needhams/

(Be sure to check out the artwork at the bottom.) After reading about how to make them yourself, I'm pretty sure I'll just be admiring those who make 'em and won't be trying to make 'em myself.

I commented on Michael's blog that I thought I had heard of all things Maine and wouldn't have anything to blog about after a while and he then sent me this link: http://maineneedham.com/site/index.php

I want to go to this shop when I go back to Acadia. I definitely missed this somehow.

So I look forward to trying these out. I love all things potato, so I can't imagine not liking potato candy. Chocolate isn't my favorite, so I'll avoid the dark chocolate ones and look for white chocolate or try the ones covered in almonds. But still! Who would've guessed you could make candy out of mashed potatoes. I can't wait until I "just need a Needham."


photo from: http://maineneedham.com/site/index.php

9/27/08 Hurricane Watch Issued for Maine's Coast as Tropical Storm Kyle Approaches

Saturday, September 27, 2008

MIAMI — A rare hurricane watch was posted for part of the Maine coast on Saturday as Tropical Storm Kyle roared north toward the region with a threat of conditions similar to one of New England's nor'easter storms.

"Hurricane season isn't over, " said Maine Emergency Management Agency director Rob McAleer. "It's been a very active season."

It was Maine's first hurricane watch in 17 years, the National Weather Service said. Elsewhere in the northeastern New England states, a hurricane warning was posted for Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts in September 1996, according to the weather service office in Taunton, Massachusetts.

Two to 4 inches of rain had already fallen along some coastal areas by midday Saturday and the storm was expected to deliver an additional 2 to 4 inches, said Eric Schwibs of the weather service in Gray.

At 2 p.m. EDT Kyle was centered about 300 miles west-northwest of Bermuda and 550 miles south of Nantucket, the National Hurricane Center said in Miami.

The storm had top sustained wind near 70 mph and the potential to grow to hurricane strength. It was moving north over the open Atlantic at 20 mph, up from 15 mph during the morning.

Kyle's center was forecast to be near eastern New England or the Canadian Maritime provinces late Sunday, the hurricane center said.

The hurricane center posted a hurricane watch from Stonington, at roughly the center of the Maine coast, to Eastport, on the border with New Brunswick, Canada. A tropical storm watch extended south to Cape Elizabeth, near Portland.

Kyle could make landfall near Eastport, possibly late Sunday, the hurricane center said.

That would put the storm's strongest wind in New Brunswick, rather than in Maine, which would get conditions more akin to "a garden variety nor'easter," said Schwibs.

The government of Canada issued a tropical storm watch for southwestern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the hurricane center said.

The weather service also issued flood watches for the southern two-thirds of New Hampshire and southern Maine through Sunday evening.

McAleer said the storm's biggest threat in Maine would be the potential for high waves and small stream flooding.

The Coast Guard prepared crews and equipment for the storm and urged boat owners to secure their vessels in anticipation of high wind and seas that could run 10 to 20 feet high off shore.

Eastern Maine's power company, Bangor Hydro-Electric, said it prepared for potential outages and planned to have additional crews on duty.

Sept. 26: This NOAA satellite image taken at 1:15 AM EDT shows Tropical Storm Kyle located to the southwest of Bermuda.

retrieved 9/27/08 from: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,428483,00.html

9/26/08 Apple Pumpkin Festival

I had planned to attend the Livermore Falls Apple Pumpkin Festival tomorrow, but due to the impending rain from Hurricane Kyle, they've postponed it. The website says, "POSTPONED DUE TO HORRENDOUS WEATHER and Bad Field Conditions". Not just bad weather or rain but *horrendous* weather. October 18 . . . I hope I remember. I hope the pumpkins and apples are still good. Actually, that night I'm supposed to go to a pumpkin carving party that night that's BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin). I can just pick up my pumpkin at the festival and head over to the party.

9/24/08 Maine Foliage Report

Excerpts from my weekly email from the State's Department of Conservation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn Arrives and Maine’s Foliage Color Spreads South

AUGUSTA, Maine – Right on cue, Maine’s fall foliage has had a burst
of emerging color according to the Department of Conservation’s third
foliage report of the season.

Hard frosts during the past week and a stretch of sunny days have
weakened leaves and allowed more of their hidden colors to show. The
cold evening temperatures have not damaged the foliage as every
region of the state still has very low leaf drop.

The Fish River Scenic Byway along Route 11 in Aroostook County will
have great color for a weekend drive, and it’s the perfect time to
hike or fish at Aroostook State Park in Presque Isle.

Baxter State Park, the lakes between the park and the town of
Millinocket, and the Moosehead Lake region are also best bets for
leaf peepers during the next week. The northern portion of the Old
Canada Road National Scenic Byway in Somerset County is another
touring route with good color.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If it weren't raining, I'd be out driving some of these places!!

9/23/08 A Whole Different Kind of New Season

Today, is the first full day of Autumn. It really feels like it: The air is chilly and dry and the skies are sunny and blue. A new season. Today, I finally got my Maine license plates and registered to vote in Maine. And that's a whole different kind of new season in my life.

It only took me 13 months. I think that means I was illegal for 10 months (or maybe 12?). It wasn't easy (lots of paperwork and visits to the town office) and it wasn't cheap (you pay excise tax as well as registration fee so it was over $200 and will be every year for a while until it's old enough to get a cheaper rate) but mostly it was emotional.

Once I got the plates, it only took 48 hours to get them put on. And that was trickier than usual. 10 days before I left Texas back in August 2007, I was rear-ended at a red light. It did a little damage to the back bumper and the passenger side tail light sticks out a little further than usual, but it's all cosmetic. The same force also pushed me into the trailer hitch of the pickup in front of me and that bent my license plate and plate holder and put a little dent in the front bumper. When I took it in for the insurance estimate, I told the estimator that since I had just moved to Maine (yes, the accident was in Texas but after talking with several insurance people we all agreed that if it was safe and driveable, I might as well wait) and didn't know if I might get a few more bumps and scratches driving in snow, I'd rather just take the money and not get the repairs done and he said fine. So that's what I did. Then we talked about my license plate. He said I could probably find someone for $10 who would just jerry rig something for me. On Tuesday, when I ran into my landlord and we were just chatting, I told him I had just made the big move and gotten my Maine tags (he's been ragging on me about it ever since I started parking in his driveway). Then I told him the part about finding someone who would jerry rig it for me. He said he would take a look at it. And he fixed it! I didn't even have to buy a new plate holder. And while he was at it, he just went ahead and replaced the back one for me, too. I already liked my landlady and landlord, but you gotta really love a landlord who will help you really feel like you're at home.

So here's my landlord taking off the Texas tag (he asked not to be in the photo) and below that is my cute little Saturn with its new tags.

9/22/08 Sunset in Belgrade

On the drive back to Farmington from Hallowell, I happened to get to Belgrade at sunset. I figured out why "The Sunset Inn" is named that . . . what a view they have from their back windows. Across the street from The Village Inn is a little parking lot and a staircase that leads down towards the water. I pulled in. Looks like there must've been a wedding there earlier today. I guess this area belongs to The Village Inn?? I took pictures quickly and tried to soak it all in before I felt compelled to leave. I think I need to plan more drives through Belgrade at sunset. PLUS, one of my faithful readers and former studnets, Marie, lives in Belgrade. I'm in trouble now for blogging about Belgrade and not stopping in to see her. ;-)

9/22/08 Hallowell with Mary S.!

How fun is this?! Mary S., one of the chums, a longtime friend in Dallas, and the current tenant at my house back in Texas, was in Bangor, ME for work this weekend. She works for Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Bangor affiliate had their race and big fundraiser this weekend, so she worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning, then needed to be in New Hampshire for a meeting Monday morning. So on her drive from Bangor to New Hampshire, we rendezvoused in Augusta and I took her to Hallowell. It's that quaint town that we drove through but didn't stop at on one of the Celebration Tours. We arrived a little too late on a Sunday afternoon to see most of the shops, but we found a few that were open and mostly just enjoyed the stroll up and down the streets and the chance to yack and catch up in person. I'll be seeing her (and staying in her guest room in my own house) in December in Dallas, but it was very fun to see her in Maine. I hope more Texas friends will do the same!

In this same shop, I treated myself to a cute brass pin in the shape of a moose!

9/21/08 Autumn Leaves

Some trees change color earlier than others. This one is in some kind of fast heat and is practically already changed completely! This is in front of the Convention Center/Community Gymnasium where we park for church (the church is right next door).

9/20/08 Women's Soccer @ UMF

I actually made it to the soccer game! It helped that I thought the game was at 3:00 but it really started at 3:15. Here are the teams on the field for player introductions. I was only going to stay for the first half because I needed to get back to the office and get some work done. But it was such a gorgeous day and the UMF women were doing fabulous on defense against Maine Maritime, so I decided to stay for the second half. I knew two of my current students were on the team, McKell and Amber. I didn't know until I got there that one of my former students, Katie, was also on the team. So it was fun to root for specific girls that I knew as well as the team in general. At the end of the game, the score was 0-0 and I just assumed that was the end. I was nearly off the field when I realized that they were about to start playing again. People around me said outloud that guessing by the fact that there was no time on the clock, it must be that they were going to play sudden death and not overtime. I didn't know that you did either, I really just thought everyone would be happy with a tie. The game lasted an hour and a half with neither team able to score, I was getting nervous how long this sudden death might last, when suddenly, UMF had just scored. So the game was over much quicker than I thought. Shwew!

9/20/08 Abbott Park

Today, Saturday, was beautiful. On the calendar, it's still summer, though Autumn is only two days away. I worked on school work at the office until 2:30ish then headed out walking to a yard/art sale that was to benefit a local publishing company. The yard sale wasn't much, but the walk was gorgeous. I then walked to Hippach Field for the Women's Soccer Team match, only to find that there was no one there. Oh. Now I remember, the soccer game is at Prescott Field, which is down by the movie theatre on the other side of town. So I strolled through Abbott Park on my way back to the Education Center (the long way back) and took the time to just really enjoy Abbott Park and it's many bridges--each unique.

9/19/08 Yep. First Freeze

It's the end of a season. This morning when I got up at 7:00am, the outside temp was 34. You know it was colder than that earlier in the day, before the sun rose. It was all of 36 when I left the house at 8:30. I gave myself permission to wear a coat . . . a short coat (no WAY is it time for the long coat). I didn't see anyone else with short coats on. Jackets and hoodies, but no real coats. I do have a warm jacket that I could've warn except it was in my office where I wore it one chilly morning and then it was balmy when I left for home and I forgot it. Now I have two warm jackets at school. I hope I remember to bring them home.

So summer is really truly, for real, over. We may get some warm days but that would be Indian Summer and really a part of autumn, right? And now, I need to go to Ashley's to get my fall and winter clothes and take all those short-sleeved cotton blouses out of the closet. I have so little closet space here, that when I was telling a group of friends I was going to have to buy one of those clothes racks on wheels and set up a yard sale in my bedroom to hold all my clothes, Ashley offered me storage space in her basement. Now that's a real friend! So I have to drive 3 miles to her place, pick up some winter clothes (I probably won't bring out the Christmas apparel or the long coat yet), come back to the house, swap out enough clothes to create closet space without a need for that clothes rack, put those clothes in the storage bags that the winter ones are in now, and then take the spring and summer clothes to Ashley's basement. Or I could invest money in more storage bags, put the spring and summer clothes in those ahead of time, and make one trip to Ashley's basement. But then again, I'd have to find a place to store the extra storage bags. Oh the dilemma! ;-)

The good news is, the weather is fabulous. I love Autumn and I get to have a real one here in Maine.

9/18/08 The End of a Season

Here's the National Weather map for tonight for Maine. A little part of the state is having a frost advisory and the whole rest of the state, including Farmington, is having a freeze warning. Bring in the pumpkins and the last of your peppers from the garden. ;-) [No, I do NOT have a garden with peppers or pumpkins or anything else that could get damaged by freezing temps.]

Think back to the blog entry about goldenrod. On 8/2/08 I learned the legend that 6 weeks after the goldenrod blooms, you'll have your first frost. That was 6 and a half weeks ago. :-)

retrieved 9/18/08 from: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/car/

9/18/08 The Farmington Fair

Last year I attended the Farmington Fair for the first time (thanks, MRM!). I'm an expert at The State Fair of Texas, but this was a whole new world. I considered myself a beginner at Farmington Fair. This year I moved up to Advanced Beginner and actually worked at the fair!

Here I am with Andrea (who leads my church choir) volunteering in the St. Joseph's Food Booth at the fair.

Here are Jeremy and Claire (she's the head of religious education . . . I know her from being an on-call substitute for Sunday School) working in the back, doing all the cooking and most of the food prep.

Right out the window of the food booth, we could see the harness racing (and we don't have that at The State Fair of Texas!).

Every fair has its competitions: animals, cooking, canning, needlework and more. Farmington has its fair share, including cut flowers.

Ultimately, though, for some a fair is all about the Midway or the rides, but for me, it's about the food. Someone's planning on making A LOT of french fries during the one-week event.

MRM taught me last year that King and Queen fries are the best and she is sooooo right. I helped them make a tiny dent in this giant stack of sacks by eating a small order of fries.

They've got it all in this one booth. The cotton candy reminds me of Coney Island.

The Texas State Fair is famous for frying a lot of unique things. Both fairs have fried Oreos for sale.

But I know for certain that The State Fair of Texas doesn't have deep fried whoopie pies!

9/16/08 Labor Day details are coming, I promise

The amazing and wonderful Labor Day weekend ended on Monday and the new school year officially started on Tuesday. It's been a whirlwind ever since. I still haven't finished putting up photos or writing about Saturday afternoon and evening from the 4-day adventure. I promise I will. I hope to get to it this weekend. But meanwhile, life has been happening and I couldn't put all the blog entries on hold. I still have about 20 entries from last fall with photos and no words because I kept waiting 'til I had time to get caught up. So I've posted everything that I have and am up to date except for Labor Day weekend. When I do finish Labor Day's postings, I will add a blog entry with details so you can get caught up. Meanwhile, life moves on and mine continues to move in amazing and wondrous paths. God has so many fun surprises for me. I can't wait to see what will happen in my life next! Stay posted!

9/16/08 Close Enounter of the Striped Kind

I was walking home tonight after dark and under a full moon. I passed lots of people, so it wasn't too late. Or maybe it was late enough to be out when lots of other late night walkers were out. It's only 8 tenths of a mile from my office to The Verandah (which is how I now refer to the whole dwelling place including the verandah) and I was on the last tenth of a mile (all uphill). In the shadows by a fence between two houses I saw something moving and then I saw its shadow in the full moonlight and thought, "Oh a kitty cat!" Before I could call out "Here kitty kitty kitty," I figured out that there was a really big white stripe down the back of that "kitty". Eeegads! A skunk! Right here in civilization! Of course, I am pretty close to a big woods and there's not much about Farmington that isn't right on the border of rural. And skunks live in big cities as well as in the country due to encroachment. But this was as close to a live skunk as I've ever been and it was too close. I crossed the street and picked up my pace. I saw a shooting star and that was cool. As I looked back down from that, I swear a shadowy animal was crossing the street and went into my driveway. It did NOT have the silhouette of a cat or a dog, but I don't know what it was since I just caught a glimpse of it. In Dallas you could carry a whistle or mace and you knew you could 911 if you had any kind of encounter. What do you carry for protection from wildlife?

9/15/08 How damp is it?

You know there's been a lot of rain when you not only see a slug, but you see it up on your car! How did it get there?! (This is the back bumper of my car under the license plate . . . and yes, that's a Texas plate still. I promise I'm working on it.)

9/13/08 Another Sign of the End of the Season

Yep, you know summer's over when all the ice cream stands start shutting down. Here's my new favorite one on the way to Lewiston/Auburn (the one that's Randy, Rodney, & Jenn's favorite) with the "Thanks for a great year! See you next season!" sign in the window. Dutch Treat is closed for the season as well. Gifford's in Farmington is still open, but just through "Peeper Season" because there's enough tourist trade to make it worth their while. I'm already looking forward to next summer, which is going to be The Quest for the Best Ice Cream. That summer will be all about the process and not the product. I hope they all tie for first place.

9/13/08 running errands

In keeping with my pledge to give rides to anyone who needs one to try and pay it forward for the semester I didn't have a car . . . there was an email across campus asking if anyone was going to Portland because our visiting artist (here for two semesters from Liverpool, England) needed to pick up some supplies for a faculty art show next week. So I replied that I needed to go and could squeeze it in on Saturday. All I really needed in Portland was to pick up my shoes at the shoe repair. I had dropped off 6 pairs to be polished, waterproofed, re-soled, have taps added, etc. and told the shoe repair guy I would pick them up next time I was in town. I dropped them off on July 2nd! Good thing I wore tennis shoes all summer. But now the school year was starting and I needed some real shoes and they were all in Portland. I really didn't have time to go to Portland 'cuz I needed to get a lot of school work done, but I needed the shoes and Jeremy, the artist, needed his stuff before Monday. So we had planned this quick trip to Portland on Saturday. Then he had a chance to hitch along with the student excursion to New York City. For $45, leave on a bus at midnight Friday, arrive 9am Saturday, take a tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (tickets for that were included), split up and do your own thing for the rest of the day, leave at 11pm Saturday night and get back Sunday morning. I had even been tempted to sign up for that price but had decided against it. So Jeremy went on the bus tour and I went to Portland by myself and picked up his package of stuff and my shoes. I arrived at University of Southern Maine at the Area Gallery at the predetermined time and called the number I had been given. "Go on inside and wait in the gallery and I'll meet you there," the security officer said on the phone. So I did and this is what I found. The entire gallery was filled with an exhibit of Jeremy's work and Jeremy's name was painted on the wall! Wowser! I can't wait to meet this guy in person and find out more about him and his work. :-)

BTW, I successfully picked up my shoes as well. They look really great. This guy Steve works out of his garage in a residential area of South Portland. He's really nice and now I know that he does really good work for a reasonable price. After that, I treated myself to a little shopping and got 2 sweaters and a jacket. I just have to get used to traveling 4 hours round trip to run errands.