What He Said

Jim Gonyea, of Leicester has a great post on the proliferation of campaign signs on public land and vacant lots. Thanks Jim!

Not George Washington

Back in July, The First Family spent a weekend on Mount Desert Island, enjoying Bar Harbor and Acadia. If memory serves, they were here only about 48 hours. On their first night on the island, the family had dinner at Stewman’s Lobster Pound, on West Street in Bar Harbor. We’ve never eaten there because we visit too early in the spring and too late in the autumn. But because Stewman’s put up a sign, we had our chance at a photo-op!

Wait

The fog began rolling in Tuesday afternoon. This morning it was still thick and gray down at Seal Harbor.


The wind picked up late this afternoon, driving the fog out beyond The Porcupine Islands in Frenchman Bay.


Tonight was unseasonably warm. So warm, that The Thirsty Whale kept its doors open, allowing the autumn leaves to skitter about on the wood floorboards of the long, narrow bar. That would be the bar with the yummy food and the great service!

On The Wing

We were down at Seal Harbor early this morning. It was mostly overcast, with only a light breeze. There were many Herring Gulls (Larus smithsonianus) as well as some Great Black-backed Gulls (Larus marinus) on the beach and in the water. Despite their numbers, it was quite quiet and peaceful. After a few missed starts, I managed to snap two fairly clear photographs of seagulls in flight.

Doe, A Deer

Alongside Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park, not far from Otter Cliffs, we saw this beautiful White Tail Deer. We were driving in the car, late this afternoon, when a slight movement caught Chuck’s eye. I pulled out my camera. But she was moving and the engine was running, so it’s all a bit unfocused and dreamlike. Yeah, that’s what I was going for - a dreamlike quality! Worked like a charm. ;o)

Schoodic

On the one hand I want to keep it a closely guarded secret. On the other hand I want everyone to be able to enjoy it. I’ll err on the side of inclusiveness. Here are some photos of our trip over to one of the loveliest parts of Acadia National Park, the Schoodic Peninsula.


First of all, we found Fred. Or, more accurately, Fred the Herring Gull found us. Chuck was napping in the car at the time. I believe Fred was so concerned that someone was not actively appreciating the scenery that he flew up onto the hood of the car and stared at Chuck in amazement!


I let Chuck and Fred commune and headed off with my camera and my Sassafras walking stick to find this beautiful sight.


Soon Fred was able to rouse Chuck and he (Chuck, not Fred) joined me as the waves crashed up against the rocks. Fred was totally right about the importance of enjoying the scenery!

It Looks A Lot Like This

...pretty much wherever we go in Acadia National Park. This is the view from Jordan Pond House, looking down toward Jordan Pond and across to The Bubbles.


We were up to an early start thanks to a rumbling sound outside our window at about 6:00 am. I peeked through the drapes drawn across the windows and door to the balcony, to find a cruise ship heading right at us!


It was the Crown Princess. About twelve hours later, it pulled away under a full moon.

Remember This Guy?

Yes, we’re back in Bar Harbor, Maine; staying in the same hotel and we’re hoping to see our winged friend from last spring, tomorrow morning.

We drove up in a mix of sun and rain, arriving just after sunset. The waves sound wonderful. The fact that we are here means that our grandniece Isabella is doing so well that we decided to keep our reservations. Those were the reservations we made last spring, timed so that we would be back home in plenty of time before Carrie and “Bambalina’s” original due date of November 6th! Izzy now weighs three pounds, fifteen ounces (1.79 Kgs) and is off all of her supplemental oxygen - hurray! It will still be a while before she is able to head home with Mom and Dad, but we are all delighted with every milestone she passes.

Yawn

What? You got sick of looking at the photo of the overpass? But it’s pink!

I’m sorry I have neglected my blogging responsibilities. All is well. I have just been busy with happy things and mundane things. While the idea behind a blog is to write about one’s daily activities, I’m afraid it would be a bit, well, repetitive.

Example:
...slept, cooked, ate, drove, took photographs, drove, shopped, iPhoto, Photoshop CS3, e-mail, washed laundry, iMovie, QuickTime, YouTube, hung laundry, fed cats, cooked, ate, scooped litter, folded laundry, slept...

Repeat.

But at least you’re now fully up to date.

Oh! Except for the very important fact that our grandniece Isabella now weighs three pounds, eleven ounces (1.68 Kgs) and is ten weeks and three days old! Preemie Power indeed!

My Favorite Overpass

I don’t know who the creative geniuses were who thought to paint the overpasses spanning Route 146 in wonderful colors. Nor do I know which state bureaucrats had the good sense to authorize it. But my hat is off to all of them.

This one is located in Worcester at the intersection of Cambridge, Quinsigamond and 290.
It is, for obvious reasons, my favorite.

Autumn In Shadow

It was a warm, sunny Autumn day. I was hanging laundry on the front porch, while also trying not to step on a cat’s tail. In glancing down to avoid said tail, the shadows caught my attention. I thought of Roo who, in his photography, has a wonderful eye for shadows. I stopped and reached for my camera. This is the result.



Speaking of Roo,
Happy Anniversary to Andrew and Peter!

Preemie Power!

Whenever Isabella Rose raises her fist in the air like this I call it “Preemie Power”!

Isabella was born at just 26 weeks on August 5th, weighing one pound six ounces. We said from the beginning that she struck us as ”sweet and strong”. That continues to be our impression. She began feeding from a bottle on September 26th. Then she also began nursing on September 28th! She now weighs three pounds, five ounces (1.5 Kgs) - give or take a few grams. Wow! Carrie and Al continue to be wonderful parents. And Carrie has been recovering steadily from the Severe Preeclampsia and its attendant complications. Hurray!

Put Your Money Where Your _____...

Mouth Is
Heart Is
Values Are

The right, the far right, the conservatives, the Republicans, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the tea-party-ers, Karl Rove and all the astro-turfers are pouring vast sums of money into political campaigns. After the Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United it has been virtually no holds barred on how much money can flow in from businesses and anonymous donors. The amounts of money are staggering. The right doesn’t want to take us back to something they miss; something they feel we have lost under the present Democratic administration. They want to take this nation in an entirely new and dangerous direction.

So we, the little guys, the average American citizens, have to pony up. We have to put our money where are mouths are. If we want to scream every time the right wingers spew lies, then we have to open up our wallets and support the good guys. If we hate the vision of America the tea-party-ers paint, then we have to put pen to check and support the good guys. If we know that we need more time to haul ourselves out of the recession and keep building on what has been accomplished in the last twenty months, then we have to navigate over to candidates we believe in, click on the donate button and support the good guys.


psssst... Do $omething!

Wicked Cool

There’s a wicked cool Photoshop video tutorial from NAPP Executive Director Larry Becker over on Corey Barker’s Planet Photoshop. It’s called “Abstract Backgrounds”. It is very easy to follow and left me slackjawed with all the nifty permutations and possibilities - think filters, digi-scrap papers and more. Check it out here!

My experiment:
From stones to stripes

Mark Your Calendars

Some of the people running for public office this year are just plain nuts.
Many of them have big money behind them.
We should not assume that because they are nuts, that they couldn’t possibly get elected.
We have to go to the polls and vote.
Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does.
This is a shake-the-snowglobe/Alice-down-the-rabbit-hole moment in our nation’s history.
We cannot be complacent.
We cannot be apathetic.
We have to go to the polls and vote.
Heck, you can even vote by absentee ballot.
But you have to freakin’ vote.

Living in Massachusetts? Need to register to vote? (You have until October 13th.) Need to vote by absentee ballot? The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website has all the information you’ll need.

Mark Your Calendars.
Election Day Is
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
VOTE!