The Smell of Viburnum

Every day there is a fierce wind, so that even if the temperature is warm, the wind and the cold river make boating unpleasant--so we stay ashore. We need rain, but things are growing. The viburnum near the lion bloomed. Its white small snowballs have a lovely perfume. They don't last very long, though. Still, some pleasure is welcome these days.

Clam Day

Since there were no oysters, we went back to Allen's Seafood, at the end of Lookout Point Rd in Harpswell. It is an interesting and beautiful drive, and at the end a dock with lobsters, crabs, and clams. They had small quahogs, of which we bought 20 for $7. The cherrystones (all the same clam, just different sizes, and ...) I had at Summer Shack in February, and the ones I remembered from NJ, were very tasty, at least as good as oysters...but these weren't as good. Plenty meaty but not quite as tangy. However, we met Eimly there, and had a takeout lunch from Erica's (next to the Dolphin), eaten at a picnic table by the water, just down the road. Then a walk in the Curtis Farm Preserve. So, a good Saturday.

Pfui

So quickly can one's world fall apart! No, I'm not talking about COVID-19. No, rather it is this: there are no oysters at the Campbells in Georgetown today. They have exhausted the supply and we have to wait fr the oysters to grow. C'mon, oysters, GROW! Meanwhile, there are some other opportunities and we will investigate some of those. My Classic American Short Stories ourse ended yesterday. It turned out to be a big hit. i guess I can chalk that about to people being stir-crazy. Unfortunately, it looks like it will morph into an online book group, which I offered to lead for week one. Then I go bye-bye.

Farewell, My Lovely

My faithful lawn mower, which served without complaining for many many years and spread its rare 22-inch deck over lots of lawn, gave up the ghost this afternoon. It had mowed like a trooper all morning, but just wouldn't keep firing after lunch. I suspect heart trouble--bad fuel pump--and it was time to go. The folks at Squirrel Point have taken it away and I'm sure they have someone who can fix it. On Sunday I will pick up a battery-operated mower with a 21-inch deck from Rocky's Hardware. Then we are down to gas engines only in the car and the boat. If you got the allusion in the title, you have a good understanding of bathos.

Autumn is launched

In this stay-at-home time, what could be better than a boat? Chaika is doing great service in Freeport, and now is our chance. As usual, she started first pull...but then we saw that nothing was coming out of the pee-hole. She ran fine and later I found an obstruction in the outlet hose, so all is well. This happens just as FINALLY the weather is turning seasonable, and soon, maybe even more than seasonal. Things are growing like mad, and tomorrow the lawn gets a haircut. Ironically, although I need a haircut less than almost anyone ("Papa don't got so much hair"), I can get one any time I want, thanks to Flowbee. Wish it could cut the grass.

Teaching

It has been a particularly cold and windy spring, after a gentle winter. Although the ramp and float have been in for a couple of weeks, we have had no desire to boat yet. But we hear that the second half of May will be nice and we will launch next week. Meanwhile I am keeping busy teaching two online courses in the Midcoast Senior College. One of them, Classic American Short Stories, is a reprise of an online course I taught in 2011. The other, Rabbit Ears, is a look at old-time television, mostly from the 1950s. Teaching has been an excellent distraction from the upside down coronavirus world.

Another Saturday

There hasn't been much to comment on recently. The days follow one another monotonously. The world has come to a halt. We do not have the coronavirus at present and Bart is fully recovered. Today, however, May 9, it snowed. The ground was warm enough so that here, at Fiddler's Crotch, it did not accumulate, although it snowed, on and off, all morning. At 10 we drove to Georgetown, donned our masks, and picked up our oysters and clams. How wonderful that Maine has native oysters.

Huevos Rancheros

Memories of Saturdays in 1977-78, when we drove up from Aptos for breakfast in the hills. This time it was a quarter can of chili and two fried eggs, smothered in 4 cheeses. Very good but missed the trip through the hills. I'm wondering if we'll ever be able to travel again, or if we can, will it be only in the USA, We have decided it would be a good thing to go camping for a night to break up the momentum of days when nothing is happening except Zoom sessions. The state parks will open for camping in June, according to the latest directive.

So Much for That

Yesterday was just glorious. We realized how much we had missed the spring. after the earliest and longest mud season evah we had a stretch of gloomy weather, and then the one day of glory. This morning, at 6 AM, the immediate future is clear, clouds and rain, showers and clouds. Ah, but yesterday! We were outside just about all day, sitting around in shorts, doing chores that had piled up, putting plants outside. A few days ago I built a bench, which is installed near hole 6 of frisbee golf, very near the spot where, years ago, I would sit on Sunday and do the crossword puzzle, no children around. Yesterday it was delightful to sit there and watch a pair of osprey fishing, circling high and peeping, then diving straight down, splash. And later, oysters and clams on the screen porch as we had our family Zoom.

Welcome, Spring!

Hey, we're back! After days of chill and damp, today dawned sunny, with a promise of warmth to come. The ramp and float went in a week or so ago, so I went down to look at it--clean of debris. A big tree trunk has washed up over towards the Coast Guard and Marnie is determined to get it out to sea. Hope it doesn't ram the float. We won't launch Autumn till we get a 70 degree day, and that doesn't appear to be coming soon. It's Saturday, so for the third week in a row we will drive to Georgetown, where a fisherman and his wife sell cocktail (smallish) oysters and steamers. A great new tradition.