This is big news. Now you don't have to drive 4 hours to Boston to get to an Apple Store. You can do it in 2 hours by going to The Maine Mall (get it . . . the main mall?? and it pretty much is the only big mall in the state) in Portland. I'm part of a team from Farmington that was awarded a grant called the Maine Community Heritage Project. It's very exciting and I promise to blog more about it later. But we needed a computer, so I volunteered to go pick it up. w00t!
That pretty much describes it. If you stand in my driveway (or near the driveway), you can see this view to the south . . .
...and this view to the north...
and this is the view to the west, or down the sidewalk to my humble little apartment (The Verandah). The Verandah is closed for the season. The landlady gathered up the plastic lawn chairs and table and the cute little grill they loaned me. I have folding camp chairs in the house and plan to sit out there on any unseasonably warm days and maybe even on a cold day or two, just to soak in that view. But otherwise, like the ice cream stands . . . when summer's over, you settle in for a L O N G winter's nap.
It rained this afternoon while I was teaching my class. I didn't even notice it while we were inside, but when I came out, the streets were wet and there were raindrops on the cars. I walked to a grant meeting at The Farmington Public Library and had the chance to see these gorgeous autumn colors against a bright, clear, blue autumn sky. How gorgeous!!
Today was the first official day of the graduate course in Dixfield. I was supposed to take photos for my "Autumn album" but instead, I stayed at the school after the class was dismissed in order to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new school building. It's a beautiful building. In this photo, Dr. Tom is speaking. He's the superintendent of schools for this district. He's a great person to work with (I've been working with him directly and indirectly on the two graduate courses I've taught here) and is a great community builder. What came through most in this ceremony that was intended to be a thank you event for everyone involved in creating this school (builders, contractors, teachers, community members . . . everyone) was the great sense of community that abounds in this area, especially under Dr. Tom's leadership.
This morning on my way to work, I noticed a woman wrapping Christmas lights around the trees at the town gazebo and another woman standing outside the gazebo, holding a camera, watching and chatting with the woman wrapping the Christmas lights. It seemed an odd scene and I couldn't imagine who they were or why they were there.
Tonight, on my way home from work, I saw these purple lights on the trees and the gazebo. I had to assume it was the lights being put on this morning. The mystery seems even greater now: who were they and why the lights?
I ventured across the street to get this closeup photo and could hear voices coming from inside the gazebo. Apparently, a couple was sitting on the floor of the gazebo having a conversation. I quickly took my photo and left. I didn't want to disturb them. I don't know if the woman in the couple was the same woman as this morning. The mystery only deepens.
From the verandah, fog over the Sandy River was visible, probably the last remnants of Tropical Storm Kyle. We never did get the bad weather we were warned about, though there was a constant gentle rain for almost the entire weekend.
By 9:00 the fog had burned off and sunshine through the clean rain-washed air was the norm. These were photos taken on my walk to work showing not only sunshine but autumn in progress.
MIAMI — A rare hurricane watch was posted for part of the Maine coast on Saturday as Tropical Storm Kyle roared north toward the region with a threat of conditions similar to one of New England's nor'easter storms.
"Hurricane season isn't over, " said Maine Emergency Management Agency director Rob McAleer. "It's been a very active season."
It was Maine's first hurricane watch in 17 years, the National Weather Service said. Elsewhere in the northeastern New England states, a hurricane warning was posted for Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts in September 1996, according to the weather service office in Taunton, Massachusetts.
Two to 4 inches of rain had already fallen along some coastal areas by midday Saturday and the storm was expected to deliver an additional 2 to 4 inches, said Eric Schwibs of the weather service in Gray.
At 2 p.m. EDT Kyle was centered about 300 miles west-northwest of Bermuda and 550 miles south of Nantucket, the National Hurricane Center said in Miami.
The storm had top sustained wind near 70 mph and the potential to grow to hurricane strength. It was moving north over the open Atlantic at 20 mph, up from 15 mph during the morning.
Kyle's center was forecast to be near eastern New England or the Canadian Maritime provinces late Sunday, the hurricane center said.
The hurricane center posted a hurricane watch from Stonington, at roughly the center of the Maine coast, to Eastport, on the border with New Brunswick, Canada. A tropical storm watch extended south to Cape Elizabeth, near Portland.
Kyle could make landfall near Eastport, possibly late Sunday, the hurricane center said.
That would put the storm's strongest wind in New Brunswick, rather than in Maine, which would get conditions more akin to "a garden variety nor'easter," said Schwibs.
The government of Canada issued a tropical storm watch for southwestern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the hurricane center said.
The weather service also issued flood watches for the southern two-thirds of New Hampshire and southern Maine through Sunday evening.
McAleer said the storm's biggest threat in Maine would be the potential for high waves and small stream flooding.
The Coast Guard prepared crews and equipment for the storm and urged boat owners to secure their vessels in anticipation of high wind and seas that could run 10 to 20 feet high off shore.
Eastern Maine's power company, Bangor Hydro-Electric, said it prepared for potential outages and planned to have additional crews on duty.
Sept. 26: This NOAA satellite image taken at 1:15 AM EDT shows Tropical Storm Kyle located to the southwest of Bermuda.
On the drive back to Farmington from Hallowell, I happened to get to Belgrade at sunset. I figured out why "The Sunset Inn" is named that . . . what a view they have from their back windows. Across the street from The Village Inn is a little parking lot and a staircase that leads down towards the water. I pulled in. Looks like there must've been a wedding there earlier today. I guess this area belongs to The Village Inn?? I took pictures quickly and tried to soak it all in before I felt compelled to leave. I think I need to plan more drives through Belgrade at sunset. PLUS, one of my faithful readers and former studnets, Marie, lives in Belgrade. I'm in trouble now for blogging about Belgrade and not stopping in to see her. ;-)
How fun is this?! Mary S., one of the chums, a longtime friend in Dallas, and the current tenant at my house back in Texas, was in Bangor, ME for work this weekend. She works for Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Bangor affiliate had their race and big fundraiser this weekend, so she worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning, then needed to be in New Hampshire for a meeting Monday morning. So on her drive from Bangor to New Hampshire, we rendezvoused in Augusta and I took her to Hallowell. It's that quaint town that we drove through but didn't stop at on one of the Celebration Tours. We arrived a little too late on a Sunday afternoon to see most of the shops, but we found a few that were open and mostly just enjoyed the stroll up and down the streets and the chance to yack and catch up in person. I'll be seeing her (and staying in her guest room in my own house) in December in Dallas, but it was very fun to see her in Maine. I hope more Texas friends will do the same!
In this same shop, I treated myself to a cute brass pin in the shape of a moose!
