Monday, December 27, 2010

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Buttered Rum 01

The enterprising gentleman searches for a hot buttered rum recipe on his iphone, locates the rum and some other esoteric bits of kitchen equipment and provides us all with the perfect blizzard antidote!

Hot Buttered Rum 02

Hot Buttered Rum 03

Warm and cozy, we are feeling particularly grateful because the massive storm that has made its way up the coast has delayed their departure for a day!

JCB Photographing a winter wonderland!

JCB makes the ultimate sacrifice for art by going out into the storm with her camera...watch her blog for some beautiful shots! "No pain, no gain" she said to me as I stayed behind in a warm kitchen with a cuddly dachshund curled up asleep on my lap!

I have been asked about Cooper's reaction when he saw his beloved gentleman. The scene was priceless as the newly weds walked through the door and it went something like this...

Cooper clatters across the front hall floor, all 13 pounds of dachshund prepared to bravely defend his new territory. A roadrunner skid, "it's Joel!!!!" He spins around, runs toward us looking over his shoulder saying "Hey! You have to meet these cool new people" and then, "you know each other?!" It was as if he grasped the perfect symmetry of the situation. A small Christmas miracle!

Blizzard!



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The massive blizzard chugging up the east coast has had one happy outcome...JCB and her gentleman have had to delay their departure for a day! It is a winter wonderland outside, blissful inside....at least as long as we have power! Little paths have been shoveled for short, four legged friends!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas ~ Happy Holidays


Merry Christmas ~ Happy Holidays with thanks to everyone for their views and comments over the past year. 2010 has been a year of discovery, of new friends, their beautiful blogs and an extraordinary community.


Holiday glimpses shot in morning light. These are the little views through windows and glass with hints of the celebration ahead.




Mainers love to decorate their boats in the "dooryard" and they do it with flair and humor....this is one of my favorites in Blue Hill, Maine.


...and finally, it just wouldn't be Christmas in Maine without some inflatable ornaments to brighten the season!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

For "home before dark"

Someone's going to have a great Christmas!

I think we can forget about the "backpack full of books!" It would seem Cooper has plans for a very Merry Christmas! Please click on the image to view larger and to see the tags.

Longest Night

To Find the Perfect Tree

Clapps Tree Farm, Blue Hill, Maine.


Renew




This is the one!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Gentleman's Dog

It's an act of faith to entrust a beloved dog to a new family...with thanks to the gentleman for placing his trust in us and introducing Cooper into our lives. He's already wriggled his way into our hearts!

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Just out of his crate, Cooper meets Shiner on neutral territory at Delta's cargo area at Boston's Logan Airport. It takes the uppity shih Tzu 5 seconds to "unfriend" him!

Cooper settling in!

It doesn't take long for Cooper to feel at home. He's very well behaved and a little shadow, interacting at every possible opportunity. Very different from Shiner's zen-like personality which is sort of like having a pet rock with hair.

Cooper, it's cold outside!

Cooper discovers Maine is a lot colder than Michigan. He has already located every heat vent in the house!

Cooper!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

"Create a Blog" ~ Reflections on blogging for one year


My mother wanted to know what it was about blogging that I found attractive and I said, in part, I enjoyed the challenge of consistently writing posts while trying to keep them fresh...to which she replied, "that sounds awful." My father, as usual, cut to the chase and said blogging is a form of egotism and in his opinion, everyone else writes for money (although I noticed he did like my Father's Day post.) It wasn't as harsh as it sounds, but it did get me thinking about the past year.

My daughter's blog is an inspiration and I pop in daily to delight in her beautiful photography as well as her links to an outside world not found in rural Maine. For the uninitiated and not particularly computer savvy, the blogger world is an exotic country, a bazaar, if you will, of endless delights one click after another. I was in awe of the technology that made this possible. Many in my generation have not ventured further than work application and email. We are still wary of our privacy even though it no longer exists as we once knew it...some have made the leap to facebook, fewer to blogger and twitter. So here's my confession! In the midst of last year's Christmas rush, my eye happened to land on "create a blog" at the top of JCB's page and, on a whim, I clicked. Many frustrating hours later I had my first clunky little post...it was my "Alice in Wonderland" fall through the rabbit hole moment. I wish I could say a noble vision got me here, but really it was simple curiosity. As for ego? It was pretty much in tatters and I doubt anyone takes this fork in the road with complete confidence.

From the beginning, I did know there were two things I wanted to do. I had nearly three thousand photographs in my Flicker stream that represented a personal journey. I fell in love the moment I first picked up a digital camera and I wanted to share my discovery. Flickr has been a wonderful resource and I treasure the friends I have made and their invaluable comments. I found blogging enhances and clarifies by fleshing out the whole story behind the images and, in time, my blog became a necessary part of the whole creative process. I've also been blessed with some extraordinary experiences in places that are not fully understood. I've lived with these memories for years and it was time to give a face to the people who populate my past, particularly my beloved Goli. I'm still working out how to do that with every post.

Some thank yous...to JCB for opening the window. To my parents (ages 89 and 95!) for the pleasure of a lively debate. I am so grateful for that and to have them in my life. To my son, John, who has the most wonderful way of explaining what I should have learned about computers years ago! To my brother for hours of 'tele-encouragement!' To Peter for everything.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Out and About ~ Searsport, Maine



Early moonrise in Searsport, Maine


The time was inching toward 4:00 p.m. and there was dwindling light as I drove through Searsport, Maine. One wants to hurry home, shut the door against the chill and put the kettle on for a cup of tea. People seldom do...Mainers are accustomed to working on in the dark. It's a pretty little town with a long maritime history and the wonderful Penobscot Marine Museum. Don't blink as you drive through on RT. 1, it too, is worth a closer look.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Trouble with Raw Faith

"Raw Faith" socked in by fog on Maquoit Bay, Brunswick, Maine, 2 June 2010.
Occasionally I go into my Flickr stats just to see who is looking at my photos. There were a large number of views today on a series of images of the "Raw Faith" that I photographed last June. I wrote an earlier blog post on this picturesque old wreck. Now, after following the Flickr link, I find her crew has just been rescued at sea (again!) and, whether or not she can be towed and salvaged one more time, remains to be seen. You can see the story and videos of the rescue here.

Update: 9 December 2010, "Raw Faith Sinks at Sea"

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Out and About ~ Belfast Maine


Always look up! I loved this pattern of utility lines and the retro Santa against the blue sky and scudding clouds.


View of the Passagassawakeag River.


The sun sits low in the sky at 3:00 p.m. creating dramatic shadows and contrasts on the beautiful brick buildings in Belfast. There is nothing quite like November light on a rare sunny day in Maine!


So often, I scoot right past this pretty little town...always in a hurry to be somewhere else, but it is worth a leisurely visit. It is beautiful at any time of the year, you can read more about Belfast, Maine here.

Here's an architectural contrast in today's link from "You Must Remember This."

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Droid post!

The first from my phone!

A very old photo of my beloved lab, Smilla, taken with the first mobile phone I ever owned. It is now my buddy icon on Flickr. We lost her two years ago today...and I still miss her.


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