Hunter's Orange: Hiking at Dodge Point

The four of us took a hike at Dodge Point near the Damariscotta River. We bought sandwiches and ate them in the car because it was so chilly out. Just as we were about to embark on our walk, we noticed a sign saying to wear orange because there could be hunters in the woods, so I drove back to town (10 minutes) to Reny's (a Maine institution) and bought us each an orange watch cap and Izzie an orange band for her collar. Izzie's band doesn't show in this picture, her hair is hiding it. This is at the start of our walk. Fortunately I'm not in any of the pictures. I would imagine that my purple jacket with orange hat would make me look quite odd, or festive, depending on one's PoV. We should have gone home to get Izzie's pumpkin outfit (hah).

The air was was cold, and there wasn't much sun, but the woods were quite lovely. Grandson is supposed to go on a nature walk and collect things to share at school, so we found some birch bark, acorns, pine cones, rocks and red and yellow maple leaves. We will iron the leaves between pieces of wax paper to preserve them. He can take a copy of this picture along too. We can't take living things with us out of the woods, but pictures are a great way to keep memories alive. Izzie loves hiking and had a great time being off leash. I'm glad we found this place. I saw it while driving down the road to pick up a pottery chalice and paten for Rangeley's new deacon.

Yesterday we drove up the coast to the Penobscot Narrows Observatory. Four-hundred feet above the Penobscot river on the top of one of the piers you get a great view of the town of Bucksport upriver and the sweep of the river as it moves down to the ocean. An elevator takes you to the top. It is on the site of Ft. Knox, built in 1844 to protect the river valley against possible British invasion. Maine was involved with border disputes with Canada both during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. The fort, seen at the top of the point of land to the bottom left of the photo, was named after the first U.S. Secretary of War, Major General Henry Knox, who was born in Boston, but retired to Thomaston, Maine, just a ways down the coast.

My grandson loved the canons at the old fort far more than going up the elevator to the observatory. I found a book called "You wouldn't want to sail in the Spanish Armada!" and he has had his father read it to him a number of times already. He especially likes the parts where things get blown up.

Something Silly

The Bangor Daily News covered the Pumpkinfest with the headline "'Something Silly' hits Damariscotta." The photo is from them as well. It's the founder of the fest on his motorized pumpkin. Grandson really enjoyed the pumpkin drop, though. Watching a 300+ pound pumpkin drop on a junker car from 200 feet is quite a sight. Silliness indeed.

Damariscotta Pumpkinfest

Well, judging by the number of people walking downtown yesterday, Pumpkinfest must have been a success. The pumpkin boats raced and artists carved or painted pumpkins in front of businesses and they were quite imaginative. Izzie was a hit in her outfit. You can tell how thrilled she was to wear it in the picture on the left. She got her picture taken by so many people, she'll be famous around the country (one lady said she was from Colorado) and a man from Texas asked where we bought it so he could get one for his dog for Halloween.

The next photo is my son and grandson and Izzie on the way downtown. We'll take more pictures today.

The pumpkin drop is this morning. I have no idea what that means. It's also the last day that the homemade ice cream place (Round Top Farms) will be open until next summer. I do love their ice cream even though I'm lactose intolerant. They have vanilla lactose free ice cream, but some of the flavors are so tempting that I make sure I have Lactaid with me.

The Glorious Maple

Here's a picture of the maple in the front yard. I decided to take the picture before more of the leaves fall off. They're predicting more rain tomorrow. The tree is turning bit by bit rather than the whole tree turning at once. There's still a lot of green on the top. This is my favorite time of the year even if it does mean that winter is on its way. I really missed the seasons the years I spent in California.

This and That

I finally have a place to work at home that's not the dining room table. After looking at desks and tables and such I finally settled on Elfa freestanding shelving. Since I am only renting this house, I wanted something I could take with me that was versatile. Of course trying to put it up by myself was exciting. There are cross-pieces at the top of the vertical standards that were impossible for me to pound in from a step ladder. After grousing to my friend of 35 years (he's in California) and an engineer, I followed his suggestion of putting the unit flat on the floor with the feet against the wall and putting them in that way. It worked!

In case you're wondering, that's not St. Francis on the top shelf, but St. Martin de Porres. I love it because of the dog, cat, mouse and bird on the statue. Born in Peru in 1579 of a Spanish father and Panamanian mother, this first black saint from the Americas is supposed to have set up a hospital for cats and dogs at his sister's house. His feast day (Roman Catholic) is November 3. It's pretty fragile pottery, but has survived all of my moves to various place for my interim work.

This is all part of a push to get the house finished for the visit of my son and grandson for a week starting on Saturday and then for the visit of a couple of friends the following week for a few days and then my friend Jane from Vienna will be coming in early November.

Next task to get the small bedroom in order.

Update: Making a bed with Izzie around is quite a task. She insists on jumping on the bed and gets up on top of each layer. I usually try to do it when she's pre-occupied (sleeping). I finally managed to finish. Small bedroom is ready. Now for the study.

A Garrison Keillor Apology?

My friend Peach spotted this and posted in on facebook. It's a piece by Garrison Keillor found at Common Dreams.org. It was originally posted on Salon and is titled
I Was So Wrong
Even people who oppose regulation and don't mind manufacturing hamburger contaminated by E. coli deserve healthcare

It's good satire in typical Keillor fashion that takes Republicans to task. I particularly like the bit where he says "Republicans have the same right to quality healthcare as anyone else, and you can quote me on that. Even people who are crazed stark raving berserk by the thought of a president with three vowels in his last name deserve to be treated with kindness and dignity, and shot with tranquilizer darts by game wardens and wrapped in quilts and taken to refuge."

As Peach said, Keillor is an American treasure.

The Episcopal Bishop of Maine Speaks Out

I lied, I didn't post at all last week, or this week either. Today's press release from my diocese was enough to get me off my duff and post this. Yesterday, The Episcopal Bishop of Maine made a statement during a press conference sponsored by the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine. Although his whole statement may be found on his blog Round Maine with Bishop Lane, in essence what he says is that he supports voting "no" on Question 1 (Question 1 if passed would repeal the work of the Maine legislature permitting same-sex marriage). He says:

It is my belief that the right to marry is a crucial civil right, establishing both protections and obligations that safeguard gay and lesbian couples and their families.

It is core to our Christian belief that we are all children of God, created in God’s image, and, in baptism, we are all full members of the church. In the Episcopal Church, we have also determined that sexual orientation, in and of itself, is no bar to holding any office or ministry in the church, as long as the particular requirements of that office or ministry are met. In many of our congregations, both here in Maine and around the country, faithful same-gender couples and their families are sharing in their local church’s life and ministry and in service to their communities. As full members of our churches and contributing citizens of Maine, these families are as entitled to the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage as any couple.

He ends by reminding us that "Our tagline of many years, The Episcopal Church Welcomes You, has never seemed more important."

I'm proud of my bishop and the clergy and lay people who stood with him at this conference and all the people of faith who spoke. There is a video of the Dean of the cathedral who also stated his view on scripture and marriage equality, which I recommend as well.

Erratum: I changed "Proposition" to "Question". After living in California for so many years, and voting on so many "propositions" I reverted.