Sunset Hunting

Now is about the time when people start growing weary of my incessant Maine-bragging. It’s been over a week now and I’ve given you a steady stream of pictures, videos and anecdotes extolling the virtues of lake living. Some of you are probably thinking, I thought I would never say this but I actually miss the Dad Jokes, or maybe…What happened to the political stuff? What’s up with Lucy?? These are all legitimate points and I must say that I sympathize. But here’s the thing…I can’t help it. Take yesterday for example.

After a rough weather start to our trip, the past three days have been delightful, particularly yesterday which alternated between clear blue skies with super low humidity, and appearances of thin feathery clouds. I think the high temperature was somewhere around 75. We took full advantage. For me it started with some ill-advised exercise. The dirt road that leads from State route 131 to our cabin is only .85 miles long but in that short span it falls 145 feet in elevation. Naturally, I have taken it as a personal challenge to run up this very steep grade without stopping or dying. Since yesterday’s morning temperature was so perfect I decided that there was no time like the present. The good news is that I did not perish. The bad news is that my days of dreaming of become a Navy Seal are officially over. By the time I made it to the top my lungs and legs were on fire. It took me 8 minutes and 43 seconds. I couldn’t even break a 10 minute mile pace!! However, I did make it up without stopping so that’s something. 

Having put in three and a half miles of road work, I turned my attention to the kayak and fishing. I paddled the mile from the cabin down to my favorite spot on the dam at the southern end of the lake. Caught a couple of bass and one pike but enjoyed being at this beautiful spot for two hours.

When I made it back to the cabin I stopped at the swimming float, tied up the kayak and dove in to the chilly water for my first swim of the week. Here I must admit to being somewhat of an embarrassing wimp. I am a southern boy. I will always be a southern boy. I have southern boy sensitivities which include, but are not limited to, aversion to cold water swimming. But, I love Maine, so every year I have to overcome my DNA and take the plunge. Once I do, I always love it and yesterday was no exception. Of course, I can hear my Maine friends now…Wait…you’ve been at that cabin since Saturday afternoon and you’re just now taking your first swim?? Bruhahahah!!! Whatever. I did it, so hush yourselves!!

When it was time for dinner, the wind had died down and the lake was still. The humidity was still very low. Even the bugs had decided to take the evening off. A point of order here on the subject of “dinner time.” It’s a fluid topic. The sun rises up here before 5 in the morning, and it doesn’t get what most reasonable people would call “dark” until 9 in the evening. So, “dinner time” could be 6 or 9 or anything in between. It just depends on some sort of mystical inclination. Pam prepared and I grilled up a fabulous meal…

We ate at the picnic table down by the dock as we wondered what kind of sunset might be in the works since it had suddenly clouded over. The presence of clouds makes no difference when it comes to sunsets here. You watch long enough and one will appear. So after dinner Pam went sunset hunting on her paddle board. This time she casually invited me to tag along in my kayak if I wanted to. I jumped at the chance. This nightly ritual of hers is not something I normally interfere with, sunset paddles being entirely a Pam Thing. So when she offered, I accepted and off we went…

That’s me keeping a respectable distance. But then we turned a corner about 45 minutes in and found this…

When we got back to the cabin, neither one of us wanted to go inside, so I built a fire and Pam made s’mores using marshmallows and Keebler fudge striped cookies instead of graham crackers. She said they have more nutrition, are better for the digestive system than regular s’mores. I did not question her on this subject since it is never wise to question a woman’s arguments while they are eating chocolate.

And, just like that, another amazing day in the books. The next two days look bleak. We are told that a tropical storm is scheduled to speed through central Maine late today and all through the day tomorrow dumping as much as three inches of rain here.

We will manage.

Pam at the Lake

For Christmas I bought my wife a brand new camera, a fancy Canon with all the bells and whistles. I thought it would be something she could develop as a new hobby of sorts as we enter the next phase of our life together. The reason I thought this was all of the beautiful pictures she takes up here while she’s on her kayak…with her cell phone. The problem is that a brand new grownup camera is a complicated thing and my wife is a rule following maniac. She pours over all the instructions, reads every manual twice, then Googles a thousand articles about the camera, all before taking a single photograph. Pam is one of those people who is all about the details of a thing. If she is going to do something, she’s going to do it right or not at all. Me? I would have taken a thousand pictures by now, half of them blurry and off center, my preferred manner of learning being, doing. However, in her defense, its hard to put in all the training time on a new fancy camera when you’re busy taking photographs like this with your iPhone…

I might get that first one framed.

Yesterday was, except for a bit of wind, nearly perfect. I got in a 3.5 mile run, kayaked for a couple miles, caught a lake trout, and got the dock organized. I cooked hamburgers on the grill, which we ate on the picnic table down by the water. Then I watched as Pam took her paddle board out into the choppy water for her first sunset ride. We ended the day with a fire on the lake’s edge. Now, this morning, before the fog has lifted, she is off for a kayak trip north…

I’m just trying to keep up.

Day 1

This morning begins our fourth day here in Maine and so far we have yet to see the sun. It has been overcast and chilly. Today, the 4th of July, will be 58 degrees with cold rain. All of the dreariness is scheduled to end tomorrow with bright sunshine and 76. I feel bad for the town of Camden since they have a whole host of things planned for the holiday celebration, a series of outdoor concerts at the library amphitheater might get washed out along with the famous fireworks show over the harbor. Here at the lake, the association has their own fireworks display planned. Hopefully by the time the sun goes down tonight, the rain will have slid up into Canada.

Here’s the strange thing…I am not in the least bit disappointed by the weather. Would I have preferred bright sunshine? Of course. But there are two reasons why the bad weather doesn’t matter. First of all, we will be here for five weeks. There will be plenty of glorious days ahead, and a few more washouts. The weather is at the top of the list of things about which I have no influence. Second of all, lake house #1 has exceeded our wildest expectations. This little place is about as perfect a two bedroom, one bathroom lake house can be. There is a montage of photographs on the wall here that show what this place looked like when the current owners bought it…think, dump. Now it is a jewel, warm and inviting, clean as a whistle with a yard and deck system that is functional and beautiful. Keep in mind that the pictures which follow were taken under a dreary, low sky…

Meanwhile, the inside of the house is the very definition of the word charming…

Last night, before the rains came I walked out to the dock to listen to the loons who were in full voice. I took this picture of the house lit up like a campfire…

The lantern was the only light in a sea of dark, except for the dock lights on the cabins across the lake…

Yeah, so its raining today. Pam is planning a grocery run into Belfast. I will tinker with my fishing gear, getting it all ready for tomorrow’s gorgeous blue skies. I will also listen to the rain on the tin roof of Summer Dreams and consider my great good fortune. And although this is our fourth day in Maine, its really day 1, because its our first full day on Quantabacook.

The Chestnut Street Baptist Church Clock Tower

This year is the first time we have stayed in a hotel in Camden prior to moving into our lake house. It was Pam’s idea to beat the 4th of July traffic by driving up during the week. It has ended up being a delight. Although it has been chilly, rainy and overcast the entire time of our stay, we have loved being here.

Want to play some music? Management provides instruments for its patrons…

Or maybe you would like to sit around a fire after dinner…

…and make s’mores…

But honestly the best part of this experience has been something that sneaks up on you. You don’t always notice it but when you do it serves the same function as Prozac or a stiff drink…

That clock tower in the distance sits atop the Chestnut Street Baptist Church, directly adjacent to the town green. It is one of the most iconic sites in Camden. No matter where you are in town, when you lift your eyes skyward, its there, performing its orienting purpose better than any GPS possibly could. But as an incalculable bonus, every hour on the hour it tolls out the time. This morning I was sitting at a table in the dining room drinking coffee and catching up on the news when through closed windows I heard the soothing sound. Seven gentle peals, each one clear and cheerful, cutting through the dreary clouds. I wonder if the locals even hear it anymore. I decide that when 8 o’clock comes around I will be outside on the front steps so I can hear the full effect. Eight calming notes that tell me that I’m alive and in this place, right here…right now. And, if I’m lucky enough to still be here an hour from now, I’ll hear it again. It’s reassuring, dependable. In a world that has become scattered and unmoored, the Chestnut Street Baptist Church clock tower is…steadfast and true.

I believe I would love to live in a place with a clock tower.

Arrived!!

We made it! The traffic was manageable, the car performed beautifully, and we arrived in Camden at 3:30 yesterday afternoon. We would have arrived two hours earlier if not for an unexpected discipline lapse on my part. As soon as we crossed the Big Green Bridge and entered Maine Pam made an off hand suggestion that maybe this year we should take Number 1 highway up the coast and “Find a cute little town where we can have lunch.” 99% of the time, this is the sort of thing I summarily dismiss since it would be considered a time consuming detour that would totally kill the “great time we’re making.” But, there I was hearing myself saying, “great idea, let’s do it!!” What the heck? Pam was simultaneously shocked and thrilled. We ended up in Freeport, eating lunch at Linda’s Bean’s place where my first cup of clam chowder was heavenly.

Then, in yet another shocking development, I agreed to an hour or more of mindless sight-seeing around town….who have I become??!!

Got some coffee at this sweet place:

Pam got to go inside a Wicked Whoopies store for the first time ever. We came out with a bag full.

Then, we found an awesome store that sold nothing but British goods:

As soon as I entered the place I loved it. It smelled like wool and fog, and was filled with beautiful things. But the best part of the store was the fact that whoever owns the place still has a sense of humor and isn’t afraid…in the age of triggers and safe spaces…to use it :

I’m not sure what’s funnier, the stiff upper lip balm, or the fact that it’s made by the Unemployed Philosophers Guild??

We eventually meandered up the coast to our Camden Hotel, which will be our home for the next two days until lake house number one becomes available Saturday afternoon. It’s pouring rain today so we will be lazing around this gorgeous little town, drinking coffee, shopping and reading. Tomorrow we might go see a couple lake houses that are on the market. Or…not. This is where agendas go to die.

I didn’t plan it this way, but our third floor room has a direct view of my wife’s favorite ice cream joint in Maine:

Unfortunately, by the time we made our way back from our leisurely walk around town, the wait was ridiculous. Did we get in line? What? Are you kidding? Of course.

Pam…the Boss

My wife is a boss. Over the past several days she has been working like a beast around here all the while battling through a cold. Not only is the entire house squeaky clean for our house-sitters, but her world class packing skills have once again been put on display….

All I have to do is get it loaded into the car. There are still a couple duffle bags upstairs, but basically all of this was Pam.

I’m telling you guys, this woman walks on water! Of course, nobody’s perfect. Yesterday she forgot that the car top carrier was sitting on the roof of her car when she returned from the grocery store. Upon entering the garage she heard a horrifying scraping sound and slammed on the brakes, then slowly backed up to the sound of more scraping! Fortunately, the carrier survived the ordeal, although the next time she was driving back home from some errand I thought to send her a text,”FYI, you’ve got a big thing strapped to the roof of your car, so…” Her reply suggested that if not for my text the same mistake would have been repeated. Muscle memory is a powerful thing!

Ok kids…time to pack up and hit the road. AIS* time is 7:45. Why such an odd time? Well, Pam forget to bring Becky Baldwin’s birthday gift to their lunch date the other day so she couldn’t possibly leave for Maine for 5 weeks without running it by their house on the way. 

* Ass In Seat

An observation…and some really bad jokes.

Today is packing day. Its also the day where a thousand last minute details need to be taken care of. Leaving your house for 5 weeks isn’t as easy as we make it look! So, as my dear mother used to say, we’ll be running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. By the way…this was no abstract colloquialism to my mother, who as a ten year old was tasked with actually cutting the head off a chicken to start preparing it for dinner. After the hatchet came down, the unfortunate bird ran around the barnyard for several minutes before succumbing to its fate, making a lasting impression on my mom. But instead of years of psycho-analysis, mom just moved on, got married and raised four kids. It was a different world.

Since this will be my last blogpost for a few days while we travel to Maine and get settled once there, I need to make it memorable. The jokes I have chosen for the occasion were carefully selected for their cringe-worthiness. I left no stone unturned to uncover these beauties:

Where does a coffee maker go when it dies?

Percolatory…

Went to a restaurant with my parents and they were arguing about whether ordering the fries or salad were better to go with the meal so they asked me my opinion.

I said, "Oh, no. I'm not picking sides"

I work in a factory that makes clown shoes.

It’s no small feet…

Last night I experimented cooking some Ribeyes with cannabis oil.

Not gonna lie, the steaks were pretty high…

One last thing, I’m running a little low on toll money so you guys need to click on a few ads here so I don’t get stranded in Connecticut on the side of the interstate with a tin cup!!

One more last thing. Killed squirrels number 20 and 21 of the year yesterday…an all-time record before July 1st!!