Life with the Mainiacs

Crazy weather . . . record-breaking crazy

2011-11-30T16:10:00.000-05:00

In October, Maine broke its record for most snow in the month of October, according to the New England Post. It just took one storm to do it. I had about 7" of snow in my front yard. It was great! The Wednesday before Thanksgiving. There wasn't any school anyway--Thanksgiving vacation had already started. I was planning on staying home and getting work done, which I did. But it was a lot of fun to keep looking out the window and seeing snow falling. On Friday after Thanksgiving, it was still a perfect picturesque view out the window while I decorated the apartment for Christmas.

All my snow pictures start to look alike, don't they. There is one thing that's different in this photo. My car is not in the driveway . . . it's in the garage! The Landlords are spending a lot of time at their Florida home this winter and in exchange for taking care of my own trash, I get to park in the garage. It didn't take me long to decide to take them up on that offer!!

So after this "record-breaking" snowfall in October, guess what happened in November? Maine was the warmest state in the country. In November! Check out this map from The Weather Channel as seen in the Bangor Daily News. The warmest states in the country were Maine and Florida and Maine won. The 62 was in Bangor, Maine.

And according to the Portland Press Herald, it looks like November could break the record for warmest November. Crazy!

8/26/2011 Preparing for Hurricane Irene

2011-08-26T17:57:00.000-04:00

They say she's going to make it all the way up to Maine. She started in the Bahamas and is making quite the L O N G trip up the east coast. She's not predicted to hit Maine until Sunday evening, but here on a Friday afternoon, I received an email from BJ's, a local warehouse-type store. The subject line was "In-Club -- Your Hurricane Stock-up HQ" and this was the bulk of the email:

I guess it doesn't matter where you live in the United States, people will always find a way to capitalize on opportunity. Or in this case, to turn a negative into a positive potential.

7/7/2011 Castine Update

2011-07-07T18:17:00.001-04:00

Check out this article in the Castine Patriot about the 4th of July. And pay particular attention to the photos and the photo credits.

Mrs. C's daughter-in-law got a phone call at 7am on the 5th of July from a local reporter who told her that the camera of the paper's photographer wasn't working right and they didn't have any photos of the parade. The photographer knew Mrs. C's d-i-l and had seen her taking photos, so she called to ask her if she had any that she could use. Mrs. C's d-i-l said Karen had a better camera and had been taking tons of photos so she should ask her. So the reporter called Mrs. C. who came and got Karen (who was just getting out of the shower), apprised her of the situation, and put her on the phone with the reporter. Karen actually had over 1,000 photos from the day but was able to pick out 30 or so to send to the reporter and the rest is history. :-)

7/6/2011 Jackman, ME

2011-07-06T13:32:00.005-04:00

Not sure if this belongs in my Maine blog or my travel blog because though it happened in Maine, it's really just the start of my trip to Quebec City and Toudassac in Quebec, Maine. So I'm posting it in both blogs. :)

Quebec City is only 4 hours from Farmington. That's such a weird thought that a major foreign city is as close as south Boston. So my sister KMO and I are going there for 3-day whirlwind tour of Quebec City, then heading to Toudassac (which I never heard of but KMO discovered in her research), and then back to Maine for the Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield, ME. Can't wait.

Halfway to Quebec City is Jackman, ME. I've had the privilege of being here several times when visiting Marcus and Heidi and their kids. One of the things I learned is that the rest stop outside of town at the top of the hill is the only place in the area to get cell phone reception. When you pull in, you never know if the other people around you are tourists like you or locals who've come out to place a phone call!

What I didn't expect at the rest stop were lupines in full bloom and black flies. The lupines were gorgeous. The black flies were horrid. I've never seen this many in one place at one time. I've heard about the swarms of 'em, but never experienced it. Ugh. Hope I never experience it again! I tried to take pics of the lupines and the scenery but could only get this one. The original version has my finger in the top left corner, this is the cropped one. hahahaha. It took us a while to kill off all the black flies that got into the car. It really was bad.

We stopped at Bishop's convenience store and gas station for lunch and a fill up. Saw this wagon that has a cooler on the back and the whole thing collapses for easy storage. This is what we need for Kingfield Pops!!

Now go read the other blog and follow this trip into Canada!

7/5/2011 John's Ice Cream in Liberty

2011-07-05T23:40:00.000-04:00

I need to do more traveling with Stephanie. She knows so many great places! John makes ice cream using real cream and has this cute little place right on the highway that we were traveling to get back to Farmington. But we probably would've missed it and that would've been too bad 'cuz the ambiance was fun and the ice cream delicious.

That's John himself serving a customer. He hand-dipped our ice cream for us:

7/5/2011 Belfast

2011-07-05T23:15:00.001-04:00

On the drive home, Stephanie asked if we would mind stopping in Belfast for a quick errand. What?? See a town in Maine I haven't been to yet? Twist my arm! Belfast is awesome! There's a bustline downtown with great shops and a gorgeous port. There was even a newspaper article about the booming businesses in Belfast in a local paper recently.

Fun way to cover up a door that's no longer in use:

Lots of galleries with beautiful as well as eclectic art:

One of many unique benches in the downtown area:

Wow. Picture postcard perfect:

Hahahaha Thank you Stephanie for helping us find this awesome photo opp!:

7/5/2011 Farewell Castine

2011-07-05T11:22:00.000-04:00

I do love a good Dutch door. And in Castine, the weather is so nice (and in this case, the view of the elm and the yard) that you can actually use your Dutch door. Of course, Mrs. C. has one.

KMO, Mrs. C. and me in Mrs. C's backyard.

Stephanie and me.

We had breakfast at Bah's Bakery. KMO and Stephanie had quiche, I got the famous crab cake (for breakfast?? why not!). It was delicious and the view of the harbor while eating was nice, too.

Because you can see a lot of people on this schooner, Mrs. C. said it must be the Bowdoin. A Facebook friend suspected it was the Bowdoin as well. I'm doing well to know it's a schooner. What nobody said was that the Bowdoin is owned by the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. It's a teaching ship!

7/4/2011 Town Band concert program

2011-07-04T21:53:00.000-04:00

7/4/2011 4th of July Concert, Castine, ME

2011-07-04T21:52:00.000-04:00

Not sure what this was about. This car was parked at the Town Commons for the Town Band Concert. I'm thankful for the 4th of July, does that count?

Instrumentalists getting ready for the big concert. Look right between the T and the I in the word Castine on the big drum, now go up to the rim of the drum, . . . there's my sister!

The Tarratine Fifes and Drums made a guest performance at the concert. Oh look! There's my sister--second fife from the right.

The Dice's Head (or Dice Head or Dyce Head . . . depends what you read) Lighthouse right on the edge of town.

We had a big barbecue tonight. Mrs. C. and her son and daughter-in-law and 3 grandkids plus 4 family friends plus my sister, me, and my friend Stephanie. We ate barbecued brisket, sausage, and ribs sent from The New Braunfels Smokehouse by Mrs. C's daughter Katy who is my sister's best friend which is how we got here in the first place. Gorgeous evening. We all sat underneath Mrs. C's really big elm tree. Yes, elm tree. Castine's elms didn't get hit by the Dutch Elm Disease blight and in fact, all the trees are carefully cared for and tagged and baby elms are now being planted across the country from cuttings from Castine's elms. Anyway, it was a gorgeous tree to sit under and enjoy our wonderful meal. Then we went inside for dessert of brownies and strawberry-rhubarb pie. What a great 4th of July!!

Next on the agenda was the fireworks display at 9:15. At 9:00, two fireworks went off into the fog and just kinda, sorta set the fog aglow. Not much to look at. At 9:15, the harbor lights went out and one more firework went off and glowed. Even the bang didn't sound right in the fog. Next thing we know, they're announcing that the fireworks are postponed to Friday night. :-( A smart decision, just not the evening we were expecting. (This photo is of the Maine Maritime Academy's big ship at the harbor . . . you can kinda tell that there was a lot of fog.)

We came home to Mrs. C's house with a welcome flag. The US flag flies high and proud on a lighted pole on her rooftop, but this flag hangs proud and welcoming in the front porch.

7/4/2011 4th of July in Castine, Maine

2011-07-04T14:48:00.000-04:00

KMO was invited to return to Castine to visit the mom of her best friend and most especially, to play flute for the Castine Town Band and fife with the Tarratine Fifes and Drums. She's been to Castine many times before but this time I got to play chauffeur and it was my first time to this historic Maine town. My good friend from UMF, Stephanie, joined us for the fun. I picked up KMO Sunday night at the airport and we spent the night at a hotel in Portland. Left by 6:45 this morning and headed to Augusta where we picked up Stephanie and then headed to Castine. We arrived at 9:45, in plenty of time to get to the Children's Costume Parade at 10:00. The parade was around the Town Commons area. No floats, no bands, no commercial or political statements, just patriotic music blaring from the 1790 Congregational Church steeple and lots of children (and a few accompanying adults) walking through town. What a glorious way to celebrate!

After the parade, there is a giant celebration on the Town Commons including free watermelon, lemonaid, hot dogs, cotton candy, and fried dough. They also had sack races, a tug of war (with a REALLY long rope and a lot of people on both sides), a pie eating contest, and free fire truck rides. How Norman Rockwell can you get?!

This is The Abbott School on the Town Commons.

After the festivities on the Town Commons, we headed down to the wharf, but there were so many kids lined up for the fire truck rides that those were still going on. We got to see one in action.

We stopped at The Breeze, a local fast food place on the wharf. I got their chocolate chip ice cream sandwich made with fresh chocolate chip cookies. It's bigger than it looks. It was as big as it was delicious.

The morning started with a lot of fog ("marine layer" as some call it), but it started to burn off around 11 and though the rest of the day had a haze (and threatened rain off and on), we could still see the beautiful Castine harbor and I managed to get a good sunburn.

On the second floor of Mrs. C's house is a staircase that goes to the ceiling. But at the top of the staircase is a big hatch and you lift that door and you are on the roof of the house with room enough for 7 deck chairs and a big table with this dramatic view.

6/27/2011 Helicopter Hovering on the Horizon

2011-06-27T22:27:00.000-04:00

For most of the morning today, this helicopter has been flying over the town of Farmington. In the late summer, we're used to a day or two of a helicopter flying low over the area looking for marijuana. We're not sure what this one is looking for. Later in the morning, it wasn't flying over anymore, it was hoving . . . low and long.

6/25/2011 Kingfield Pops

2011-06-25T23:56:00.000-04:00

At The Kingfield Pops. This is David Mallett performing. His song "Garden Song" (Inch by inch, row by row...) has been recorded by over 100 different artists.

After a day of arts and crafts and mini concerts (we didn't go to that part of the day), there were a series of performances on the main stage, all building up to the main event: The Bangor Symphony. They mostly play short, familiar, patriotic, and/or fun songs so that the children will enjoy themselves and associate good times with great music. It works for the grown ups, too.

No burn ban here! Great fireworks top off a great evening of fun.

Nobel Prize Laureate comes to Maine

2011-05-17T11:04:00.001-04:00

Yes, we rock in Maine. Check out this article about an amazing opportunity that some high schoolers in Maine had. But it wasn't luck and it wasn't politics, it was good kids doing great things that earned them this wonderful opportunity.

Maine Awnings

2011-02-14T19:16:00.002-05:00

Sue's neighbor sent her this photo. It's a picture of Sue's house as seen from the neighbor's yard. This is called a "Maine awning." It looks like an awning protecting the porch from sunshine . . . until you look closely and realize that's snow that has slowly slid off the roof but stayed together as one giant sheet of frozen something and it's just hanging there. How does it do that??

Recycled Sled Contest

2011-02-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

I saw this sign in the stairwell of my building last week.

Somehow I missed the first one last year, but I decided to attend this year! It was attended by a small but creative group of students. Here you can see two students riding their recycled sled down the hill by the amphitheatre (behind the student center).

I believe this is the sledder who used a snow shovel for her sled (the body in the foreground is a photographer).

This was constructed from a box that a mini-fridge came in (a dorm-sized refrigerator). That's a beaver (UMF's mascot) on it. One sledder used this as a sled with the beaver on the front and didn't get very far but the next sledder used the same sled but turned it 180 degrees and put the beaver on the back and was quite successful!

Cookies, music, warm beverages, and prizes -- it was quite a successful and very fun event.

Traffic Stopper

2011-02-12T15:30:00.004-05:00

This is the scene in the parking lot of The Maine Mall. They plow the parking lot, but that snow has to go somewhere. So they picked this portion of the parking lot to dedicate to snow storage until it melts. Every parking lot in Maine has fewer parking spaces in winter than it does the rest of the year.

Resident Sand

2011-02-12T14:30:00.003-05:00

I saw this area and the sign in the parking lot at Deering Oak Park. This raises so many more questions for me than it answers. I can guess, but I really don't know.

WinteRush

2011-02-12T14:25:00.040-05:00

When I went to pick up the candidate at The Comfort Inn, I arrived earlier than we had planned, so I hung out in the lobby. I watched the news while I waited--that's a rare treat for me since I don't have any television reception in my apartment and I refuse to have cable. The ending story was on WinteRush in Portland. They were interviewing a team that was doing a snow carving and told of all the fun family activities that would be in Deering Oaks Park that day. It looked like fun but I didn't think much more about it until I happened to drive by Deering Oaks Park. So I pulled over and found a parking spot and checked out the snow carvings. Pretty fun!

After I voted for my favorite (I'll never tell which one), I headed back to my car and ran into Marisella, a friend from UMF! It was so great to see her. She was there with her family. Her little one had done the sledding on the hill and also the "book trail". There's a children's book about snowshoeing and they had made an enlargement of each page (poster-sized) and put them all around the park. The kids borrowed the snow shoes provided and followed the trail, stopping to read the book at each station along the trail. There were also snowball fights and hula hoop contests and many other fun events planned.

Portland Head Light in Winter

2011-02-12T14:24:00.009-05:00

When we were at LL Bean, Dake bought postcards of Maine to take home as souvenirs. The very nice clerk asked her if she had actually seen any of the places on the postcards and Dake explained that she really hadn't had any time to do that but that she wanted to come back. The clerk said, "Well, you should at least see the Portland Head Light. It's not very far from here." Twice, I've been to Portland Head Light (one of many lighthouses in Maine), and both times, someone else was driving and it involved a lot of curvy roads through neighborhoods. So you can imagine that I was a little leary. The clerk assured me it wasn't difficult, so I let her give us directions which involved "The Million Dollar Bridge." After we left, Dake and I decided it was best to stick with our original plan and get her to the airport since I was unsure of this detour. But after I dropped Dake off at the airport, I decided to try the adventure. The directions worked! I think I could take you to the Portland Head Light if you came to visit me! (You better hurry though, 'cuz I'll forget pretty quickly.)

It was my first time there in winter. The gift shop wasn't open and the main parking lot wasn't plowed, but there were plenty of people walking around, braving the cold and soaking in the sight.

Driving a Fuel Efficient Vehicle

2011-02-12T14:12:00.016-05:00

I volunteered to take the special education candidate back to the airport in Portland on Saturday morning. We agreed to leave an hour earlier than we needed in order to stop off at L. L. Bean in Freeport. I reserved a university car for the trip--it saves the university money and it saves wear and tear on my car. Turns out that at UMF, our university cars are Toyota Priuses. When we arrived at L. L. Bean, there was a great parking spot available right next to Employee of the Month...and we were eligible.

Dining Out

2011-02-11T22:26:00.036-05:00

I'm on the special education search committee that's looking for a new professor to come to UMF to take over the spot that will be available in fall 2011 due to the retirement of Sue. We did phone interviews with all the applicants and we picked our top three to bring to campus. It's actually a lot of work, but one of the perks is getting to go out to eat a nice meal with a candidate. We had three candidates scheduled to come to campus over a three-week period. But the first candidate got iced out of leaving her home town (and would have been here for our snow day), so that candidate was rescheduled for the next week. That meant two candidates in one week. Four nights of dinner with candidates. Good thing we have some really great choices of restaurants in the area. Two dinners at The Homestead, one night at Calzolaio Pasta, and one at The Granary. That's my idea of a good time. :-)

Sunshine 'n Snow

2011-02-06T18:44:00.005-05:00

This is what I love about winters in Maine . . . sunshine and snow. Cold weather without humidity and without wind. It's the best!

Big Snows

2011-02-06T13:11:00.059-05:00

It hasn't been much of a winter so far. Titcomb Mountain didn't even get to open until January 8 and missed the whole winter vacation opportunities. But we are making up for lost time, now. These are snow pics from February 2nd and February 5th. About 3 inches fell on February 1st, starting in the late afternoon. By 6am on the 2nd, the University announced it was closed for the day. Many more inches fell on Groundhog's Day. Below is a lazy person's version of time-lapse photography. Every couple of hours, I stuck my head out the door to the apartment and snapped a photo. You can't really tell much unless you look at the garden wall in the lower left corner of the picture. There's not much of it to see with all the snow, but as the day progresses, there's even less of it to see.

Photo 1: Feb. 2nd at 9:40am

Photo 2: Feb. 2nd at 11:20 am

Photo 3: Feb. 2nd at 1:20 pm

Photo 4: Feb. 2nd at 3:10pm

Photo 5: Feb. 3rd at 8:00am

Photo 6: Feb. 6th at 8:00am

Wire Bridge in winter

2011-02-05T20:50:00.016-05:00

I did it! Last night, I was inspired by the photography at the Orcutt gallery and today, I went to the Wire Bridge to take my own photos. I love the Wire Bridge and have been 3 times with friends/family. This time, I went by myself and just soaked it in and took photos. There wasn't lots of fluffy snow sitting on the wires like the Orcutt photos, but they didn't have gorgeous blue skies and big white puffy clouds in their photos, either. And they had to have Photoshopped out the warning signs that are plastered on the bridge. But that's okay. I will be back. Thank you Maine for preserving this wonderful piece of history and cool architecture.

Goldilocks' 3rd Birthday

2011-02-05T13:07:00.051-05:00

Once upon a time, there was a very special young lady who had a very cool and creative mom and a talented dad. The little girl was named K-Locks and she was going to have a birthday. K-Locks Mommy wanted to have a very special birthday party for her. Since Mommy knew K-Locks loved the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, she decided to invite the bears to the birthday party along with all of K-Locks' friends. Mommy knew the bears loved porridge (she read it in a very special book that K-Locks loves to read) so she made some porridge. But it wasn't just any porridge, it was very yummy porridge and she served it with everything delicious that bears love to eat and things that can make porridge magical: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, raisins, nuts, brown sugar, milk, orange slices, and grapes (and more).

When K-LOcks' friends came to the party, they wanted to help the bears feel very welcome, so they all decorated some magic ears in order to look more like the bears.

After eating their delicious breakfast, they each had the chance to build their own little bears. That way they could take their memories of their new friends with them.

There was singing (of bear songs) and dancing (of bear dances) and lots of fun.

And of course, there was cake (in a special bear-cake shape made by K-Locks' daddy) . . . and ice cream.

Happy birthday, K-Locks!!

Thank you for inviting me to your birthday party!

new hidden posts

2011-02-05T09:25:00.002-05:00

I'm catching up on my blogging (well, at least for 2011) but I'm publishing each post to show up on the day that the events happened. So you'll need to go back to find these new postings. Look for:

2/4/2011
2/3/2011
1/27/2011
1/22/2011
1/16/2011
and 2 posts on 1/2/2011

Kingfield Artwalk

2011-02-04T22:21:00.004-05:00

http://www.kingfieldusa.com/

Last night at the movie, Stephanie asked me if I wanted to join her and Margaret. I didn't really understand what the adventure was that I was being invited to, but I knew if I went with Margaret and Stephanie, whatever the event was, I would thoroughly enjoy it. So I accepted. I didn't even know what time or where, I just knew it was going to be on Friday.

Stephanie picked me up at school around 4:00, we headed to Margaret's and from there we walked to Sugarwood Gallery in Farmington for a little art gallery opening night. A local art teacher had the works of her students on display (many of which were also for sale). They will stay on display at the gallery for a month until the first Friday of March at which there will be a new display. Apparently, this has been going on for quite a while and I just never knew it. There were some beautiful pieces of art, lively conversation, light refreshments, and a lot of fun.

Then we walked back to Margaret's, got in the car (after helping push the car over the last hump in the snow-covered driveway), and headed to Kingfield. Tonight was their Artwalk. A travel site's article about this event states, "Unlike most Art Walks, which run during the warmer months, leave it to Kingfield, in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain, to schedule its new first Friday of the month Art Walks from December through March."

We ran into Joe and Doris, who both work at UMF, and about a million friends of Margaret's. We went to 3 galleries and an exhibit in the offices of a local real estate agent. The art was wonderful and the amount of people quite surprising. We started at a gallery that has a barn for one gallery and a small room for a second gallery. This was so weird to me, though I started to recollect that I've heard of it, but the barn was really really cold inside. It was colder inside the barn than it was outside in the elements. Each gallery had some kind of refreshments to offer and we met the gallery owners and even some of the artists. It was all so personal and so much fun.

The gallery in the old schoolhouse had beautiful nature photography. The gallery is owned by the Orcutts--the couple that takes the photos--so it's gallery, studio, and living quarters all rolled into one. Their photos were all of winter in Maine. They were spectacular. They had some of the Wire Bridge that I love so much. I've never been to the Wire Bridge in winter but now I'm inspired to do so. The Orcutts created these cool candle holders made out of ice. They were a beautiful way to welcome us to the gallery. As the 3 of us stood admiring them, we started talking about The Ice Hotel in Quebec City. hmmmm sounds like a road trip to me!!

We didn't go to one of the galleries or the Ski Museum or the antique shop. That means we'll have to go back, right? :-) But by now, we were hungry, so we went to Longfellow's, which I had heard of and has been recommended to me many times, but I had never been. I ordered the special-of-the-day pork loin and it was delicious. (This photo doesn't do it justice....bad lighting and not-so-hot photography skills.)

Spontaneity

2011-02-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

Some people in Maine think I'm not very spontaneous. Friends in Texas would tell you otherwise. I'm glad to prove the Maine folks wrong but that comment also made me stop to analyze and determine that I think my spontaneity has declined since coming here. Partly because of fewer opportunities for spontaneity and partly because I get to engrossed in my job during the long semester that I only practice the art of spontaneity pretty much during winter vacation and summer vacation.

Time to seek out more opportunities for spontaneity!! It will help a lot that I'm hanging out now with spontaneous people. Thanks, Stephanie, for the call at 5:20 to see if I wanted to go see The King's Speech at 6:50. I did and I went and I loved it!!

I really need to go to the movies more often. The Narrow Gauge Cinema is minutes from my apartment and has great seats, great sound, and incredibly reasonable prices. $6 for a prime time viewing of a first-run feature film. You can't beat it. Oh wait, you can: If you buy a 10 pack of tickets, they're only $5.50 a ticket. And even better, you can buy a 10 pack of combination tickets for $70 which means I paid $7 for a movie ticket, a small root beer, and a small bag of buttered popcorn. And actually, I paid less than that because I bought my 10 pack during the Early Bird Sale which means I got 10% off of that.

Come any time and I'll spontaneously offer you a chance to go to the movies with me on the cheap.

XC x 2

2011-01-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

I went cross country (xc) skiing again tonight! It was a balmy 23 degrees tonight . . . 4 degrees warmer than last night. There was only 1 "customer" out skiing when I arrived. The two staff members on duty were a student named Natasha and Leigh. Leigh is an amazing woman who headed up UMF's nationally famous Ski Industries program at UMF for many years. Her office is on the second floor of the Education Center with mine and I've really enjoyed getting to know her this past year.

I explained what a rookie at all of this that I was and I knew from a conversation with Leigh earlier in the week, that Natasha was a really good cross country instructor. I got my equipment and was getting ready to head out, uncertain if I was going to have the great personal service from the night before or if I was on my own. Suddenly, Leigh is by my side ready to go. Oh my goodness!! I got really good coaching last night, but tonight, I had my own private ski lessons from a gifted teacher. About every fifteen minutes as she would find a way to explain the subtleties of what I needed to do next to REALLY cross country ski (and not just "get around" on skis, or as I called it, cross country walking), I would have to stop and just say, "Leigh, as a fellow educator, I gotta tell you that you're phenomenal!" It was such a treat to be in the presence of an amazing teacher and I had to pinch myself as I realized I was having the privilege of being the student! I learned so much that night. I was able to build on the confidence and balance I had gained the night before, but I leaped forward about 9 weeks of personal coaching in this one night. I ached from using muscles that have never flexed before but I not only understood what to do, I could feel when I was doing it and when I wasn't, I knew how to correct it. Wowser, was it awesome.

Thank you, Leigh!!! Thank you UMF for arranging for this equipment loan and providing this week of free skiing and coaching!!!

Cross Country Skiing

2011-01-26T22:50:00.000-05:00

UMF is hosting a week of cross country skiing. They got a big trailer full of equipment from some association that promotes winter sports in Maine. So M, W, F they're offering cross country skiing from noon to 1:30 and M, T, W, Th they're offering it from 6 to 8pm (headlamps provided). And on M and W nights, they're offering clinics for newbies from 6 to 7.

I was aiming for the 6pm clinic tonight but didn't realize how long it would take to put on all those layers, so I didn't get there until 6:20. I was their first customer of the evening. Jim, who runs the Fitness and Recreation Center, and Lucas, a senior political science/geography major, were in the trailer just waiting for me. :-) They were both incredibly patient and they were really good teachers. They got me all outfitted with boots, skis, poles, and a headlamp. Since no one else was there, they decided to both go with me! Talk about special attention! I started out slow and uncertain and did "a lot of rookie moves" but as the time wore on, I got better and more certain. It was pretty fun!

Around 7:00, two UMF students came to ski. One of them had been there both M and T nights. I guess the temperature (18 degrees F) and the falling snow might have scared people off, but there was no wind and it was not very humid. I was appropriately layered in my clothing (on top I had silk long johns, a long sleeved t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a hoodie, and a windbreaker with a hood . . . that's a lot of layers!). But I actually brought an additional layer (a big thick jacket) and didn't need it. It was quite pleasant. I was never cold.

I've only been cross country skiing one other time . . . three years ago when I first moved here, MRM took me to Titcomb. That was a fabulous introduction and tonight was a great re-introduction. Now I've gone twice and I think I'll go again tomorrow. w00t!

White and Gray

2011-01-25T09:22:00.001-05:00

That's not a cloudy day, that's how thick the falling snow is right now. :-) It's 5 below zero and sunrise was a few hours ago. Yep. It's winter.

Have You Seen Harvey?

2011-01-22T23:03:00.030-05:00

I braved the cold (and the slippery sidewalk conditions) to go see Harvey. I love the story and the 1950 movie. I knew whoever played Elwood P. Dowd was taking on a thankless task as everyone would be comparing him to Jimmy Stewart, but I went anyway.

The Sandy River Players did a phenomenal job! The stage setting was fabulous as they artfully co-mingled the Dowd's home and the sanatorium and never had to do a scene change. The actor who played Elwood was fabulous. He made the role his own, not a hint of Jimmy Stewart, and yet just as lovable and convincing. The woman who played Veta Louise, the sister, however, stole the show. I read an interview where Jimmy Stewart said the woman in that role in the movie had the hardest part because she had to believe and not believe in Harvey at the same time. This woman did that convincingly. She had just enough "drama" to pull it off without getting melodramatic. The whole production was fabulous.

When I arrived, I saw some friends and I also saw some graduates. I ended up sitting with my former students, one who had come from Portland and one from New Hampshire. It was so great to see them. This was about the fourth time I had run into the NH grad at a play at UMF. The other three times he was a student on campus, but it was still unusual that we kept picking the same performances of the same shows to attend. It turned out that none of them (there was another UMF student with them that I hadn't had in a class) had ever seen the movie, so I was wrong that most people in the audience would be comparing this production to the movie. How could someone have not seen the movie?? Oh. I guess since it is 60 years old, not everyone watches the classics. ;-)

Great drama with good friends--What a great way to spend a cold winter's evening.

New look

2011-01-22T12:22:00.001-05:00

I rejuvenated my blog. Put up a new picture (taken from my verandah looking across the Sandy River on a snowy sunset) and tried out the new Google Web Fonts. As an amateur calligrapher, I love a good font. But when my friend Dawn is part of the Google team that put together the fonts, I'm especially excited to try them out. :-)

Since the day and date appear right above the blog title, my "new year's resolution" is to leave the date out of the title starting this year. Now if I can just keep my new year's resolution of getting back into the blogging habit. You'll know when I know!

How cold??

2011-01-22T11:25:00.003-05:00

The prediction for tomorrow night is a low of 23 degrees below zero. How cold?? Minus 23. Start at the temperature at which water freezes and go down more 55 degrees. I can't even get my head around that number. I think the coldest it's been since I arrived is 13 below. Wow. I have no idea what to do except "hunker down" and wear my long coat. Oh, and they say don't count on your car battery working very well in those temps.

We'll see . . .

Home again home again jiggity jog

2011-01-16T23:45:00.051-05:00

I had the chance to spend 6 days in Denver over this winter break. Well, it was supposed to be 6 . . . One of several really big snowstorms hit Boston the day before I was supposed to return. I called Southwest Airlines to say my schedule was flexible and I'd be happy to swap my ticket for a later date if they would do it at no extra charge. And they did. So I left 48 hours later than originally planned and had a delightful 2 extra days in Denver.

Now that Southwest flies out of Boston, I always double check fares out of both Boston and Manchester. When I fly out of Manchester, parking is $8 a day. When I fly out of Boston, if all goes well, I can take a bus out of Portland for $26 one way that takes me right up to the Southwest terminal and I can park my car at the Portland bus station for $3 a day. Even better is if I can take the bus out of Augusta which is 45 minutes of drive time instead of 2 hours and the parking is free, but so far that infrequent bus schedule hasn't suited my flight times. But on this trip, Boston (and all the accompanying expenses) was cheaper than Manchester and I do enjoy not having to drive those last 2 hours but instead sit on a bus with free wifi, electrical outlets on every row, and a movie on the little screens overhead. And on this last ride, they offered bottled water and pretzels. :-)

So the storm left Boston incapacitated on Wednesday and I wasn't scheduled to fly out until Thursday. But the idea of sitting around an airport uncertain of take off or landing and hanging out with people who'd been stranded in the airport for 24 hours with even greater uncertainty did not appeal to me. And I figured someone who couldn't fly out on Wednesday would be thrilled to have my seat on Thursday. I did double check the flight status: my scheduled flight left Denver 9 minutes late and arrived in Boston 7 minutes early, so I would've been fine in my travels. But the only reason I was heading back Thursday was to attend a meeting on Friday that didn't happen, so I could easily justify returning later.

I lucked out with the way the winds drifted the snow after the big storm and before I arrived. Here's my car in the parking lot in Portland. I don't think Portland received as much snow as Boston (probably only 1 foot compared to Boston's 2 feet), but it still could've been a problem. As you can see, I didn't even have to brush the snow off my car. And that pile of snow in the back of my car would have daunted me 4 years ago and I would've used the shovel that I keep in the trunk of my car to move that snow. But nowadays I'm less daunted and sure enough, I pulled right out of that spot over that little bank. There was a car parked in the fire lane behind me which made negotiating the departure a little tricky, but I even handled that like a pro and left the Portland bus station just as the new snow was falling for the next storm.

Wicked snowstorm

2011-01-12T18:18:00.001-05:00

I'm actually not in Maine right now, but I've been hearing about and reading about a "wicked" snowstorm they're having while I'm gone. The Maine Office of Tourism posted this picture on their Facebook wall in honor of this storm. I think it's oh so appropriate.

Happy Anniversary

2011-01-08T11:25:00.002-05:00

January 8th--an awesome day. Four years ago today, I moved to Maine. Of course, back then, I thought I was only coming for four months. Now it's been four years. How does that happen??!!

I have a ton of amazing memories amassed in this very short time. Thank you especially to MRM (My Room Mate) for the first 18 months. I doubt seriously I would've acclimated so well or enjoyed life in Maine so much without your support (both moral and physical) and good humor. You are a very special friend.

And here's a big thank you to all the amazing and wonderful people I've met in these last four years--both in the Farmington/Wilton community and at UMF. I definitely believe in the state motto: Maine--the way life should be.

Happy birthday to me

2011-01-02T22:47:00.002-05:00

Stephanie is one of many UMF faculty and staff who is a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church with me. Today I looked out in the congregation and she was there with Margaret. Margaret is NOT a member of St. Joe's and in fact, is a deacon at her church. After mass, I scurried out to the congregation to say Howdy and see what the special occasion was. Margaret and Stephanie had had breakfast with Margaret's daughter who was in town and therefore Margaret had missed her church's morning service, so Stephanie brought her to ours. It was fabulous to have such a great guest at our church!

We chatted about everything and nothing the way that good friends do and Margaret said, "Let's have dinner tonight at my house." And we all agreed to do so. Patti, a fellow choir member, came up to join the conversation as she and Margaret are good friends and she, too, wanted to know what was the special occasion that brought Margaret to our church. In that conversation, Pattie revealed to Margaret and Stephanie that today was my birthday. Suddenly our planned dinner was now a birthday dinner.

When I arrived at Margaret's, she had made a cake! That was not part of the original menu. I was honored. And the cake was delicious. And the meal shared with dear friends was indeed a special way to celebrate.

Homestead birthday

2011-01-02T13:47:00.001-05:00

Andrea (music minister at St. Joe's who organizes our choir and plays keyboard and who teaches ESL and gifted students for the local school district) and Patti (guitarist and lead cantor for our choir who teaches science at the local high school) took me out for brunch at The Homestead for my birthday. :-)

Andrea and I go to The Homestead nearly every Sunday for brunch after church, but today was a special treat in honor of my special day. Paul joined us, which was a delightful treat. He's a lawyer in town but he must be the unofficial town historian. He knows everyone and everything in town. Ask him any question and get ready for a spellbinding story for an answer. Needless to say, the conversation at my birthday brunch was as special and as fun as the friends who created the event for me.

12/5/2010 Chester Greenwood Menu Items

2010-12-05T18:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Chester Greenwood Day (with parade et.al.) and today at The Homestead on the Daily Specials menu was this:

Nobody ordered any while we were there and I didn't feel like eating any of it, so I asked. Earmuff pancakes are poured to look like earmuffs--2 regular silver dollar pancakes and a connecting arch of pancake batter across the top. Pretty fun!

I used a great app, Genius Scan for iPhone, to turn my photo of the menu to this, which looks much better than the photo did.

12/2/10 Chester Greenwood Day . . . a little early

2010-12-02T18:13:00.000-05:00

It's the first Saturday in December and it's Chester Greenwood Day. WAIT! I don't have to write about it, I can send you to my friend's blogpost about it (and about me):

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2010/12/04/happy-chester-greenwood-day-invention-creativity-maine/

Wes Fryer is a hero of mine. I listen to his podcasts whenever I can. He knows everything about technology integration, or at least all the stuff I wish I knew. So getting to spend all day Thursday with him was like having my own private professional development day. It was awesome! As we (his delightful daughter Sarah was here, too) toured Farmington, we found $5 Chester Greenwood Day long-sleeved t-shirts on sale at Black Bear Graphics. Very fun. See Wes's post for a photo.

11/26/10 Black Friday....

2010-11-26T21:58:00.003-05:00

...is White Friday.

Look closely . . . do you see the snowflakes coming down? :-) It was pretty Christmas card looking this morning. What a fun sight to wake up to.

We had a great dusting of snow on Halloween which I consider the first snow of the season, but I think we had enough today to be considered the first "real" snow of the season. I wonder how long it will stay. I believe this is the earliest snow (real or otherwise) of any winter so far for me.

9/1/2010 We've having a heatwave

2010-09-01T19:07:00.004-04:00

From today's Portland Press Herald:

"On Tuesday, Portland’s high temperature of 94 degrees broke a record for Aug. 31 set in 1969.

"That also put the city in the midst of its first official heat wave since July 1999, according to Steve Capriola, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.

"Capriola said a heat wave is defined as three consecutive days with highs of at least 90 degrees. Sunday’s high was 91 and Monday’s was 90."

retrieved from http://www.pressherald.com/news/after-3-days-were-in-a-_2010-09-01.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep. A heat wave is defined as three consecutive days with highs of at least 90 degrees. Is that regional or national? It can't be national or else Dallas would be in a perpetual heat wave! hmmmm I need to check this out.

5/24/2010 Interesting Weather

2010-05-24T14:47:00.001-04:00

At 2:47pm today, weather in Farmington ME and Richardson TX are exactly the same: 89 degrees and 43% humidity. What we call "unseasonably hot" in Maine is "delightfully pleasant" for this time of year in Texas.

Texas Office

2010-05-13T23:30:00.003-04:00

In honor of Dana, who was worried I was losing my ties to Texas, I am posting photos of my office at UMF which I believe will dispel her worries. You can take the woman out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the woman (and be sure to notice the bumper sticker on the west wall).

I didn't put a picture of the north wall, which is all bookcases. But I do have a section of books about Texas on my bookcase along with plenty of good UNT publications. Also, on the south side I have a little table and it's filled with Texas knick knacks. Don't Mess with Texas!

West Wall: To the left is the door into the office. The bulletin board looks a little junky but you should've seen it before I cleaned it up! When I put in the filing cabinet, I had to rearrange the bulletin board because part of it got covered up and part of it gets knocked down when you open the top drawer.

But don't worry about that. On this board you can see a picture of bluebonnets (the state flower) taken by my major professor, Gerald Knezek (from Texas), a few Texas postcards, a love note from Randall with a Texas picture on the front of the card, and above the bulletin board is "The Texas Timeline of Awesome Achievements and Events". Their words, not mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

South Wall Left Side: UNT diploma and PhD tam (hat). On the right side of this picture is my "heirloom" birth certificate. It's a certified copy that is legal. When you get a copy of your certificate, you have a choice of a business copy (traditional, boring, 8.5" x 11") or an heirloom copy. This one was a 50th birthday gift from my mom and dad. How fun is that??!! I love it except for the fact that it's signed by my least favorite governor in the history of Texas. Oh well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

South Wall Right Side: Two UMF awards, a counted cross stitch made by my sister, a Hollins pendant that was my mom's from when she went there. The cool education art work was made by Tracey, a student of mine. And there are two awards that I've earned while at UMF. I guess this half of the wall isn't too much Texas (except for the edge of my heirloom birth certificate).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

East Wall: There's a window on the right. So we've got the Texas flag quilt that my sister made and a pencil sketch of the Dallas skyline that Mary S. gave me before I left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And though this isn't a photo of the office, I thought it appropriate to put here to prove I haven't lost my "Texas-ness". On the UMF Web site are profiles of students. In a Q&A format, they transcribe the interview with the student and you get to know each student and a little about them and a lot about UMF in the process. This is a part of Joel H.'s profile page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These photos and descriptions were originally published on my Facebook photo page. But I can't really backup my photos and text from there in a way that is acceptable to me. So I'm copying and pasting the information to Blogger. It's still not as effective as I would like it to be, but for now, it's better than nothing.

8/30/09 The Summer of 2009

2009-08-30T22:46:00.004-04:00

Summers in Maine are what Mainiacs live for. Some say you "earn" the privilege after surviving the winter. I'm so used to traveling in the summer. I never minded being away from Dallas in June, July, and August. Next summer maybe I'll start spending more time in Maine. This summer, not so much. I spent 51 days out of the state. I traveled to 9 states (VT, KS, MD, VA, OR, WA, TX, NM, NY), British Columbia, and Washington DC. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun and accomplishing so many things I didn't find time to blog about the travels. But when I do, you'll find the stories in my travel blog, not here. I did do a teeny bit of traveling in Maine. Those travels, whenever I can find time to blog, will be described here.

My other big project this summer was to unpack the living room. In December I had the last of my stuff shipped from Dallas. It was all that sentimental stuff that you don't need but have to keep. When I thought I was only going to be in Maine for 2 more years, I put the stuff in storage in Dallas. When I found out I was going to stay for a while in Maine, I had the stuff moved here. For 7 months, I just lived with the stuff stacked in my living room. It took up over 40 square feet of my 600 square foot apartment. In July, I finally started unpacking. Then I built shelves and then filled the shelves. There's still a lot of stuff here but at least I can get to it now. AND I have 20 square feet of apartment back. :-) Phase 2 is to do the same for the dining room.

I took photos along the way. I compiled them into this 2 minute slideshow. Enjoy! My friend Michael suggested I should've had a last slide of me "collapsed in organizational exhaustion in the comfy chair." Great idea. However, I'll have to let you picture that photo in your imagination. Meanwhile, enjoy the transformation.

8/14/2009 How do you define hot?

2009-08-15T07:46:00.002-04:00

I was at the mall today. In most cities, when you say "the mall" someone will ask, "Which one?" I was at The Maine Mall in Portland, which is named that because at the time it was built, it was pretty much the only one in the state. (Does that make it the main Maine mall?) So here, when you say, "the mall," everyone assumes you're talking about that one.

But I digress. So at the mall, I was in the parking lot and needed to cross the lane of traffic. The oncoming car stopped and waved me across. Maine has strong pedestrian right-of-way laws, so that wasn't unusual. I waved a thank you as I crossed and when I got to the other side, the driver rolled down her window smiling at me and then said, "Honey, you're the one having to suffer in 86 degrees, I've got my AC on. Of course, I'll let you cross."

And to think I was enjoying how cool it was on an August day in the "heat" of the afternoon with the temperature being only 86 degrees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On another note, it's been a long time since I posted anything here. Sorry about that. It's been a busy busy summer which means I have plenty to blog about but no time to blog. I hope to get caught up soon.

And one more note . . . Look Dad! I'm not blogging about snow!

5/18/09 Frost Advisory?

2009-05-18T10:38:00.002-04:00

w00t! Gotta love it. There's a frost advisory out for tonight. Cover your new seedlings and little plants.

Wait! It's May! It's almost June! And we're having a frost advisory? Well, they say not to plant anything in your vegetable garden in Maine until after Memorial Day. Gotta admit, I didn't believe it when I heard it.

Frost advisory tonight for most of state

Submitted by The Associated Press on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 09:13

The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for northern Maine, while a frost advisory is in effect for most of the rest of the state.

The weather service said an unseasonably cold air mass combined with clear skies and calm winds will result in widespread frost from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Tuesday in northern areas, where temperatures are expected to fall below freezing.

Most other regions, including southern and coastal areas, are under a frost advisory in the overnight hours. Temperatures are projected to drop into the lower to mid-30s, but a hard freeze is not anticipated.

The weather service says potted plants that are normally left outdoors should be covered or brought inside away from the cold.

retrieved 5/18/09 from http://updates.mainetoday.com/updates/frost-advisory-tonight-for-most-of-state

5/12/09 Midnight Madness

2009-05-12T00:46:00.003-04:00

So it's 12:38am and I'm driving home from work. (Can you tell it's the end of the semester?) I know it's 12:38 because the bank clock on the corner of Main and Broadway says so in large digital readout. Then I think my mind must be playing a trick on me because it then says 38. It's 38 at 12:38. What does that mean? It's 38 degrees?! On May 12 it's only 6 degrees above freezing?? It's MAY for heaven's sake! I knew it was a little chilly on the walk from my building to my car. The grass was a little slippery under my feet as I walked up the slight incline from the exit to the parking lot. But I thought that was dew. Now I wonder if it was frost!

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. Nor are we in Dallas. No wonder the landlady didn't want to plant her tomatoes yet. She said there was still a chance of a frost.

Now I'll never get my parents to come visit me for Christmas. My dad doesn't like the cold. He for sure won't come at Christmas and now probably won't ever come in May, either!

5/4/09 Interpretive Dance

2009-05-05T08:56:00.002-04:00

One of my assignments in EDU 101 is for a team of partners to take one of the Ten Standards for Initial Teacher Certification for the State of Maine and present an overview of the standard in a way that we'll never forget. (The standards tend to overlap and initially, they all look alike until you really get to know them, which our students do in their ensuing Education courses. But to start, I just want them to be aware that the standards exist and that there are 10 distinct points.)

I encourage a lot of creativity and I get some fabulous presentations: rap song, children's story, skits, board games, audience participation activities, weavings, mystery boxes, and more. After 11 sections of this course, you would think I had seen it all, but in fact, I haven't. This group had a balloon popping activity, a self-assessment to determine learning style, an acronym event, and more. In addition to all of that, this was the first time anyone had ever used an interpretive dance. I don't believe I'll ever forget Standard 7 (there's a vii painted on each of their faces) is all about Engaging Your Students.

4/23/09 Things you didn't know you would ever have to worry about

2009-04-23T12:04:00.003-04:00

Rumford is not very far away from here. I stopped there on my way to Dartmouth last fall. I drive alongside the Androscoggin River on my way to Dixfield. It's a scenic drive. I'm glad someone was able to take care of this problem before it took away from the scenery and before it created a really bad stench. There was actually an article last week lamenting the problem and the fact that there didn't seem to be a solution. Hurray for public works employees who go above and beyond! The headline to this story tells it all.

Town breathes easier: Bull carcass removed

RUMFORD -- A public works crew in Rumford has retrieved the bloated carcass of a bull that had floated down the Androscoggin River and over a waterfall before landing on some boulders weeks ago.

Crewman Dan Peare told the Sun Journal of Lewiston that he convinced his bosses that he and fellow crewmen could and should remove the animal before warm weather arrived for the weekend.

On Wednesday, Peare climbed down the river bank and attached a rope to the bull's legs. They then pulled the 800- to 900-pound Hereford up the bank with a bucket loader, lifted it into a dump truck and buried it behind the town garage.

The animal was first spotted in early April when it went over the falls and landed in a seemingly unreachable position atop a rock pile about 100 feet below the top of the river bank.

retrieved 4/23/09 from http://updates.mainetoday.com/updates/town-breathes-easier-bull-carcass-removed

4/22/09 A&M in Maine?

2009-04-22T22:18:00.001-04:00

WHAT?! I'm driving up Court Street and here's a maroon and white awning sporting A-M . . . does Texas A&M University have a branch in Farmington, ME?

Oh my. No, it's not Texas A&M University, it's Adams ~ McFarlane Funeral Home! At least they have good taste in company colors. Go Aggies! It's fun to think about you here in Maine, even if it is because of a bit of an unusual coincidence.

4/29/09 "The Way We Get By" movie

2009-04-21T10:06:00.002-04:00

Finally! I got to see this movie. It was in Farmington over spring break and I was so excited to see it and knew I'd have the time to see it. It sold out all 4 nights!! I was so disappointed. Then they brought it back for 2 more nights. I went with my friend Nancy that I first met by Walton's Mill Pond my first winter here but have now spent a ton of time with and become good friends with through the history project. We went extra early, got tickets, and had a blast. It was an 8-kleenex movie for me but so worth it.

The film focuses on three troop greeters in Maine. But it celebrates all troop greeters across the country. I know there are similar groups in Dallas that greet the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that go in and out of DFW. Thank you to all Americans who are so supportive of our troops. This is a great country that we live in and we all need to do our part to appreciate it and support it.

Bangor's troop greeters film in Farmington

Submitted by Betty Jespersen on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 10:51

Central Maine Newspapers

FARMINGTON - A documentary film that showcases three senior citizens who belong to the Maine Troop Greeters, volunteers who welcome every returning soldier from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan at the Bangor International Airport, will be shown at the Narrow Gauge Theater in Farmington at 7 p.m. tonight throught Thursday. Tickets are $5.

The film's executive producer is Warren Cook of Kingfield. The award-winning film, "The Way We Get By," is being shown at screenings across the country to wide acclaim.

Cook said, “This film touches on the themes that I think are most important in life: service to community, service to country, and honoring our elders.”

The documentary is directed by Old Town native and filmmaker Aron Gaudet and produced by television journalist and film producer Gita Pullapilly. It had its Maine debut on April 9 at The Collins Center for the Arts in Orono with Governor John E. Baldacci, Congressman Michael Michaud and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree in attendance.

It has been honored with the Special Jury Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Audience Award at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina. At the Cleveland Film Festival, it beat out 28 films to win the Greg Gund Memorial Film Competition, which recognizes films for their social conscience.

In Boston,movie critic Kerry Skemp called it, “A remarkable reminder of just how much we have to
learn from our elders.”

Yellow Light Breen of Bangor Savings Bank, which is providing the major financial support for the Maine showings,said the troop greeters are "quiet, homespun heroes in their own right. Their commitment has been ongoing for more than six years and hundreds of these volunteers have greeted over 850,000 U.S. soldiers, meeting every plane that arrives at Bangor International Airport."

"It is an inspiring and heart-wrenching film that had to be made and which needs to be seen," he said.

David Cornelius, a nationallty-known film critic who covered the South by Southwest Film Festival, summed it up in his 5-star review of the film by saying, “How many films are this effective, that with so few words, the viewer can become heartbroken? Gaudet’s film is a marvel of humanity, celebrating life (and lamenting the end of it) through its little moments. I adored every frame of this movie and every person in it.”

The film is slated for national broadcast on PBS later this year on the program POV. The film was made in association with American Documentary, Inc./POV, ITVS, MPBN, WGBH. Fiscal sponsors are Documentary Educational Resources and ida. Additional sponsors are Bangor Savings Bank and Manatt, Phelps & Phelps. To view the trailer and to obtain more information, visit www.thewaywegetbymovie.com.

retrieved 4/20/09 from http://updates.mainetoday.com/updates/bangors-troop-greeters-film-in-farmington

4/20/09 Happy Patriots' Day

2009-04-20T12:20:00.002-04:00

Though April 19 is the real Patriots' Day commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, it is now celebrated on the third Monday of April. It is a Massachusetts holiday but since Maine was originally part of Massachusetts, we get to celebrate, too. The University of Maine Farmington is closed today to commemorate the event. Of course, it fell during our spring break, so it's a holiday for staff who are on 12-month contracts but was already a holiday for students and faculty.

Wikipedia has a nice article with more than you ever wanted to know about Patriots' Day including its timing with the Boston Marathon and Red Sox games.

I was going to go into the office today (I have a key to my building, so even though the University is closed, I can get in) and get work done but I slept in this morning and am still in my pajamas at 12:30 in the afternoon. I have been busily working on our Maine Community Heritage Project over the weekend and am tempted to stay home and work on that some more. But I have a giant list of things to do at the office, too. Oh the dilemma!

4/17/08 Red Flag Warning

2009-04-17T19:15:00.001-04:00

I just saw where Franklin County is under a Red Flag Warning. What is that??!!

From the National Weather Service:
...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...
A RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING.
WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH ARE EXPECTED THIS
AFTERNOON WITH MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES BETWEEN 15 AND
25 PERCENT. IN ADDITION... VERY DRY SOIL AND FUEL CONDITIONS CAN
BE EXPECTED. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR
DANGEROUS FIRE GROWTH DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING
HOURS TODAY.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Well now I know. I think in Texas we just called this a wildfire advisory. So did we have a different name for them in Texas than in Maine or has the National Weather Service come up for a new name and I just happened to be in Maine when the new name was used? Either way, I'm surprised with all the melting snow that we would be under any kind of warning (Red Flag or otherwise) related to wild fires.

4/12/09 Easter Dinner

2009-04-12T22:46:00.000-04:00

Ashley invited me to Easter Dinner at her house. It was a Southern Style Eastern Dinner complete with fried chicken and "extra bacon in everything". (That's what her mother told her to do. However, since she had a vegetarian friend attending, she put the extra bacon in a dish and we could all add as much extra bacon as we desired to anything or everything.) There was Southern-style corn (Ashley personally husked and de-kernelled 16 ears of corn), fried okra, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, biscuits (I had to correct someone who called them rolls), fried cabbage, and I don't know what all else. We overstuffed ourselves and then out came dessert: 7-layer chocolate decadent brownies and a triple berry cobbler a la mode. It was incredibly delicious. And the company was awesome. Such fun people. The conversation and the laughter never stopped. What a glorious way to celebrate.

4/12/09 Easter Bunny Delivers!

2009-04-12T22:44:00.000-04:00

After returning from the Easter Sunrise service, I took a little nap and when I awoke, I found this between my door and the storm door! There was a cute little white Easter basket filled with goodies (including my first Peep). I do not know if the Easter bunny purposely snuck up and delivered the basket anonymously or if the generous bunny attempted to deliver in person and I slept through the event. Either way, the result is, I do not know the identity of my Easter Bunny. It's almost like a May basket and an Easter basket combined.

Whoever you are, Thank you to my personal Easter Bunny!!!

4/12/09 Easter Sunrise Service

2009-04-12T22:30:00.001-04:00

At 6:01 am the sun rose and the trumpets sounded at Farmington Area Ecumenical Council's Easter Sunrise service. It was awesome! The service is at the top of Voter's Hill. It used to be held on the side of the road and then a family in the area let the group use their driveway (and the trumpeters use the garage to keep their instruments a little warmer). Then after the service we went inside for a light breakfast (pastries and coffee mostly) and an opportunity for fellowship with fellow worshipers. It was a very very awesome Easter. The original family that hosted it has since sold their house and the new owners inherited the event but have continued being gracious hosts. The original family was in attendance! Andrea and her sister (who was visiting from Massachusetts) picked me up at 5:30 so that we could carpool and arrive in plenty of time to park and get to the event. The two of them have been attending since childhood and they knew many of the people in attendance.

4/10/09 The Easter Event

2009-04-10T21:50:00.004-04:00

Wow! I had the opportunity to attend "The Event" at East Auburn Baptist Church. It was incredible. It really put Easter into perspective. Over 4,000 people see it, they put on 8 shows, and they don't charge admission. There were 130 cast members, all volunteers and all members of the church. Amazing. Here's the local news station's report:

Just so you know . . . I know Randy Corey, the director of the whole thing. :-) You should be impressed. I am. I sat with two of his brothers, one sister-in-law, and a niece and her husband. I pretty much know most of the Corey family now. They are a really special bunch and they include me in lots of family event, like saving me a seat at this production.

catching up

2009-04-06T08:52:00.003-04:00

I finally had a chance to post some blog entries . . . there are 7 new ones that go back to March 12. There are some old ones interspersed in there, so don't be lulled into thinking "Oh I've read that one so I must be caught up."

Thanks for being a faithful reader, even when I'm not a faithful blogger. I hope to get even more caught up (can you do that?) over spring break which starts April 20. Don't get your hopes up, but maybe . . .

4/3/09 Salt and Vinegar Chips

2009-04-03T22:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had a salt and vinegar chip? I had my first one today. They're a little spicier than pier fries with salt and vinegar but it's the same delicious combo: potato, oil, salt, vinegar. I'm guessing it's a New England thing, but I really don't know. I'd love your comments about this!

4/3/09 Flood Watch

2009-04-03T17:14:00.003-04:00

This was an interesting email to receive. It was actually the first notice I had received (since I don't watch or listen to much news) that we were in a flood watch, much less that it was this close. I've heard stories of a flood a few years back where this parking lot was pretty instantly flooded and a bunch of students lost their cars to flood damage. It must be spring time. Rain and melting snow will overflow a river pretty fast.

Date: April 3, 2009 3:34:46 PM EDT
To: <students@umf.maine.edu>, <staff@umf.maine.edu>
Subject: [staff list] Flood Watch

FLOOD WATCH - PRESCOTT FIELD LOT 18
Students parked in the Prescott Field Lot 18 should move their cars as a flood watch has been issued by the National Weather Service and the river is rising.
Please do not leave campus while your vehicle remains in the Prescott Field Lot 18.
Student who move their cars can park in lots 21, 22, and 26.

Thank You!

Chief of Police
Department of Public Safety
University of Maine at Farmington
207-778-7400

4/1/09 Spring is coming

2009-04-01T20:47:00.000-04:00

The snow is really melting. It's not an April Fool's Day trick--spring time is really coming. Here are the view from the veranda and the view out the front door.

3/29 More Needhams and More

2009-03-29T20:41:00.001-04:00

It's Needham making time again! Only in this photo, we are not making Needhams. This time we added toffee making to the agenda. Here is Karen following Sara's directions for toffee. You can't see the brown paper bag that is critical for successful toffee, but we had it out. We made two batches of toffee before we tackled the Needhams. The toffee turned out perfectly! Thank you Sara for the private tutorial session in Oregon back in January. It paid off!

We didn't do our usual Jackson Polock signature on the Needhams this time. There wasn't time. We did make a triple batch. Karen wanted to take hers to a convention she was going to in Boston. She was going to share a hotel room with 3 other women and she was taking Needhams for the slumber party crowd. I wanted to make some for my Our Cabana buddies who are having a reunion coming up. If I can't be there in person, i can be there in spirit AND in Needhams.

This was our third Needham event. We definitely have this down to a fine science. It's a blast. And now we know how to make yummy toffee, too. Who knows what we'll expand into next.

Karen's a blogger, too. Here's her much more detailed version of the story, including the toffee recipe:
http://thirdfury.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/2009-03-30/

3/29/09 Easter Penguins

2009-03-29T17:57:00.002-04:00

You can tell we haven't had as much snow this winter as last winter because you can see the penguins this year in time for Easter. Though I do think they're on pedestals this year that they weren't on last year. Anyway, here they are in their finest Easter attire. Notice that they are still wearing red and green Christmas mufflers around their necks while sporting their pastel-colored Easter Ears. It's a fashion statement only a penguin could pull off.

3/21/09 Maine's seasons

2009-03-21T14:34:00.003-04:00

Today I posted this as my Facebook status: "Sunshine today, sunshine all week. yea! Of course it does mean melting snow and a great mud season. (Maine has 5 seasons.) But then comes spring and summer."

I then received the following comments:

Misty: Technically, it's winter, mud season, black fly season, summer, fall ... no spring. But it sure is beautiful through all of them, whatever they are called, isn't it!

Wendy: 4 seasons - winter, mud, 4th of July, construction....repeat

Elizabeth: When I lived in Vermont I was amazed to discover this entire season that we missed out on in Texas!

Cassie: Back in the County we have two seasons - winter and potato season :)
[Note, the reference to "The County" is Aroostok County, which is the largest, northernmost county in the state. They're famous for their potatoes and very cold winters.]

3/18/09 Whoopie Pies make the New York Times!

2009-03-18T22:36:00.001-04:00

March 18, 2009

Whoopie! Cookie, Pie or Cake, It's Having Its Moment

By MICHELINE MAYNARD

FOR generations, vacationers in Maine and visitors to Pennsylvania’s Amish country have found a simple black and white snack in restaurants and convenience shops and on nearly every gas station counter: whoopie pies.

They were found in other pockets of the country, too, from New England to Ohio. But in most of the United States, people could be forgiven for not knowing that the whoopie pie is not, in fact, a pie at all. (It is sometimes described as a cookie, but that is not quite right, either. The closest description may be a cake-like sandwich, or perhaps a sandwich-like cake.)

Now whoopie pies are migrating across the country, often appearing in the same specialty shops and grocery aisles that recently made room for cupcakes. Last fall, they even cracked the lineup at Magnolia Bakery in Manhattan, which helped turn cupcakes into a national craze thanks to the bakery’s exposure on “Sex and the City.” Under the name “sweetie pies,” heart-shaped whoopie pies showed up in the February catalog from Williams-Sonoma. Baked in Maine with local butter and organic eggs, they sell for $49 a dozen.

In their traditional round form, whoopie pies can be found at Trader Joe’s supermarkets, at Whole Foods in Manhattan and at small bakeries like Kim’s Kitchen in Evanston, Ill., outside Chicago.

Kim’s Kitchen (soon to be renamed Fraîche) was an early adopter, first offering its hockey-puck-size pies seven years ago. The cakes come in chocolate and pumpkin, which remains a popular flavor long after the autumn leaves are gone, according to the shop’s owner, Susan Friedman.

“If we took them away after it stopped being fall, there would be a riot outside,” Ms. Friedman said.

Whoopie pies have been on the rise for several years, and nobody can pinpoint the reason they finally broke into the national consciousness. But the snacks evoke a more homespun era that seems to provide some comfort amid the economic gloom. “Pure edible nostalgia,” the Williams-Sonoma catalog calls them.

“Especially now, when people are so stressed out, they are going back to whoopie pies,” said Emily Isaac, owner of Trois Pommes Patisserie in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Ms. Isaac had never heard of whoopie pies before she was asked to make them as wedding favors three years ago. Entranced at first taste, she put them on the menu at her bakery when it opened in May 2007.

There are dozens of variations on the shape, flavors and fillings. Trois Pommes serves what seems to be the classic version: two round mounds of chocolate cake, about three inches across, with French vanilla cream filling.

The whoopie pie sold since last fall at Zingerman’s Bakehouse, in Ann Arbor, Mich., sports a chocolate glaze on its dense chocolate cake and is filled with Swiss buttercream filling.

The basic elements of the whoopie pie turn up in many other snacks that might be considered its far-flung relatives. Amy Emberling, a partner at Zingerman’s Bakehouse, grew up in eastern Canada eating a similar cookie called a Jos. Louis. Oreo sells a whoopie pie look-alike called the Oreo Cakester, while the Hostess Suzy Q is a square version that vies for space on some store shelves with whoopie-esque Little Debbie snack cakes.

Food historians believe whoopie pies originated in Pennsylvania, where they were baked by Amish women and put in farmers’ lunchboxes.

Tired from a morning’s work, the farmers purportedly would shout “Whoopie!” if they discovered one of the desserts in their lunch pails, Ms. Emberling said.

In parts of Pennsylvania, whoopie pies remain a celebrated sweet. The annual Whoopie Pie Festival at the Hershey Farm and Inn in Strasburg, Pa., features a whoopie pie eating contest and the coronation of the Whoopie Pie Queen.

The whoopie pie would probably be Maine’s state dessert, if the state had one. The filling is generally of one of two types: a thick, sweet frosting made from Crisco shortening combined with confectioners’ sugar, or, more conveniently, a dollop of Marshmallow Fluff.

The cake itself is typically not especially sweet, and is often on the dry side, since the frosting lends plenty of sugar and a gooey consistency, said Sandra Oliver, a food historian and columnist in Islesboro, Me.

How the cookies traveled to Maine is a mystery, however.

One theory holds that whoopie pies were brought north during the Great Depression through the Yummy Book, a recipe pamphlet first published in 1930 by Durkee-Mower, the Massachusetts company that makes Fluff.

Don Durkee, whose father co-founded the firm, discredits that notion. After checking the company’s collection of pamphlets, the earliest appearance of whoopie pies he found was during the 1970s. “I’m baffled,” he said.

Leslie Land, a Maine writer, said her research showed that the recipe might have been popularized by one of the many local radio programs aimed at housewives during the 1930s.

No matter how they arrived, they have been eaten by Maine residents for at least eight decades, said Ms. Oliver, who publishes Food History News, a monthly newsletter. Labadie’s Bakery, in Lewiston, Me., which sells whoopie pies as big as 16 inches across, claims to have sold them since 1925.

Many of the whoopie pies sold in Maine come sheathed in plastic wrap. Generally sold for less than $2, they can be found stacked next to cash registers, the dry cake growing moister by the hour. “If you peel the Saran off and half the cookie doesn’t come away, it’s not a real whoopie pie,” Ms. Oliver said.

Ms. Friedman, in Evanston, agreed that her whoopie pies have a rustic image rather than a luxury one, although they sell for $3 each.

“They’re not as perfect as a lovely cupcake that has a beautiful swirl of icing on top,” she said. “They’re a little more handmade looking.”

At Magnolia Bakery, maple-cream icing is sandwiched between two brown-sugar cakes. Sina Clark-Murphy, the head baker, said that the whoopie pie’s humble appearance may help it come across as less of a dietary threat than a frosting-piled cupcake or a serving of banana pudding. Unfortunately, they are no less caloric.

At the other end of the simplicity scale are the heart-shaped versions baked by the Cranberry Island Kitchen in Maine, which supplies Williams-Sonoma. The pies wound up in the catalog after a friend of one of the company’s food buyers sampled them at Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery, Me., and recommended that the catalog stock them, said Carol Ford, one of Cranberry Island’s owners.

Cranberry Island’s whoopie pies, which start at $28.75 for six, are made with chocolate cake or vanilla and are available in shapes like scallop shells and pumpkins. Filling flavors include rum, peppermint, Cointreau, raspberry and espresso.

To Ms. Oliver, the food historian, that upscale approach misses the point.

“It’s like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with almond butter,” she said. “It’s not meant to be fine cuisine.”

retrieved 3/18/09 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/dining/18whoop.html

3/15/09 Countdown to Spring

2009-03-15T20:46:00.001-04:00

5 MORE DAYS until Gifford's opens for the 2009 season! A definite sign that spring is on its way (though they've been known to serve their free ice cream on opening night to folks standing next to 3 foot snowbanks). Looks like this year's opening might be wet and cold but not snowy.

3/14/09 What's on the horizon?

2009-03-14T21:19:00.000-04:00

Today I went to the "Town Transfer Station" (can you say "The Dump"?) to drop off my recycling. If you look at the top part of this photo, you can see that even the dump has a gorgeous view. It doesn't matter where you are, there are mountains and trees and beautiful sky in your view. Now look at the bottom half of the photo and you'll see what mud season is all about. When you get a lot of snow in the winter, it melts in the spring, often before the ground is unfrozen, so the water can only soak so far down and then it just sits on top and makes mud. Lots of mud. But if it's mud season now, spring can't be far behind!

3/12/09 Moonlight Snowshoeing

2009-03-12T21:30:00.002-04:00

The Fitness and Recreation Center (FRC) at UMF offered a free opportunity to community members: Moonlight Snowshoeing. I signed up! The event was postponed from its original schedule due to inclimate weather so we went on Thursday night instead of Tuesday night. The sky was clear but it was a bit nippy (13 degrees when we arrived, 9 degrees when we left--that's 23 degrees colder than the temperature at which water freezes). We met at the Fitness Center, had our snowshoes issued to us, and got in the van. There were only 11 of us, and I actually knew 6 of my fellow snowshoers! Three were former students, one was the brother of a former students, one holds the record for most appearances in my class videos than any other non-class member, and the other is the friend of a faculty friend whom I had met at a party.

We drove about 20 minutes from campus to the home of the director of the FRC. He lives on a lake and has his own snowshoe trail! There wasn't any moonlight, but it was a beautiful clear dark night. So it started out as "Starlight Snowshoeing". We used flashlights and it was actually very fun. The trail was easy to follow, even by flashlight. About halfway through the hike, the moon started to rise. It was gorgeous. The rest of the hike was by moonlight! And there was hot chocolate for all at the end. I tried to take photos of the moonrise but my camera wouldn't work. I got one faint message about needing to replace the batteries (which was odd because they were just fine earlier in the evening) and then nothing. Later that night, in the comfort of my own apartment, I took out the camera to see what was wrong and it worked just fine. I think it was so cold out there that my camera wouldn't operate! I've read that warning on technology before but I've never worried about it before. Wow. It was actually so cold out there tonight that either my camera or my batteries (or both) wouldn't function.

For me personally, I had a very hard time snowshoeing in weather that cold. Being out of shape didn't help but having subfreezing air in your lungs makes it very hard for oxygen to get to all the places it needs to get. At one point, I didn't think my lungs were going to work anymore, even going slow didn't help! Fortunately, it was only when we were going uphill. Flat land and downhill were manageable. And the trail was a nice mix with most of the uphill at the beginning. I don't want to admit that it might have been because almost everyone on the trip was half my age. I'm still 21 so it can't be that! There were three FRC employees in the group and they spread themselves out throughout the crowd. In the second half, Jennifer, the Aquatics Director just hung out with me and we stayed waaaaay behind the rest of the group. ;-) She's a very patient woman. The consistently slower pace along with the more even slope helped a lot. I felt badly for her but I had a blast. I just hope she wasn't looking for any kind of workout.

Here we are helping each other put on our snowshoes (well, I didn't help anyone...I didn't know what I was doing).

These two photos were taken for Alison, my friend who introduced me to David, shown in these photos. She encouraged him to come and even 2 hours earlier they were on the phone and as far as he knew, she was planning to go. But she didn't show. That's okay, we had a great time anyway. Sorry to miss you Alison!!

2/26/09 Snowbound Hoedown

2009-02-26T21:36:00.002-05:00

Now you can't get much better than this for a student event on campus. I received this notification via email today:

Make a Snow Sculpture! Win a Prize!

Snowbound Hoedown

Snow Sculpture Competition

Friday, February 27th 8:00 am-5:00 pm in the Mantor Library Green area

Awards Reception 5:00-6:30 pm at the UMF Art Gallery

Hot Drinks, Cool Music, Great Prizes!

Sponsored by The Ministry of Experimental Arts

This contest is open to the public.
Register at VAPA office in Merrill or in front of Mantor Library.

2/26/09 Maine's economy

2009-02-26T21:19:00.002-05:00

There's no surprises in this newspaper article. These things were true about Maine long before the drop in the economy.

AUGUSTA (AP) -- A new report says Maine has some work to do to strengthen its economy but also finds areas in which the state already excels.

The Maine Economic Growth Council released an annual report Thursday that analyzes a number of indicators of progress toward sustainable, long-term growth.

Its report praises the state with gold stars in four areas: research and development spending, health insurance coverage, efforts to address chronic disease and a low rate of on-the-job injuries and illnesses.

But it also hands out red flags in several areas, including personal income, high-speed Internet access, manufacturing productivity, health care and energy costs, and state and local tax burden.

2/24/09 Big snow storm

2009-02-24T09:04:00.002-05:00

We had 27" of snow Sunday and Monday. This picture was posted by my friend Crystal who lives in Guilford, about an hour and a half north and east of Farmington.

2/14/09 February Break

2009-02-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

I'm outta here again! I just got back and now it's time to go.

We have two breaks in the spring semester, one in February (a great time to go skiing or enjoy other winter sports) and one in April (a good time to get away from Mud Season). Our February break this year fell at the exact time as an exciting week at Our Cabana, one of four World Centres for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, located in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Nine of the women that I volunteered with in Dallas and I are having a mini-reunion. It's going to be a blast. Follow the tales at http://texastheresa.blogspot.com/

2/8/09 Look closely . . . what's that on the roof?

2009-02-08T08:46:00.000-05:00

Can you see it? It's in front of the pine tree that pokes out from behind the garage.

Can you believe it?! How does someone get a snowman on top of a roof? Did they build it on the roof or build it on the ground and lift it up? Of course the question we're all dying to know the answer to is why build a snowman on top of a roof. And to that we may never have the answer. Meanwhile, just enjoy knowing that someone's out there who thinks of these things.

2/8/08 full moon over Farmington

2009-02-08T07:02:00.001-05:00

This picture doesn't do it justice but today there was an incredible moon, as big as a harvest moon, ascending from the horizon about the time of sunset. Wow.

1/31/08 Fish fry

2009-01-31T07:10:00.000-05:00

Alan and Betty graciously invited me to their home for the big fish fry. Alan cleaned the first fish and I got to clean the remaining 6. It involves cutting (off the head), slicing (open the belly), scooping (out the innards), and washing (out the inside under running water and running some water on the outside, too). Don't remove the bones, though. That is much easier to do after they're cooked.

The rest of our dinner: pork chops ('cuz there weren't enough fish), potatoes, peas, and the skillet on the back right burner has bacon in it 'cuz we're going to fry the fish in bacon grease.

Dip them in egg, then in a corn meal mixture.

Fry 'em up.

Filet them and eat them. Alan and Betty gave me all 7 to eat. They're so small that 7 is a small serving. Oh were they yummy!!

Thank you Alan and Betty for a wonderful day of life in Maine, especially the gracious Maine hospitality!

1/31/08 More about Smelting

2009-01-31T07:08:00.000-05:00

We paid $15 a piece for the privilege of smelting in these shacks. Inside was a wood stove and a big stack of wood. The fire was already going when we got there, so we took off our jackets to settle in for our 6 hours. Our bait was sand worms. The package of worms wrapped in newspaper was included in the price of renting the shack.

But ewwww, the sand worms are too big for bait, so you cut them up! And the small pieces of worm still wiggle after they've been cut and that's the bait. Betty offered to bait my hook for me, but I insisted that I do it myself. ewwww. But I did it.

This is the right side of the inside of the shack. Betty is checking the line. There were 10 lines on our side of the shack (boys vs. girls). The horizontal wooden bar from which the lines hang is suspended on springs so you can pull the bar and all 10 of your lines will wiggle just right. We actually only used 9 of our lines 'cuz the 10th line was missing a hook.

Alan built this "jig board" which is just a board with 3 lines that are similar to a jig pole. They use a finer line (the ones provided were practically string they were so thick) and hang from a piece of wire that creates a rather constant jiggle.

On both sides of the shack are big holes like this cut into the ice. In the middle of the shack there's room for the wood stove, 4 stools or chairs, and not much else.

The first bite came after we'd only been there about 5 minutes. And this smelt bit one of my lines! So technically, I caught the first fish! Betty coached me through pulling it in.

Alan took it off the hook. You can see that a smelt isn't very big.

In the next 4 hours and 45 minutes, we caught 6 more smelt. Alan caught all of those on his jig board. Often you can catch over 100 smelt and even as high as 300. But that wasn't for us on this trip. At least we weren't "skunked" and I had a blast hanging out with Alan and Betty and their friend Doyle who went with us.

I learned a bunch of new vocabulary but it's written on a piece of paper that I don't have with me. So I will make another entry later with those vocabulary words. In the meantime, know that this was a true Maine experience! I love my life with the Mainiacs.

1/31/09 Smelting!

2009-01-31T07:07:00.001-05:00

I did it! I finally got to go ice fishing!! Alan, one of the wonderful custodians in the Education Center is quite the outdoorsman and he and his wife took me ice fishing.

First thing to know: there is more than one kind of ice fishing. Today we are smelting which is fishing for smelt (a kind of fish). The ice that we're fishing through is on a river and smelt are a salt water fish. You fish during the tides on the river! So much to learn!!!

We met at the Park 'n Ride in New Sharon. On a Saturday morning at 8am there were already 2 cars: mine and someone else's. Good thing I got there at 8 'cuz there are only 7 parking spaces at this Park 'n Ride. ;-)

We drove about 90 minutes to Bowdoinham to fish on the Cathance River. We had to take the toll road. The signs said it was $1.00 but it was really only still $0.60. Tomorrow the rates go up but today the signs are already up.

Here we are at "the camp". (Yes, this means that there is yet another meaning to the word "camp.") Note that there are cars here from New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York. This must be quite the sport!

We cross the road from the parking lot to go to where the ice shacks are located. Yes, those shacks are sitting on the frozen river and they have no floors and have holes cut in the ice inside each one, yet they don't sink or break the ice. Wow. One of these (#17) is going to be our home for the next 5 hours.

Population numbers

2009-01-18T00:44:00.005-05:00

I'm always getting asked questions about the population in Maine and I can never quite keep the numbers straight, so here are the actual numbers of the largest cities/towns in Maine, starting with the largest.

1. Portland 62,825
2. Lewiston 35,234 (a part of the metropolis of Lewiston/Auburn or Auburn/Lewiston)
3. Bangor 31,853
4. South Portland 23,748 (a suburb of Portland . . . just to the south . . . never assume logic in names of cities/towns, but in this case, the logic holds)
5. Auburn 23,203 (see #2 above)
6. Brunswick 21,806
7. Biddeford 21,594
8. Sanford 21,252
9. Augusta (the capital) 18,560
10. Scarborough 16,970
11. Saco 16,822
12. Westbrook 16,142
13. Waterville 15,605
14. Windham 14,904
15. Gorham 14,141
16. York 12,854
17. Kennebunk (I don't think that's counting Kennebunkport which is right next door and home to the elder President Bush) 10,476
18. Falmouth 10,310
19. Kittery 9,543
20. Presque Isle 9,511
21. Wells 9,400
22. Standish 9,285
23. Bath 9,266
24. Orono 9,112
25. Topsham 9,100
26. Lisbon 9,077
27. Cape Elizabeth 9,068
28. Brewer 8,987
29. Old Orchard Beach 8,856
30. Skowhegan 8,824
31. Yarmouth 8,360
32. Caribou 8,312
33. Old Town 8,130
34. Freeport (home to L.L. Bean and lots of great outlet shopping) pop. 7,800
35. Winslow 7,743
36. Rockland (home of the Lobster Festival) 7,609
37. Buxton 7,452
38. Farmington 7,410
39. Cumberland 7,159
40. Gray 6,820

http://www.citypopulation.de/USA-Maine.html

MAINE
Land area, 2000 (square miles) 30,861.55
Persons per square mile 41.3
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/23000.html
Population, 2006 estimate 1,321,574
[Note: The population of The City of Dallas is 1.2 million. The population of Dallas County is over 2 million]

TEXAS
Land area, 2000 (square miles) 261,797.12
Persons per square mile 2000 79.6
Population, 2006 estimate 23,507,783

12/16/08 Maine . . . You Can't Get There From Here

2008-12-16T01:19:00.000-05:00

I'm out of here! I won't be back in Maine until next year. Meanwhile, I'll be celebrating Christmas as many times as I possibly can. I'm off to Texas for a week, then New Mexico for 10 days, then Oregon for a week. 4 Time Zones in 4 weeks. Check out the journey at http://texastheresa.blogspot.com/

12/15/08 a new kind of sidewalk snow removal device!

2008-12-15T23:43:00.003-05:00

You know I love collecting photos of all the different ways you can remove snow. Just when you think you've seen them all . . . This was in front of the bank. It's narrow enough to clean the sidewalks of snow but it's powerful enough to do roads, I'm certain. Look at all the parts! Your guess is as good as mine what they all do. But before I could get my camera out, I saw it removing snow on the sidewalk.

12/14/08 Historical Walking Tour of Farmington

2008-12-14T23:38:00.000-05:00

The Walking Tour is coming! The Walking Tour is coming! The Maine Community Heritage Project that Farmington was awarded from the Maine Historical Society was using the Walking Tour as its inspiration and at last the signs for the Walking Tour are going up. This is the frame for the one by the historic Depot. There's supposed to be 8, rumor has it they're only doing 4 for now due to budget constraints. I hope by the time I get back from vacation, they'll be up.

12/11/08 John Deere Christmas

2008-12-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

What's in the window of your local Hallmark store? When you care enough to send the very best, do you send John Deere ornaments?

12/13/08 Happy St. Lucia Day!

2008-12-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

This is actually a Minnesota and Swedish event, not a Maine event. But Karen, my Needham-making buddy and Games Night hostess extraordinaire is from Minnesota and she decided to bring a little bit of her home to Maine. So she held a St. Lucia party. And one of guests actually came as St. Lucia! I'll never get the names of all the yummy foods correct, so you should read Karen's husband's blog about the event. Read all the details there. But know from me that it was a) a lot of fun, b) quite delicious, and c) a great diversion in this hectic, end-of-semester time of year.

12/13/08 Weather Update

2008-12-13T00:15:00.003-05:00

My dad has officially posted a comment on my blog! This is noteworthy. I'm so excited to know my dad reads my blog. And his comment is so dad-like: "On 11/29 you PROMISED to stop talking about the snow. You haven't done it and now my feet are cold all the time! :<("

Ooops. Sorry Dad. And sorry to anyone else who's reading this and wishing I'd quit talking about the weather. I really didn't expect to blog about weather so much but it just has me fascinated. And this week is really doing it. Here are the stats--temps are from Weather Underground:

Monday 12/8: hi-19, lo-5, no precipitation
Tuesday 12/9: hi-28, lo-3, about an inch of snow
Wednesday 12/10: hi-55, lo-30, lots of rain
Thursday 12/11: hi-28, lo-21, snow started around 4 and kept going through the night
Friday 12/12: hi-33, lo-21 precipitation-at least 6 inches of snow before sleet and rain started

From 3 degrees to 55 degrees in 24 hours. What a hoot.

12/9/08 Texas weather in Maine

2008-12-09T20:31:00.000-05:00

In Texas we say, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." In Maine, they say the same thing! So far in 18 months here, I haven't really seen any drastic weather changes that would merit that phrase for Maine. But this week, I think we might make it. Today, it started out in single digit temps with snow. This much snow accumulated on my car in the dentist's office while I had my teeth cleaned (and they weren't that dirty so we're not talking about an extended period of time).

Weather predictions are that the snow will turn to rain by evening and tomorrow (Wednesday) the temps will be in the 40's (some predict the 50's) with more rain on the way. If that's not drastic enough. The prediction for Thursday is snow will start after sunset and keep snowing . . . with possible accumulations on Friday of 11 inches! Some are predicting as much as 15 inches!

I'll keep you posted.

12/8/08 More to come

2008-12-08T09:04:00.002-05:00

I've been so busy "doing" I haven't had time to blog about it. This is a good thing. Besides finishing up Labor Day Weekend (and Fall 2007 if you want to go that far back), I think all I have left to blog about is Cider Pressing in October, Thanksgiving in November, and Making Needhams (both the first time when I just reference other people's blogs about it AND the second round . . . just recently I made some more Needhams).

Thanks for following the blog! It sure is fun to write, but it's even more fun knowing that you're reading it.

12/8/08 Sunrise Frost

2008-12-08T06:57:00.002-05:00

Last night the winds were howling. It was fierce. You knew something was blowing in. This morning at 6:40 there was no new snow on the ground, but it was 3 degrees and I had frost on my windows.

12/1/08 Town Gazebo at Night

2008-12-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

I never did find out what the purple lights were for, but here are the Christmas lights on the town gazebo.

12/1/08 Happy December

2008-12-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

This was on my walk to school this morning. Today is the first day of December and we've had enough snow that actually stuck that my favorite tiny riding snow blower that's the width of the sidewalk has been driving down the sidewalk to clear it just for me. These are the tire tracks (it looks like an x-ray of a spine). I'm glad to know that the riding snow blower will come all the way up my hill to my new place . . . or at least to the part where the sidewalk ends that's just across the street from my new place.

11/30/08 Snowfall #3

2008-11-30T21:07:00.000-05:00

I promise to quit counting Snowfalls at some point. Most of the snow from Friday's snow didn't melt. We're starting to get a tiny base. The roads are fine, but the ground is cold enough now that snow is sticking to the grass and hillsides. Sunday night a storm was supposed to come in. I went into the office around 5:00 to get some work done and told myself I would leave as soon as I heard the storm coming. I never heard a thing. There was no north wind that blew in, no howling winds, just a stealth snowstorm that dropped a lot of flakes in a pretty short time.

11/28/08 The Early Evening Show

2008-11-28T20:37:00.002-05:00

This picture doesn't do it justice, but Friday night I went to The Oddfellow Theatre in Buckfield, Maine and had a blast at "The Early Evening Show".

Here's their own ad:

They aren't kidding. It was hysterical and totally family-friendly. I love clever humor that is clean. It takes real talent 'cuz it's harder to do but it's the best -- it's sooo funny.

Yes, it's the same Buckfield of the Diet Coke and Mentos folks. In fact, in my photo, the little guy on the right is Fritz Grobe of EepyBird.com. You should check out what those two creative guys are doing now . . . forget Diet Coke and Mentos and go for sticky notes.

11/28/08 Snow fall #2

2008-11-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

'Tis the Friday after Thanksgiving and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, because they're all enjoying the silent snowfall. Check out how many flakes are falling (you can sort of see them against the dark green backdrop of the lower part of the garage) and how big and puffy they are. :-) This is the real McCoy

11/26/08 making laptops talk nicely to each other

2008-11-26T14:43:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of work to do, but here's what I did instead. This is my old laptop, my school laptop, and my new laptop. See the screen on the one on the left on the floor? That's the symbol for that one being in "target mode" which is allowing me to pull all the data and applications off of that one and put them on my new one. The other one is just waiting its turn. There is so much time involved in setting up a new laptop! But it's so worth it!

11/26/08 here today, gone tomorrow

2008-11-25T14:42:00.001-05:00

It's Wednesday morning and this is the scene outside my apartment at 8:20am. That didn't last long! But still, it was a real snowfall.

This is the only trace of snow left:

11/25/08 first REAL snow

2008-11-25T14:41:00.000-05:00

On Monday afternoon, as planned, I left Grace's at 5:00 (okay, the plan was between 4 and 4:30, but close enough) and headed to New Hampshire. I tried to stop at the mall in York to go to the Apple Store, but could not find it, so I just headed to the airport and arrived exactly on time to meet Rodney outside security. I presented him with a little balloon shaped like a snowflake and said, "Here's your first snowflake in Maine. May you have much snow for good skiing while you're here, but may you not see your next snowflake until after we get safely to Farmington."

Even though it was 20 minutes out of the way, we went back to the mall and actually found it this time. It was more fun to go to The Apple Store with a fellow MacFanatic anyway, so I'm glad it worked out the way it did. I bought a new laptop! My 4 year old (plus 3 months) laptop is still cranking, but it is slow and the hard drive is full (just of applications . . . I took all the data off and put it on an external source many ages ago) and it's just past due. I'm very excited!

After dinner at the mall food court, we headed back to Farmington. We arrived just after midnight and when we got out of the car, snowflakes were coming down. Oh yes! Mother Nature is so good to me!

This morning, this was the scene outside my apartment. It must've snowed most of the night (early morning).

9:00am, 11:00am, last 2 at 1:15pm

11/24/08 dawn at Old Orchard Beach

2008-11-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I arrived at Old Orchard Beach around 10:30am and Grace and I worked until 10:30pm. We did take a break for meals, including lobster rolls from Bailey's for dinner!! But pretty much we worked 10 hours. I went to bed, but Grace stayed up. She was on a roll and when that happens, don't get in her way. Turns out she went to bed at 1:30am! This is role reversal for the two of us. I'm usually the night owl and she turns in early.

We were both up early this morning. I'm taking my car in to the Saturn dealer for its 33,000 mile checkup and oil change (and its first Maine inspection, which I forgot to do when I got my license plate). We will brainstorm in the car on the way down there. (Up there? It's about 20 minutes north of Grace's condo but soooo much closer than coming down from Farmington just for the day to get this done.) And we'll work in the nice waiting area that has free wi-fi while they work on the car. And we'll talk some more about work on the drive home, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, if I'm up this early, at least there's going to be a nice sunrise.

11/23/08 how cold is it?

2008-11-23T14:36:00.001-05:00

Officially, UMF's Thanksgiving Break doesn't start until Wednesday, but in our Practicum course, we make the students come for extra sessions during the first two weeks of orientation and then we don't have classes on Monday or Tuesday. It works out much better for the students who are in the schools to not have to go in for just a day and it keeps everything "even" between the two sections of students (half are in the schools working with mentor teachers while the other half are on campus in our courses). So, unofficially, I have a week-long Thanksgiving Break.

To kick off Thanksgiving Break, I drove to Old Orchard Beach today to work with Grace on our graduate course. We're going to spend all day today (Sunday) and tomorrow working on it. Then I'll leave around 4:30 to go to Manchester to pick up Rodney at the airport. It's 3.5 hours from Farmington to Manchester. This way, I only have to drive 1.5 hours on Monday because I'll get 2 hours out of the way today. It's going to be a great Thanksgiving Break but I can tell already that it's going to be too short.

I pulled over on the turnpike when I drove past my third set of rocks covered in ice like this. I do not know what the water source is to make this happen, but a) it sure is beautiful and b) it must be really cold outside.

11/22/08 Wintery Weather

2008-11-22T12:25:00.004-05:00

It's definitely winter here. On the 18th of November, the high temperature was 35. It hasn't been above freezing since. It's not predicted to go above freezing until Monday, the 24th, when the high is predicted to be 36; but they're predicting enough snow to have a real accumulation on Monday, too. (They're predicting snow for today, but I think it's just more flurries.) So let's recap*:

Tuesday 11/18 high 35, low 21
Wednesday 11/19 high 28, low 14
Thursday 11/20: high 28, low 14
Friday 11/21: high 29, low 17
Saturday 11/22 (prediction): high 27, low 13
Sunday 11/23 (prediction): high 29, low 18
Monday 11/24 (prediction): high 36, low 27

A full week of temperatures below freezing and we haven't had Thanksgiving yet. The official start of Winter isn't until the winter solstice at 12:04pm on December 21st, this year. I think it missed the mark this year by more than a full month.

*The predition info is from wunderground.com for West Farmington which is technically in Farmington. The historical numbers are from wunderground.com for Wilton which is the bordering town to our west. Wunderground doesn't have data for Farmington per se. If you type in Farmington, they give you information from Waterville which is 30 miles east of Farmington. West Farmington and Wilton are obviously MUCH closer and more indicative of true Farmington weather.