Shane Kayaking in Maine

Kayaking on Eggemoggin Reach

Shane and I took the kayaks out on the reach in front of our house.
Though it is still foggy and it started misting a bit, the water was
dead calm. It was beautiful.

Foggy Morning at Pumpkin Island Lighthouse

At least the rain has stopped for now. It is a beautiful, quiet
morning. This is the scene from our porch. We hope to see a little
sunshine later today.

Popovers at Jordan Pond House, Acadia National Park

It was another bad weather day here in Maine, but we made the best of it. I went for a cool, misty 5-mile run this morning from Moose & Squirrel to the Little Deer Isle, ME, post office. After my shower, we went into nearby Blue Hill and did a couple galleries. We actually bought a painting, but I write more about that later. Then we drove over to Acadia National Park to have a late lunch at the famous Jordan Pond House, which is famous for its popovers.

For anyone who hasn't had a popover before, they are buttery, eggy rolls that are quite a challenge to make well. I have made them before, and have had spotty luck with them. Jordan Pond House does an excellent job, especially when you drown them in butter and strawberry jam. They bring you one as an appetizer and we had one for dessert also.

For a main course, Shane had the lobster quiche with a side salad. It was awesome. I had a few bites. I had the crab cakes covered in some kind of sauce with rice and steamed veggies. It was OK, but I should have gotten the quiche.

Afterwards, we drove into Bar Harbor and did some shopping. By the time we got home, the misty rain had turned into a heavy fog, and we could hardly make out the lighthouse from our porch.

By the way, it is quite a tech challenge to post on my blog. The only computer at the house is a laptop with a dial-up connection, which is very slow and loses the connection constantly. I have been able to post some things directly from my iPhone, but it is very difficult to get a signal on my phone also. I have to stand on one foot out on the porch with the phone aimed in just the right direction. I managed to email the above photos to my email account, and slowly download them onto the very slow laptop and then upload them onto the blog. Very tedious. More later.

Wine by the Fire

We're back at Moose & Squirrel and relaxing in front of a roaring fire with some Cabernet Sauvignon.

Sunday Dinner

I got a mess of fried shrimp at the Bagaduce Lunch, a roadside joint on the Bagaduce River. Shane had already wolfed down his cheeseburger by the time I took this picture. They have picnic tables, but because of the weather we ate in the car.

Kneisel Hall Concert

This is the stage of Kneisel Hall. It's a rainy day in Maine, but a
good day to see and hear a concert.

Intermission at Kneisel Hall

We're seeing a classical music concert at the classical music school
in Blue Hill, Maine. Next up is Dvorak!

Rainy Day Lighthouse

We woke up to a gentle rain and it has showered all morning. We're
out on the covered porch relaxing and reading.

Loopy for Lupine in Maine

The Lupine are blooming like crazy all over Down East Maine. These
are in front of Moose & Squirrel, the house we're renting on Little
Deer Isle.

Relaxing on the Porch

Our first day at Moose & Squirrel and life is good. We saw a pod of
porpoises (or dolphins) near our house and discovered a huge porcupine
living under the porch. Maine is wild.

Maine Vacation Staples

All these bottles of wine will be history this time next week.

Heading for Moose & Squirrel -- Our Maine Vacation Part 1

Get used to seeing the lighthouse pictured above -- there may be a few more posts that feature it in the coming week. It is the Pumpkin Island Lighthouse off the coast of Little Deer Isle, Maine. It is what we will be mostly looking at for the next week. We are once again renting "Moose & Squirrel," the yellow house in the photo above. This is our third year and we'll be there for two separate weeks this year. We arrive on Saturday for our first week, and then have another week set for the end of August.

The bad news is the weather report for the upcoming week is rain and more rain. It doesn't matter. We love to sit on the porch of that old house and read and relax. We'll visit our land in nearby Segdwick, ME, and go out to eat at the Fish Net in Blue Hill. We also might travel up to Acadia National Park and have some popovers at the Jordan Pond House.

We leave tomorrow afternoon, overnight in Conneticutt, and arrive at Moose & Squirrel Saturday afternoon. Shane and I have been looking forward to this week for months.

What's New Buenos Aires?

SC Governor Mark Sanford was recently seen strolling through the airport humming some tune from Evita. The anti-gay rights Republican was so worried about the sanctity (hehe, I almost said titty) of marriage that he claimed it would be ruined by allowing homosexuals to participate. Obviously, he did not realize that boinking another individual outside of his own marriage would do any damage to the institution. I think a better idea to protect the sanctity of marriage would be not to allow anyone to get married that ruined an actual marriage by his or her own infidelity.

My favorite part of this whole story was this line from an article in the Washington Post describing his press conference announcing the little boo boo: “As Sanford digressed about his boyhood adventures on the Appalachian Trail and airplane trips around the world with just $100 in emergency money, about "God's law" and moral absolutes, people standing behind him in the Capitol Rotunda could be seen smirking.” What a dumbass.

Hump Day Art -- More Andrew Wyeth

Today's Hump Day Art features three paintings by Andrew Wyeth that I saw at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Wyeth died early this year and these were the painting they used to commemorate his work. The above work is from 1943 and is called "Public Sale." It is tempera on panel. It depicts the forced auction of a Pennsylvania farm and its contents. The description notes that Wyeth's decision to focus on the landscape rather than the people, "imbues this already poignant scene with an air of haunting melancholy."

"Groundhog Day" was done in 1959 and is also tempera on panel. This is one of the works Wyeth did from a series on his neighbors, the Kuerner's. You might remember another posting I did of their house, which was called "Wolf Moon."

I did not get the information about the name of this painting. I believe it was called "The Spring House," but I could be wrong. If someone knows the correct name, please let me know. For more information about Andrew Wyeth and his art, visit the Brandywine River Museum at Chads Ford, PA.

Running Music -- Tom Jones -- It's Not Unusual

This is one of the songs on my iPod Shuffle that I listen to while running. I remember when I was a kid, my Mom was a fan of Tom (or was it Engelbert Humperdinck ?). Tom sure has the moves if you can overlook the annoying finger snapping. Anyway, it is a great song to listen to when running, as is "What's New Pussycat?"

Government Cut-Back or Just Plain Cheap?

I work for an agency of the Federal Government, which shall remain nameless. I hate to sound whiney, but whine I must. Above are two strips of paper towels that automatically dispense from the touchless paper towel dispenser. The towel on the left is from the men's room and the one on the right is from the kitchenette area of my office. I find that it takes at least two of the towels on the right to adequately dry my hands. That means I need about four of the towels from the men's room dispenser to get the job done.

I assume the powers that be think they are saving money by making the towels in the men's room smaller. However, I find I am standing at the dispenser much longer waving my hands at the sensor to get enough towels to dry my hands. The dispenser seems to have a timer that prevents you from getting the towels too quickly, so how much Government time is wasted with me standing there like a fool waving at the machine so I can dry my hands? Believe me, they are saving no money.

Blue Sponge Newsroom -- Metro Disaster, Smoking Bill, SC Finds Gov., and More

It occurred to me this morning as I was riding the Metro to work that I could probably make a great deal of money if I were selling t-shirts that read, “I Survived My Ride on Metro.” Sadly, there are at least nine people that isn’t true for today. Two DC’s Metro trains collided yesterday evening resulting in the worst accident in the history of the subway service.

President Obama signed an anti-smoking bill that gives the FDA authority to regulate what goes into cigarettes and prevent marketing to children. The president briefly referenced his own smoking struggles during the signing ceremony, but didn’t elaborate on whether he was still a smoker. It made me think of the joke Wanda Sykes told at one of those press dinners about how the press can’t ever get a photo of the Obama smoking, but they have no trouble getting shots of him shirtless.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has been found hiking on the Appalachian Trail. He recently disappeared for 5 days and nobody knew what happened to him – not even his wife. He is considered a top presidential candidate for 2012 for the Republicans. He should fit right in.



Kodak is no longer going to manufacturer its oldest film stock – Kodachrome. Expect to see this or similar videos on blogs a lot.

Finally, Jon and Kate Gosselin are getting a divorce. Whoopee do da. I am still prohibited by law to have the choice to get married to the person I love – even if it could all go to hell in a handbasket.

Vomita Makes the Washington Post Express

Vomita is feeling a little nauseous.

One of my blog entries made the "Blog Log" of the Washington Post Express newspaper, the free paper handed out of subway stations in the DC area.

It was about Vomita, a cat that needs a home. I was visiting my sister on Saturday and she had rescued Vomita from being put to sleep after she (the cat, not my sister) allegedly scratched a small child. I find it hard to believe Vomita would harm a fly. She is the most timid kitty I've ever seen.

She does have a bit of a digestive problem where she regurgitates her food a bit, and she also needs to be spayed. E-mail me if you're interested in adopting a very nice lap cat with some issues. I can give you more information.

Surprisingly, she is still available. Don't worry. There is no chance she will be put to sleep.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #198

Why do you think the boss calls me Alz and you Heimer?

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #198. Let me know if you come up with a caption.