Statements From the Shearing Stool

9 PM last night found me tackling Jubal's thick head of hair with the electric clippers to avoid a dress code infraction today at school. Why does he always wait until the last minute to tell me these things anyway? As the shearing began and the clumps of hair began to cover his back, he glanced behind him and quipped, "Oh look. I'm Uncle Anthony."

September Fruit

(Found this draft today that was never published....)

Though still recovering from jet lag, Jim's parents joined us and a group from our church, at County Fair Farm in Jefferson for some apple picking.Jim's mom brought a chair and took time to sit at the edge of the orchard and do some sketching. An overcast sky held off the rain for most of our time at the orchard. We took refuge under the thick Macintosh branches when a short shower finally did arrive.

The sun broke through in time for us to board the wagon that took us back up the road to the farm to weigh our bounty. Bags in hand, we boarded the bus, and returned to the church for some freshly pressed apple cider.
After working hard mashing the apples, Nolan's evaluation of the homemade cider was quite accurate.It's like drinking apples." It was a sweet day.

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Drive-Thru Conversation

While driving home early this evening, after dropping off Ben and Zack at the Foreman's, I was engaged in a phone conversation with my friend Todd, who lives just up the road. Before heading home I made a quick detour into the Bath Dunking' Donuts drive-thru for my usual summer beverage: Caramel Swirl Iced Coffee, cream only. Interrupting Todd mid-sentence, I gave my order and waited for the garbled confirmation from the speaker. From the other end of the phone I heard "Wait...Where are you? Wiscasset or Leeman Highway?" When I replied that I was at the Leeman Highway Dunkin' Donuts, Todd responded with, "I'm pulling in there right now. I'll be right behind you. Great minds think alike" Sure enough, while at the pickup window, I could see the employee taking his order while at the same time, hearing Todd in my ear, giving the order. I took my coffee and pulled away from the window as Todd's white van rounded the drive-thru corner behind me. We laughed and waved across the parking lot and continued the chat until arriving in our respective drive-ways a few miles up the road. It was all very bizarre.


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Saturday Stuff in September

September 1st....Sold yard sale stuff at Sandy's once again in the morning with mom and Suci...
and then made it to the Hodgdon's lobster cookout 10 minutes early. (Consider this post as "marked on the calendar", Greg.) Thanks to the Pinkhams, the lobster was inexpensive and so fresh it arrived with seaweed...



Before being put in the pot, we were shown an impromptu demonstration of how to put a lobster to sleep by placing it on its head.....


Today it was OK to play with our food....


A cookout with good friends makes for a good day......





And finally, the family (and Riley Foreman) gathered in the living room for the season premiere of Dr. Who makes for a good night......


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A Birthday and the Weekend Before

The weekend was a perfect prelude to my 39th birthday....we had gorgeous weather for our yard sale at Sandy's and then came home to a newly leveled driveway....no more whiplash driving up our hill! To end our busy Saturday was a church picnic. As usual with our nutty crowd, the laughter carried across the park and lasted as long as the daylight.


I celebrated the beginning of my 40th year by sleeping in, job hunting with Suci and baking a box mix cake with Atira and Tell.


The two of them customized it once the frosting was added and
I thoroughly enjoyed a unique cake with family after a supper of grilled corn on the cob, Naomi's pasta salad and hamburgers...or were they charcoal briquettes? Hard to tell when I grill.....


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Saturday- Wasn't I Just Here?

Saturday found me traveling back down to the Saco area, this time to Funtown/Splashtown with the WWBC youth group.
So many elements of the park are the same as when I was a teenager: teacups, swings (one of my favorites),


Tilt-a-whirl, thunderbolt, and pirate ship (not a favorite). Even the music used on the Astrosphere is exactly the same as twenty years ago. This meant that throughout the day, distant memories of time spent there with my friends (circa 1992)


were easily recalled as I simultaneously made new memories with Atira and Nolan.


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Friday- Just Beachy

This week only Heather and I were in attendance for my Buxton Crowd beach day. This meant, without his cousin Timmy Brunk there, Tell had no competition for Julia Pendleton's time and affection and I think he rather enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the love triangle in later years.....


The end of this gorgeous day found Jim and I traveling down to purchase our "new" van from someone in Saco. Lately our Chevy Venture has had one issue after another. The electric window on the passenger side has been permanently down since the spring. It needs four new tires. It will randomly lose power when I slow down while on corners. The air conditioner is broken and the motor revs really high at times. The fan has been broken for a couple years and when Jim's dad was here last time, he rigged something up to have the fan constantly going or not going at all. It's definitely a conversation piece when you lift the hood and your friend sees an "on/off" light switch attached to your engine. You know when you need to decide...."How much money do I pour into an old vehicle?" Well, we made the decision and now have a Mazda MPV in the driveway.
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