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Small steps that will lead to big changes. That’s the plan anyway…..
Buckaroo Cowgirl, Abe Lincoln and Andy Warhol….. and……
A little hen. Oh the humanity!
It’s already Sunday night, what happened to my weekend? I’ll tell you…. we spent most of Saturday fixing our washing machine. It takes both of us because it’s approximately 42 tons and the hoses are difficult to reach. But fix it we did…. and then of course there was the afternoon football game, a veritable stand-off in this house- I busy myself with sewing and cleaning and wondering how on earth I arrived at a point in my life where sports are on – in my house – with an apparent sports fan shouting at the television.
We also managed to figure out our Halloween costumes…. this is a big deal for me because I’m kind of like the Scrooge of Halloween. Sometimes I think it’s because I grew up in Detroit, home of Devil’s Night. Halloween was a HUGE deal in my hometown, bigger than anything except Christmas, and I do remember loving the treating part. But it was also a holiday of major tricking and mischief and getting in trouble was not really my scene (not to mention the news coverage the next day of burning buildings). I LOVE horror movies and the spooky-season programming on TV, but costumes and stuff are just too much trouble. I’ll pass out candy if I’m home, but I’m not really one to dress up or take it to a really theatric level. [Note to self: maybe I'm not really a scrooge, maybe I'm just lazy?] My nephews and niece always think up their own costume concepts and they picked some winners this year: Fin will be Abe Lincoln (I made his bow tie because Jules could only find clip-on bow ties, totally not period-appropriate!), Milo is going as Andy Warhol, and the Little Darling will be a cowgirl- complete with red boots that I’m sure Julie will not be able to remove for another 3 or 4 months…. Julie is psyched because each one is a manageable concept without me there to help her (no store-bought costumes allowed for this family), as opposed to last year when Milo was a blue jay. That’s right… a homemade blue jay.
I didn’t mean to go missing – but it’s been a crazy week. Again. Lol.
Martha’s Vineyard was lovley, and seeing family was lovely. The island was nice, I’d never been before. Oak Bluffs was cute-cute-cute, but man was it CROWDED. Since I’m not a fan of crowds, I’ve made a mental note to never return in the summer. MP’s cousin has a very large farm on the island, and they’ve invited us back Off Season. Yes!
The pattern is still coming along, I’m trying to write it in a new software program and I’m frustrated with the limitations. Guess I may have to pony up for Creative Suite afterall. More on that tomorrow!
Sometimes, when you pin everything on one idea it can pay off in spades. Other times, it can feel reckless and you find yourself saying ‘what a colossal waste of time’. Like maybe you rushed the research, hung your hat on a picture and called it a day. I found myself in the latter camp this weekend, though we managed to salvage the second day. I planned everything, had the maps, had the cabin. The only thing I didn’t factor in was the ‘too good to be true’ scenario, which we were staring down the barrel of from the get go.
Let’s start with the map and directions. They took us to another town. We pulled up in the driveway of a lovely German couple working in their yard, he splitting logs and she pulling weeds. They were terribly charming and the man said “Das the correct address, but dees ist not Sullivan, ist Hancock” and she said (while trying not to laugh) “You need to git ovah dah breege to dah next town”.
Not a good sign.
So we get to the cabin eventually, and let’s just say the photo you see in this post, the advertised photo, is missing a few things that really captured the feel of the spot. For instance, the chain link fence between the cabin and the water. Also missing: the giant cottage between us and the water, thus obscuring the “waterfront”. Add to this the 6 rowdy 21-ish neighbors with a dog that did not stop barking for a split second and I think you’re starting to get the picture. And it’s not exactly the picture of peace and quiet. I can also add that it was raining, and it was much colder than the weather report (the cottage was not heated and though I packed for cool weather, MP did not and he therefore got so cold he considered sleeping in the car). Did I also mention MP was sick? And that it was a small bed and he was coughing in my face all night?
We decided to head into Bar Harbor to eat, and while it was certainly not the worst in terms of ‘touristy’, it was not the sleepy Maine town I was picturing. 3 large tour operators arrived while we were eating our lunch. We just watched the people pouring out of the buses and I imagined how horrifyingly crowded it must be in July and August if May is considered the ‘off season’. On the plus side – dog are allowed everywhere, even in restaurants! As you can imagine, that swings the entire region into bonus points with me.
I wanted to get up and go home the next day (one of the perks of living so close – makes it easy to scrap a plan gone bad), but MP insisted we tour Acadia and make the best of it. I was reluctant, but he was right. So, so worth it. Incredible vistas and scenery so overflowing with shades of green, yellow and blue…. it is still all I can see with my eyes closed. The history of the region was really interesting and we went on an auto-tour that took us along roads that zig zagged through private and park lands. And just when we were about to pull out of town, the rain stopped… the sky cleared… and it turned into a beautiful day.
We found a cabin, so off to Acadia National Park we go. Maine has a certain calling for me, we visit as often as we can and often times find ourselves dreaming about a little piece of land or a cabin of our own….someday. For now a few days in the peace and quiet will help us both escape an incredibly overwhelming month and an entire week of heavy carry-out food. My Joy+Ride goal was to focus more on MP and Lottie and myself. Just focus, and find an awareness that feels so fleeting lately. Here it is, almost June, and I’m just now sorting it out. Ah well, better late than never. The joy will come.
Bar Harbor is only about 4+ hours from here, but it may as well be a world away. I’m bring reading materials for weeks- I’m particularly thrilled about this one. I’m only a few chapters in and already I can tell that this may go down as an all-time favorite. The weather promises to be a bit cooler than Boston (thankfully) and most of the sea kayaking outfitters still have openings.
Have a wonderful Memorial Holiday, or just a great ol’ weekend! Here’s to Maine!
This site is great…. It’s a public blog on which anyone can post. There’s an article up right now that may be of interest to many. Usually the posts and comments are great, if not funny.
Another site that cracks me up. I particularly enjoyed some of the Mother’s Day postings.
A great movie we saw last weekend. Add it to your netflix queue along with this (which I’ve seen 4 times) and this.
Lastly, Memorial Weekend snuck up on us and we are trying desperately to find a great cabin to rent in Maine at the last minute, preferably less than a 5 hour drive from Boston. The keywords would be: secluded, remote, quiet, silent…..beautiful. Any recommendations would be hugely appreciated!
Oftentimes, I’m reminded that I am just a wee bit out of place in this town. Whether it’s the sweet owner of the little sundry shop next door to my office telling me to my face “you don’t belong in this town”, or more subtle moments.
I am working on a local project: classic regional renovation. A beautiful, large, old Victorian, tragically massacred in the early 80’s with vinyl siding, kalwall, mirrored closet doors and alarming bathroom situations all chopped up into multiple rental units. This particular project has an even creepier feature in a basement rental unit: a hatch in the floor of the first floor ‘living room’. Upon lifting the lockable hatch, one finds a dirty basket hanging from a string and pulley system. I stumbled across it while documenting the existing conditions *shudders*.
Walking through the project with the first of many contractors, I showed him all the existing conditions in relation to the drawings and proposed work (read: full gut) to familiarize him with the scope. He was a typical local guy in that, well, he didn’t look like a “contractor”. He was about 10 years older than me, and looked more like a professor: clogs, corduroys, and a nordic sweater. His truck was not a big Dodge pickup, but a modest van plastered with bumper stickers that said things like “free tibet” and “the proud 48%” and “if you’re not outraged then you’re not paying attention”. In other words, born and raised locally. When we got to the room with the hatch, me in all my awkwardness lifted it and said in a deep voice“it puts the lotion in the basket” and then let out a very hardy guffaw at my own joke. But he just stood there looking at me, without even a trace of a smile.
Me: *awkward, stifled laugh*…. you know…haha…”it puuuts the loootion in the baaasket”.
Him: Nothing.
Me: *still awkward* You know, from Silence of the Lambs”. (Mind you, I am crouching on the floor next to said hatch and he is standing above me, staring).
Him: Rests his chin in his hand.
Me: “Have you seen that movie? Silence of the Lambs?”
Him: “Uh, no. I had no idea what you were talking about. Is that a line from the movie?”
Me: *awkward laugh is now a skeptical smile* ” Yeah. Do you seriously not know that movie?”
Him: *extra condescending, without a hint of humor* “Never seen it. It’s not my thing. I must have missed it”
Me: *closes hatch and moves on*
I mean, I get it if you’re not into horror genre films. I happen to love horror films, and enjoy scaring the crap out of myself. But, Silence of the Lambs is more than just horror. It’s a really great film! Unparalleled in the suspense/mystery genre of films, and in my humble opinion, nothing has come close since. But that line! Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you know that line from the film, right? Because when I went back to the office and told my bosses about it, they too had no idea what I was talking about! Granted, with wasn’t a musical or show tune I was referencing so I’m not surprised, but still. I’ve never seen ‘Gone With the Wind’, but I get the jokes!
