Because it's Maine

It was snowing on my drive home tonight. Why is this, when according to all my criteria, Spring has arrived in Maine? Kids are jumping on the trampoline. (It required some hands on snow removal for that to happen, but so what?)





The Spring Equinox is yesterday on the calendar. The temperature has briefly hit 50 degrees. I have smelled a skunk. I have run the mud gauntlet on our road.





In other states this would add up to Spring. So, why was it snowing on my drive home tonight? It's a simple reason:
This is Maine. The way LIFE should be.....not necessarily the weather.


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Imprinting On Film

I walked into the house this afternoon just as Westley was declaring to Buttercup in the Fire Swamp that he did not believe The Rodents Of Unusual Size exist. While Tell and Atira continued to watchThe Princess Bride, I was unable to stem the flow of the scene's dialogue as it rolled off my tongue almost word for word. I almost instantly missed Beth Boyden sitting beside me as we recited the characters' lines in unison. Our high school years clearly involved far too much time watching this film. Between the two us we could recite nearly every scene. It was time well wasted.

Unable to stop blurting out the script, I had to remove myself from the living room to allow the kids to watch their movie in peace.

After I left I began thinking how some movies are singularly imprinted with certain people or events in our life.

The Man From Snowy River: in my childhood home, the moment I decided I was going to go to Australia someday

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure:
many New Year's Eves in Eastport

Star Wars: housesitting for the Redlons and finally being able to watch it a decade after its release

Dances With Wolves: only slightly shocked with Mishe as EDC commented on the quality of Kevin Costner's bare backside

The Scarlet Pimpernel: thanks to Amy Shields, a perfect Saturday afternoon spent with my WOL Aussie mob in Wiseman's Ferry. The love of the movie lingers on

Aladdin: in Australia laughing with Jim and our generous friend, Cindy Kruss, whom we will not see again this side of heaven

The Hobbit: getting through 2/3 of the 3-D flick with Jim, Deb and Don before realizing that my glasses were missing a lens. That last third was SO much better!

So many movies, in so many situations with so many people...What causes certain memories to be cemented and others forgotten? Memory is an interesting thing. I'm thankful for it.







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A Normal Person Would Say...

It's been a long time away and tough to get back into the habit of posting to my blog so I'll start with a quick insight into the lovable oddness of Nolan. This morning, while sitting at the dining table, Jim and I heard Nolan talking to, presumably, himself in the living room. Not surprising. Jim is always muttering to himself and genes have a tendency to be passed along to the next generation. When Nolan entered the room, I asked my rhetorical "Who were you talking to?" question, expecting the normal response of "myself". Instead I was told, "My bandaid." If you know Nolan, you're chuckling. I love that weird kid.


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Pie Portions

In my mind, I imagine "finishing off" some food is to take the small portion that has been left to linger, lonely and neglected on the serving plate. This is the picture that I envisioned when I heard Jubal say, "Well, I guess I'm forced to finish off the pie." as he opened up the container of Mom's pumpkin pie left over from yesterday. What I saw in reality was Jubal heaping the last quarter of the dessert onto a paper plate bent under its weight. Then came the whipped cream, piled as high as the pie. Today I learned that measuring pie portions is all about perspective.




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The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Nutcrackers

The Maine State Ballet hosts a shortened, behind the scenes version of The Nutcracker each year and last year, while attending that, Atira and I made plans to see the full version together for her 13th birthday. We initially asked Jim if he wanted to come with us. When he asked, "What is this Cracker Barrel ballet all about anyway?", Atira and I agreed that it would NOT be worth buying him a ticket. Well, wouldn't you know, almost as soon as the tickets were purchased, Atira came down with a terrible chest cold. We hoped that it would clear up before the evening of our event but it was not to be. December 5th found her sick and exhausted enough to be falling asleep in kitchen chairs.





I spent the day trying to find someone to fill Atira's empty seat to no avail. With only a half hour left before I needed to depart for Portland, Jim arrived home from work earlier than he thought and agreed to come with me as long as I took him out to eat afterward. He was able to appreciate the hard work put into the production but he was thinking, "I can't believe that I'm actually sitting here at a ballet. This will definitely be a once in a lifetime experience for me." Over his sizzling steak, later in the evening he voiced the thought that even those of us that enjoy ballet might ask: "So, how did ballet come about anyway? Who's the guy that said, 'Let's put on these tight pants and tutus and dance around on our toes.'".

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Those Who Can't Bake, Judge

Last week at church, after discovering that there were no women among the pie contest judges for tonight's WWBC Harvest Dinner, I lobbied Ed Davis for a spot on the panel. It would only be fair, after all, to have each gender represented. Either my sweet charm or logical arguments won out ( I leave it to the reader to decide) and a place among the judges was offered to me by Naomi on Sunday afternoon. I took my place among the other two elite pie tasters. Maybe elite is the wrong word. The other judges were Jim and Don.

We were careful not to overindulge in the wonderful array of homemade soups beforehand, saving room to sample each of the seventeen pie entries. There was a wondrous variety. Pumpkin, apple, chocolate, lemon, pecan, and blueberry to name a few. Some scrumptious, some good, all better than mine but one was a cut above the rest.






First place belonged to young Eban Keach, who does not normally sport a unibrow but the most recent photo I have of our blue-ribbon chef is from GNC moustache night. Eban thought he signed up for a pie-EATING contest last week when the sign-up sheet was passed around. You can imagine the disappointment of a ten year old boy after discovering that he had to MAKE a pie instead of EAT one. Setting that aside, he decided to make an attempt, and look what happened. There's a moral in there somewhere. Congratulations, Eban!

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Yes, It'a Recipe

Spicy Mexican Fudge
3 cups milk chocolate morsels
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat the chocolate and the condensed milk over medium low heat until the chocolate is melted, stirring constantly.
Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and pepper. Combine thoroughly and immediately pour the fudge into an 8x8 pan. Allow it at least four hours to set in the fridge.





Regular readers of my blog have just double checked the blog title to verify that they are at the right place. Yes. I have posted a recipe that was mixed by my hand and emerged from my kitchen unscorched and tasty. It was VERY easy. Try it.

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