Curtis Island

Out for a paddle off the coast of Camden, Maine.
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Out for a ride

If you are out on your motorcycle and are feeling a might bit peckish, do yourself a favor and ride to the end of the earth at Port Clyde, Maine, and stop by the General Store for Big Bob's Belly Bustin' Basket.
Holy Mackerel, it's a hugenormous beer batter fried haddock sammich and awesome fries.
Well worth it.
After that you can swing by Marshall Point Lighthouse and see where Forrest Gump turned around when he was running across the country.
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Goodbye friend...

I know this lady, one of my former mother in-law's cousins, and she has always been pretty cool.
I have always been one who will go to visit friends and family in my adulthood because they might have busy or hectic lives and not find the time to visit me and I don't want to let those important to me forget how I feel about them. I must say that with this comes a certain amount of guilt from not visiting enough, but I try.
I learned this habit from the example set by my former mother in-law and one of her cousins, Edna, when I was a teenager hanging out at my girlfriend's house. One or the other of them was always popping in on the other and catching up over a cup of tea or coffee or a snack of some sort and it was the most natural thing in the world. My parents didn't do this as much (my step dad did, but only with his parents and siblings), I didn't even meet some of my grandfather's sisters until his funeral, and they lived within 10 miles of each other.
I moved away from my home town for 18 years while I traveled the world and would bump into Edna once in a great while on return visits and always enjoyed our catching up. When I heard she was fighting a bad case of ecoli I called her in the hospital to check up and wish her well and I could tell that she was going to be fine by the way she saw that sickness as merely an annoyance.
This past summer she had a bad spell and I visited her in the short term care center, and it wasn't looking good, I barely recognized her because she was so weak and didn't look anything like the last time I had seen her. She wasn't given very good odds at that time, but let me tell you what a fighter Edna was, she just decided that it wasn't her time and she rallied and, moving back home, regained her strength a bit. It has been a hard road, and she has put up with a lot of discomfort. I thought over the past week she was maintaining pretty good but she took a downturn this past weekend with her daughters at her side. Her granddaughter, with whom she had a special relationship, left Virginia this morning fearing the worst and started driving to Maine abandoning her flight later this week.

I saw Edna this morning, but she was asleep.
It's all over now.
I send my heartfelt condolences to the family.
I have other friends and family who have passed that I keep fresh in my memory, Grammy, Peg, Emma. I still like to visit and keep them up to date, and I learned part of that from Edna.

Be at peace Edna, I'll talk to you later...

What a storm

We had a heck of a storm blow through last night. Lots of places without power. I had a piece of flashing blow off my roof from somewhere I haven't figured out yet (it was still dark when I left for work and noticed it on the ground). Trees down all over the place, one in my yard.
Here's a shot of the boat in a no parking zone out the back door of the building I work in.

I ate the yellow snow

We went to a joint called Bahama Buc's and had the finest shaved ice.
I got the Mango Bahama Rama Mama. It went against everything I was ever told about eating yellow snow, but it was awesome. Don't listen to anyone who tells you not to eat the yellow snow, it tastes great.
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I like Mexican food, right?

Normally I would say, "Hells to the YEAH! Have you got any?"
but this morning I woke up with the same "oh my god I'm stuffed, I can't believe I ate that many burritos, what was I thinking" stomach ache that I went to bed with. What's up with that?
Oh whelp. Nothing a little hike through the Usery Mountain recreation area (North East of Mesa, AZ) can't cure. (Pictures to come, I traveled unusually light, just BlackBerry, camera gear, and clothes)
OMG! OMG! OMG! I think where we are going for lunch, Pita Jungle, has schwarma. I frickin LOVE schwarma. Only problem is all my memories of eating schwarma in the Middle East end with an over eating stomach ache. I think I might have a mild form of over eating retardation. But I accept that about myself.
We are staying with the artist Meg Harper (www.megharper.com) and her husband Torre and it is magic. Check her out, she's awesome.
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It's about time.

I've been working the overnight shift these past two nights, and when I'm working the hoist I find my mind wandering, not so much that I need to worry about crushing someone if I'm distracted, but I do get to think about things that wouldn't normally cross my mind.

Tonight it's pretty obvious. Congratulations to the country I know can be great. I, along with the majority of my state and my nation, elected the first black man to lead what might be the most powerful nation in the free world. Now we are not only the nation which SAYS anyone can be president, we have shown it.
When Barack Obama was born his parents marriage was considered illegal in 16 states.
I welcome the rest of my nation to the world that I live in. Even at this historic hour I am amazed at the reactions of some people. I'm sure they thought, "Oh, sure, he can RUN for president, but he'll never get elected.", believing that the majority of the country must surely feel the same as they do. Well, they are about to realize that we are all human, and we all want this country to be as great as we imagine it can be.

Personally, I see this as a time to rebuild our reputation as a moderate ally to the world. We are not the world police, we are not nation builders. We want the world to enjoy the freedom of democracy, but we don't need to cram it down anyones pie-hole. If people need our help, all they need do is ask, but we should not rush in uninformed. Enough of blind policies and hidden agendas. I feel like my country had been hijacked by the outgoing administration. Those bastards are no better than sheisty used car salesmen, telling us what we wanted to hear and peddling junk to those of us too scared to question them. A new day is dawning and the immensity of hope I have for what is to come fills me to satisfaction that closely rivals my joy at being a dad or the way my heart beats for my true love.
This is a little different from last night when I found myself remembering my time in the Navy, and the way the people of Japan treated me. Japan is a divided country when it comes to how it feels about America. There is a dividing line at a certain age, if you are young, you love western culture and realize what an ally the U.S. is and if you are older you probably still hold a grudge for those two bombs we dropped on you like a slap in the face. I can't say I wouldn't hold a grudge if I was in their place so it is a little understandable. But I'd just like to say that I didn't drop those bombs that may have killed some of your ancestors, but I DID serve on an operation which probably prevented some of your descendants from getting bombs dropped on them, so if you see me in your beautiful country of Japan you don't have to say "thank you" but it would be nice if you bought me a beer.
As it turns out I rather like Asahi Super Dry.