25A and 25B

The flight portion of our 2019 missions trip with Praying Pelicans began around 4 pm as we flew out from Logan. Our group occupied seats on the left side of rows 23-25. Realizing that Maddie and I would be seated together I knew Boston to Panama would not be boring. Only minutes after our arrival to the cabin the first duo of giggles escaped and Greg, two rows ahead, turned back and quipped, “Should we apologize ahead of time to the guy sitting next to you two?”

Perhaps we should have.

One conversation began with Maddie stating, “I can’t believe I’m twenty years old and I just learned how dish detergent works.” We discussed this for a few minutes and I ended the conversation with, “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Maddie. At least you don’t eat the detergent.” We may have had a few people turn in our direction when we laughed.

When the time for supper arrived, one of our Copa Airlines attendants, Michael, came down the aisle with the small covered dinner trays, concealing a mystery dinner. Aaron remembered the experience from his previous trip and had commented at the airport earlier, “I can’t wait to see what my surprise is.” Standing in front of our row Michael asked, “Beef and mashed potatoes or a pasta with kind of a sweet cheese?” I passed the message to Maddie who had not heard the choices over the roar of the engine. A quizzical look passed between us. “Sweet cheese”? What could this surprise dish possibly be? Maddie figured the unknown was better for her than the beef (which was pretty good) and boldly stated “I’ll take the sweet cheese.” This struck the rest of our crew in the two rows ahead as uproariously funny. We loudly laughed as quietly as possible and ravioli will now forever be known as pasta with sweet cheese. Michael also laughed but I’m not sure why since he began the entire episode. Language barriers are a funny thing.

Giving it a Whirl

Atira has long desired to learn pottery. A wheel that was originally Jodi’s, a lump of clay and encouragement from Maddie and a set of tools from Uncle Chobie and Aunt Laura, small things have fueled her interest. Last night was her first class at Neighborhood Clay in Damariscotta. I’m excited to see how much she enjoys this art form. The wheel has begun to spin.

Labor of Love

Two decades ago I was enduring the labor pains that heralded the birth of the interesting human being known as Nolan Gilbert. This afternoon I endured the labor pains of baking a birthday cake to celebrate the long ago event. My cooking skills are known far and wide to be desperately lacking which begs the question, “Why does Nolan continue to ask me to bake him a cake every year?” Each attempt, I manage to achieve an edible or better product. This year’s request was a chocolate fudge cake. Nolan is a bit of a food snob when it comes to quality ingredients and so I made sure not to skimp on the ever important chocolate ingredients.

The cake was a complete success, although very rich with its fudgey center. My small piece paired nicely with a tall glass of milk. 

Another very pleasant pairing were the notes of “Happy Birthday” being sung on two continents as Jim’s parents joined us from Australia in the familiar refrain.

Happy 20th Nolan! You continue to be a blessing in our lives.

Cat Before Kid

Late last evening Atira, Tell and I entered the near empty Portland Jetport to bring a Hawaiian family member home. No. Not my son, Jubal. Not even my daughter-in-law, Casey. It was the grandkitty, Binx.

She is a whole lot of fierce in a tiny package, as we learned while visiting Jubal and Casey back in May. Casey may have been the one who acquired her but she prefers the company of Jubal. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the way he fights with her and sends her soaring across the open living space. She loves it. Our cat SID Franklin is twice her size; before our introduction in May I worried that he might not treat her well while they are staying here. Now I’m a little worried for SID! 

This morning I thought I would try a brief “hello” between them. SID was at the top of the stairs and showed some interest when he spotted Binx. She, on the other hand, gave him a huge “hisss” that left no doubt that friendship was off the table for the moment. Fortuitously, SID spends most of his time roaming the local West Bath woods and Binx is indoors only. She has been found staring longingly out several windows in the house today and I can only imagine that she is waiting for her “people” to arrive this evening. 


I think we’ll postpone the feline meeting until tomorrow...

Manly Men and Lotion

It’s slightly chilly in Vacationland today. Stepping out into the crunch of snow at the peak of today’s heat brought me face to face with a wind chill of -10.



Nolan gave his assessment of today’s weather as he crossed the kitchen floor, rubbing his moisturized hands together. “Well it’s that time of year when men can still be manly and apply lotion to their hands.”


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Jim vs. Electronics

Jim is generally very talented when it comes to household fixes. Need another bedroom built? A new roof put on? Bathroom plumbing reoriented? (Although I must mention that 7 years later our bathroom is still not finished. Tilesetters bathrooms are never tiled....Tradesmen’s wives, you know the story.) Need a chair or table fixed? A water line to the refrigerator installed? A set of stairs built? Want to almost double the size of your house with an addition? Jim is your man. In our 21 years here on Ledgewood Drive he has accomplished all of this and more, but like all great superheroes he has a weakness.

Jim’s Kryptonite comes in the form of a plug. In the second year of our marriage a fax machine that Jim had been attempting to fix went crashing down the basement stairs. This was the genesis of a long line of appliances that would “meet their Maker” at the hands of my husband.

Yesterday the dispensing mechanism on our Keurig began to malfunction. I researched and tried the online advice from others that had encountered the same issue, but to no avail. It still took 7 minutes to brew a half a cup of coffee.

What happened next was predictable. The doomed appliance landed in the calloused hands of Jim. I verbalized my amusement. “I don’t want to discourage your attempt to fix this but we all know how these projects usually end.” With a chuckle, he admitted, “I cannot disagree with you.”


Nolan, who has patience with electronics, was helping this time so I did think that maybe this Keurig had a chance.
Alas, no.

After 10 minutes the crack of plastic heralded the announcement of my new coffee-maker. Twenty-four years of experience, I should have known.

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Morgan Stewart Shelter to RPH

Telephone Pioneer Shelter to Morgan Stewart Shelter

We had another beautiful New York sunrise.




James Pray added a Maine Moxie can to the wind chime at Telephone Pioneer.




Emily Hodgdon's group met some slack-packing thruhikers from Our neck of the woods (Damariscotta).

Isaac St. Ours added some "dead things" to his carved walking stick. He then found a fishing lure up a tree at Nuclear Lake and added that as well.




After 7.6 miles of hiking we arrived at Morgan Stewart Shelter where a sunken fire pit awaited a warming fire and Stephanie Jones charcoal drawings.










Firefighter James Pray was called away from the fire to respond to Brooke Keach's emergency of an outhouse locked from the inside. Sirens WERE used.




Night falls on our mountain.



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Wiley Shelter to Telephone Pioneer Shelter

We awoke to a beautiful Resurrection Sunday sunrise yesterday.




The only pre-trail noteworthy item was Jen Keach losing half her tooth while eating breakfast. The hike was 8.8 miles in 80 degree heat. Everyone progressed well throughout most of the trail which was diverse in its elements. Puncheon was plentiful. Crossing cow pastures included the traversing of stiles. I was unable to accomplish this gracefully.







Heading out ahead of the pack into the fields, Peg and I held the lead for five minutes. We took a selfie to commemorate the monumental moment.



The day also included boardwalk through the swamp (with Maine and Georgia Adirondack chairs) and the gradual ups and downs of a ridge walk.



Then came the last two miles, which sapped all energy. It was hot. We were tired. It was a hill. The boys, who arrived at Telephone Pioneer before us, gave blessed relief by coming back and carrying our packs for the last 1/2 mile.
We were all in bed by eight and I was too tired to blog. Today will only be in the 50's and 1 mile shorter.

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Winding up to Wiley

The brevity of today's hike allowed for a quick side trip up the road from the trailhead to Bull's Bridge, built in 1842. -








We spent a few minutes of the trail in CT before crossing into NY, where we will spent the duration of the hike. This is the same part of the trail that I hiked on my first trip about 7 years ago and it will be interesting to see how my endurance compares to that year. I felt like I did much better today than on that first day years ago. The lungs burned much less. I've enjoyed seeing landmarks that are familiar and remembering the memories associated with people no longer doing the hike. I particularly miss my fellow Turtle, Liz Brown! New memories are made each year, however and it's a good crew.






It was lovely to only have a two mile hike this first day up to Wiley Shelter, getting tents set up leisurely and having the entire evening to relax. Wiley even has a lending library!





Tomorrow will be a long, hot 9 miles, so I lay my head down to rest amid the light spattering of rain on my tent.

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Bacon Binge

Our morning has consisted of carpooling to Connecticut for one last civilized meal and indoor plumbing use until Wednesday. I'm missing Nolan, who sprained his ankle on Sunday, forfeiting the hike. This has left me with only my most favored "son" Isaac, who proudly declared at the breakfast buffet, "I have consumed enough bacon so that they have not made a profit off of me."



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33.3 at 5:55

And the 2017 AT Hike begins before dawn...Starting weight (with water) of my pack this year is 33.3lbs. We hit 295 South at 5:55am. Fishkill, NY is the destination.


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Weighing the Options

You know the AT Hike is right around the corner when you choose your rice cakes not based on which flavor you prefer but which will be lighter to carry.



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Inappropriate Attire

Shuffling through the slushy walkway of our Springfield, Massachusetts motel at dawn, we climbed into the Acadia for a full day of travel to Indiana. As hours and state lines passed, the mounds of snow measured in feet speeding past the window slowly became inches. Filing out of the vehicle for lunch in Snowshoe, Pennsylvania, it was evident that we were inappropriately dressed for the rural restaurant, still sporting paneling from the 1970's and flannel-backed vinyl table cloths hanging unevenly over the dark wood tables. My fashion faux pas was not my missing Mossy Oak accessory, or my Patriots
t-shirt in the middle of Steelers country. It was snow boots in near seventy-degree weather. It does feel good to get out of the snow belt for a bit.

Here is a side note to our lunch visit:
Our friend Bill Batty of Spruce Head once arranged for Jim's Tile Business to pop up at the top of the list when "Strapping Tiler" was searched online. He will be satisfied to know that he was entirely correct. Jim's grip test on the machine in the restaurant lobby gave him the label "Strapping".

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Adding to the Wall

Rearranginging photographs on the wall is sometimes a need for a bit of change in your life. Other times it's because there has BEEN a bit of change in your life! Can you spot my reason for adding a new photo to the wall? 

The day after Thanksgiving Jubal married Casey in Hawaii after a whirlwind 4-months of dating across the ocean after getting to know one another at her brother's wedding in July. So. Just like that, I am a mother-law.If you are wondering why why you haven't seen this on FB, it's because they wanted to keep it low-key and asked that nothing be posted. Once you've read this, keep me from becoming an outlaw and keep it off FB as well!

Anam Cara

A Medieval keep in New England? 

Who knew? 

Tell and I traveled with the Gillespies to the unusual home of David O'Connor and Paula Salazar in Barrington, N.H.

Would you tent in the woods for two years while building a replica of a 9-10th century castle?

They did, and the result is Castle Anam Cara, a strange mix of Medieval living history and ninja warrior course.

"Lord Duncan" spent significant time outside, immersing us in the everyday activities necessary for survival in the harsh Medieval environment.

I'm fairly certain that today's generation wouldn't need "safe places" and coping mechanisms like coloring, play dough, therapy puppies and bubble blowing if their days were consumed with planting, harvesting, preserving and building, the reward being survival.

Even at 11, performing these activities in the chill of late November gave Tell an understanding and thankfulness of the ease of our lives in this millennium. 

Called inside by "Lady Espringale", we were seated around the banquet table where a slice of bread was given as our plate and we enjoyed simple foods that would have been available in the Medieval times. A well summarised history of the era accompanied the meal.

The highlight of the field trip for all involved was the wearing of armour and wielding of swords. It was an accomplishment that all limbs and toes were accounted for when we left.

Our hosts truly expressed the feel of "Anam Cara"...soul friend, as they presented the complicated and interesting era of Medieval history in a hands on way. I would highly recommend this place.

Up, Up and Oh. Wait.

For quite a few years I have desired to view the lift off of the hot air balloons at the Great Falls Balloon Festival. This year I gathered the family (and little Kingsley) and we made the trip into downtown Lewiston.

Parking was very easy. For a small donation to one of the local sports teams, we could use the Public parking garage just a block from Simard-Payne Memorial Park, site of the launches.

The atmosphere and food had the feel of a fair as we shared fried dough, fries, and free pizza samples. Nolan also indulged in a bacon cheeseburger, his mouth chewing in rhythm to the strains of "cheeseburger in paradise" being belted out into the evening air from across the park.

Where there are crowds of people, I occasionally find myself wondering about them. There are those times when you don't need to wonder. They will tell you about themselves without a word. I think we can safely assume this man was part of Red Sox Nation:

 

I've seen worse tattoos.

What I haven't seen yet is a hot air balloon launch. The breeze that created such a lovely August evening also caused the grounding of the balloons. At 7 pm we headed home, disappointed that my only balloon viewing was a large woven basket, with two helium-filled spheres, tethered by string, swaying in the background behind it.