Nothing so Rare

It is a good day to skip out and go shopping, rather than detect the starting problem with the tractor, or clean off the push mower that has not been used for 5 years.

Fire Patrol

One summer I was on call for the fire patrol. The patrol pilot flew a particular circular route with way points on a chart and called in to headquarters based in Augusta at the crossing of each point. The flight lasted 2 or 3 hours depending on the airplane flown. We all clamored to fly the Skyhawk with the GPS. Sometimes we bounced around in a little 150 with no amenities. All that summer I saw no fires. It sounds romantic until you have to fly in the mountains on a blustery day with low overcast.

This is the kind of Maine fire we see, not the conflagrations in the dry west. Difficult to burn out of control when you just received 1.6 inches of rain overnight.

Mt. Whiteface

It was a nice hike on Whiteface, 4,020 ft, 8.2 miles, 5 hr 30 min.

There was a welcoming trail over the Wonalancet River,

but the blueberries were not ready for grazing. 

Lake Ossipee in the distance,

and higher up on the south ledges, Ann's Lake Winnipesaukee came into view on the left.

It was a perfect day for climbing rocks (except for trailhead humidity, the swarms of blackflies and moderate numbers of mosquitoes, and blowing by the summit without even realizing it, adding a half mile to the hike).

Zen hiking.

Memorial Day

Up on the rafters of the seaplane hangar, the swallows build their muddy nests and line them with goose down. They don't have the benefit of two hands and a potter's wheel, but their pots are functional. They peep nervously if you stand below for any length of time. Well, not directly below.

Loafers

We flew past the Auburn-Lewiston airport where we usually eat our Wednesday breakfast. We were heading north of LEW to Turner and 3B5 for airplane fuel.

There was a welcoming party at the seaplane hangar and fuel dock.

Plenty of food, not much human traffic, lots of water and grass for the babies.

The geese on land move in the same formation as in the air, one long string. Jim points out that this string is composed of neither goslings nor breeders, but second-year loafers. "You're not geese! You're lemmings!" I try to incite them. But they remain earthbound.

No bird strikes, we arrived home safely with nearly full tanks.

...make me wanna (Shout!)

This morning the sun reminded me of that "baleful eye" shrouded in mist. But instead of baleful, it beautifully burned off the mist above the lake, dried out the dew on the windows, and revealed the season's first flowering day lilies.

Another year seeing day lilies! Pass the gravy, please!

The Kinsmans

Not much to see on North or South Kinsman Mountains yesterday.
But I spent a long time not looking; 6 hr, 55 min; 4,293 ft and 4,358 ft; 11 miles.

This was the third attempt. The first was last summer, a day of 104 degrees carrying a full pack. The second was an overnight with thunderstorm and tent that leaked like a sieve, also last summer. This time a day pack, some cocoa, and winter boots saw me to the top.

Glaring in its Absence

Sometimes life is like this gift of a jigsaw puzzle we received from a friend who told us she bought it at the Good Will.

If there is a piece missing, you cannot ask for your money back. And oh, how you try to focus on every other thing but that missing piece; all those compliments, but that one insult; all those achievements, but that one elusive dream.

Tiger Swallowtail

Jim's peas like this cloudy weather.

I admire the peas crowded in their city, and the adjacent creeping phlox like urban sprawl.

The phlox brings its own sunshine for today.

It is just enough.

No Place Like Home

Last night we took a sunset flight before the rain and fog of today.

It's like walking the fence line. We go the same route, fly north along the lake, circle Bill and Kim's house on Frogg Island on the way north,

turn west towards the mountains, maybe land at Panther Pond next to the tower, fly over Sebago Lake, maybe land there once or twice,

watch for the little car ferry at Frye Island,

seek out St. Joseph's college,

buzz Jimmie's and Twila's house, 

look for Boody's corner and our downtown, and splash down at home before dark, in the afterglow.

Delay of Game

Game Rules:

Do not eat more than three prunes in one sitting. Not. Ever.

Keep a blanket in the bathroom for time outs.

Use quinoa sparingly in soups or stews, not as a breakfast cereal, and never with prunes.

Have a backup plan.

Stay well hydrated.

Uff dah!

Through the Looking Screen

The windows open to fresh air, and we learn to look through screens again.  The corridors through trees shrink with the growth of leaves and we are left, as Alice, to swell up and over the trees, or dwindle to fit through the screen lattice, all in order to see the next adventure.

The Red Eye

Home again!

Verdant, rich, flowering, lush.

A beautiful morning with orioles singing for their oranges.

Nice to be back.

Fore!

No clubs thrown in disgust, it was a cheery 90 degree day on the course. The goslings are out and about here. None were conked on the head. No lost balls today. Lots of winter rules (cheating and lying).

Tapping for Dreams

A coal train extends to forever on the plains.

The wind blows incessantly and deposits the topsoil in Winnipeg.

Guinea fowl cross the road to get to the other side, squawking and protesting the whole way.

And a storm brews on the hillside to the south.

We are safely and warmly dreaming the impossible dream with a calm confidence.

Unrest

Fires in Colorado, northwest of Ft. Collins, winds supposed to pick up today, waking to blue skies here, and truck noises on the interstate.

Maybe the magazine article just before bedtime on the subject of clutter-cleaning has made imperative the  idea of moving on. Maybe the wind and fire. About time.

48 Car

David has a new Ford Edge, complete with shoulder straps that are wrapped with Nascar 48. He said, "They never race on Mother's Day." And he was happy that Jimmie won on the previous Saturday. He gave me a ride in the Edge very responsibly, not at all like a Nascar driver.

Nebraska

We walked into a hardware store looking to buy a begonia.  We heard noises and followed them to the middle of the store.  There, horse tanks sat under bright and warm lights. And inside...

Peep, peep, peep. We liked the black ones best.

Happy Mother's Day!

Everyone has a mother.

Call one you know.

When someone says that I'm just like my mother, instead of clutching my gut in a visceral response as daughters everywhere tend to do, I have learned to say and believe, "Thank you, she was a beautiful woman." She did, after all, teach me how to swim, to wash floors and to shop for accessories, two of the three activities I do well, even today. Thanks, Mom.

Flying Solo

In honor of the 8th anniversary of my first solo flight in 93G...

At the time I placed that accomplishment right up there with graduating from medical school or with getting married. Mistakenly caught up in the moment, I guess, of a life-or-death experience.

Single Whip

For some reason this seventh move of a simplified form of Tai Chi stymies me. It breaks down the movements into separate parts and I just can't seem to integrate them. Maybe it's that all four limbs have to do something in a certain order. Maybe it's the pajamas that the model wears. Maybe it's the name of the move that makes me shy away.

But really it's that right hand forming a beak that creeps me out.

Radar Shows Rain

A little brown myotis appears at the lake, echolocating, confused by raindrops.

That means the bugs are also here to support the bats.

While some parts of the country are 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule on the blooming, New England lags in the flower department. Here, May showers bring June flowers. The lake has risen a foot in the last two weeks.

The peas are planted.

The flags are refreshed. Bring on the sunshine!