Starting to grow

We've had a lot of rain, and today some sun, and things are growing and happy. Here you see some of the flowers that Hannah planted behind the bunkhouse. We've had day lilies and now tiger lilies and other stuff, too.
The volunteers are saluting: lettuce in grandma's garden, tomatoes in mine, and even some volunteer beets in the cucumber patch.
And then, of course, there's the grass.

Hot hot hot

Heat and Humdiddity came to Maine today. A boat trip up the Cathance for an elegant luncheon at the Town Landing Place was a journey through a furnace. Later, a trip to Five Islands cooled us down a bit, but there was little air moving. We're not used to this!
Koof was here as participant and witness. He also witnessed the all-time biggest load of seaweed on the outhaul. Nice to have events for a visitor.
Koof and the photographer (guess who) had lobsters, while some of the rest of us ate fried food and the youth cavorted, as the youth will do.

Grandson of a Beach

Jonas spent about two hours mashing about in the receding tide, all by himself at Reid State Park. Eventually he brought a slimy, sandy trophy to share.

A thrill for the old coach

During a break from the Andover reunion we got to see Sam playing lacrosse in a jamboree in West Andover. . The goalie for one of the Concord-Carlisle teams was late, so Sam suited up and played well in the goal, making saves and looking for the clearing pass. Then the goalie showed up, and Sam moved over to the adjacent field, where he became a middie. His ground ball work was superb, defense too. Later, he scored.
Also a great joy for the old man was to see Sam's coach in action. Bart was clear and helpful to the kids, and I was proud to see our second coaching child. Molly led the way with the Seabridge team some years ago. Great family tradition recalled on this Father's Day.

Habemus Mooring!

Up the river this morning, many weeks late, came the barge with our "permanent" mooring! It took about 25 minutes to assemble it, then down she went. It will be a relief not to worry about the mooring pulling loose in storms... it is a 1000 lb block of granite, sinking now into the river bottom.
I will not miss dropping and hauling moorings each season. either.

Now Autumn will go in. Hope she runs...

I got a Chromebook

Nerd alert! Nerd alert! Seeing a special at Best Buy, I gave in to my worser nature, and bought this for $199. It is terrific -- as long as you have Internet. Boots from cold in 7 seconds, and instantly from sleep. I haven't yet found any computer task I can't do with it, but I'm sure there are some. The main thing is how fast it is, because it has just a tiny Linux OS under the Chrome browser. I much prefer it to a tablet. And I couldn't think of a good blog post.

Fun and Games in Carlisle

Bart and Andrea flew off to Calgary and gallivanted around Banff, while Papa enjoyed the privilege of tending some wicked children for a night or two. They have been fairly kind to the old coot, although his fajitas did not go over as well as he had hoped.
How nice and cheering it is that kids grow up. For a while it seems that maturity would never come, but suddenly, there it is!

We have a storm here, mostly rain. It is called Andrea. Good time to get outta town, mom.

Signs of Age from the Green Man

How melancholy it is when aging folks say: "I'll never see Paris again," or "This is the last time I'll be able to run the marathon," or other gloomy, whiny statements. But how happy it is when a fellow approaching 70 can say, "I'll never go under the trailer to paint the bottom of my boat again!"
It does look pretty good, a lovely dark green, and I am surprised at how far a quart of ablative anti-fouling paint goes, but  what the hell. Ah, the years can be kind.
In other nautical news, we have hopes that a mooring will be in when we launch Autumn on Tuesday.

Whaling

A hot hot Saturday and off we went to Boothbay Harbor in the old Whaler. The motor purred all the way. The boat is as sound as ever, but it deserves a cosmetic overhaul in the fall. I wonder how long the engine will last? Most parts cannot be replaced, as the bolts rusted when it was stolen and set adrift upside down. For now it is a champ.
Still waiting for the mooring guy to dump our new 1000-lb block of granite.  Autumn remains on dry land.

Hadlock Falls - finally

Years ago, in Provence, we decided to climb the Luberon, not knowing how trail demarcation worked. We followed a clear yellow trail, up and up and up for a long time... and then, in bright yellow letters: FIN.
On Friday morning, in Acadia, we set out to find the park's only waterfall. However, the bloggah musta got the directions wrong. An hour later we were far far away. At least it was mostly on carriage roads. Undaunted (well, daunted a little), we returned after a picnic lunch above Sand Beach, and found the damned thing. It was worth the trip.Hadlock Falls. Not great by national standards, but whatever.
Grand time in Bah Haabah.