My Oyster

All I could see from where I stood...

Was three long mountains and a wood.

I turned and looked the other way,

And saw three islands in a bay

Those are the first few lines of Renascence - one of my favorite poems.  It is by Edna St. Vincent Millay - a woman who spent lots of time in Camden and on Mount Battie.  Check her out - she is very interesting.    

In fact, the view from the summit of Mount Battie was said to have inspired St. Vincent Millay's poem "Renascence" and those opening lines. 

That is where we went today - Camden and Mount Battie.  It is a favorite spot of mine in Maine, so I wanted Jean to see it. Here we are atop Mount Battie...

We started our afternoon with a drive to the summit with Mammie & Tut.  The summit offers sweeping views of Camden, Penobscot Bay, and surrounding islands.

On the entire Atlantic coastline there are only two places where the mountains meet the sea - one is in Camden and the other Mt. Desert.  BOTH are in Maine.

Here is the view of Camden Harbor from the top of Mount Battie...

And here is the view closer up from our harborside lunch...

And here are Mammie, Tut, and Jean looking at the view at lunch...

The heart can push the sea and land

Farther away on either hand;

The soul can split the sky in two,

And let the face of God shine through.

More pics from Camden here.

Touring the Kennebec River Towns...

There is actually more to see in my little hometown than I remembered.

Jean's visit to Augusta has given me the opportunity to rediscover the interesting and touristy parts of my little corner of Maine.  Today Sarah and I took him all around 3 towns along the Kennebec River - Augusta, Gardiner, and Hallowell

We started the day with brunch at a diner by the river in Gardiner.  We ended the day with fireworks over the river in Hallowell - to celebrate the city's birthday.  In between we had a LOT of Augusta and even a lobster dinner (pronounced lobstah dinnah) at my brother's house.

Here are a few moments from the day...

Sarah and I at the beautiful old library in Gardiner.

The mighty Kennebec River running through downtown Augusta.

Augusta is the capital city of Maine.

Sarah and me in front of our alma mater - Cony High School.

My lobstah - prepared by Mike.

Jean and the clams (white) and mussels (black).

Food and fun on the Kennebec to celebrate Old Hallowell Days.

Old Hallowell Days fireworks.

Many more moments at my flickr account here.

I've Been Tubbified...

I made my first visit to Tubby's in Wayne, Maine tonight.  And I left in a pleasant and satisfied state.  So did Mammie, Tut, and Sarah.

THIS is Summer.  Or how it should be.  Every day.  Sitting in a small New England town, by the lake, on a warm evening at sunset, eating home made ice cream out of a waffle cone.

Here I am...

And here are Mammie and Sarah...

It just doesn't get any better.

Maine's Heatwave...

Fuego / Fire, originally uploaded by Don_Gato.

I arrived in Maine tonight. Its beautfiul as always.

I am told there is a heatwave of sorts here. I heard people talking about it on the flight. My parents have the two AC units turned on and multiple fans out and plugged in.  They are worried I won't be able to sleep in this heat.

I am laying on the couch under a blanket. I guess its all relative.  It's nice to be home.

I am not sure why, but Augusta is much more attractive to me now..

...than it was when I left 25 years ago.

The pic above and the ones below are from the Maine State Arboretum, right here in Augusta.  It is a real treasure.

Ma, Tut, Murphy and I went there late this afternoon.  It is a beautiful spot and only a few minutes away.  We did a little walk through to look at the plants and trees and gardens. 

Then we went to the ghetto grocery store for some kielbasa to throw on the grill for dinner.  

When it comes to winding down the work day, it just doesn't get any better than some nature and some sausage. 

More pics...

Ma & Tut looking at some Hens and Chicks - a plant...

Me and some birch...

Murphy licking his chops...

 

And even more pics of me, Ma, Tut, and Murphy from today and this trip to Maine can be found here.

BEAT LA...

beat la, originally uploaded by man man the sox fan.

Tonight is game 3 of the Celtics-Lakers NBA finals.

I am watching on TV in Maine where I watched these two teams battle in historic NBA finals back in the 80s - when I was in high school.

It was Larry Bird v. Magic Johnson. Hardscrabble Boston with its understated players and blue collar fans v. glitzy LA with its full of themselves players and hollywood fans. What a rivalry.

One of the lasting legacies of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry is the famous "Beat L.A.!!!" chant. Celtics fans sang the slogan in the 1960s at historic Boston Garden, and again in the 1980s in the Johnson-Bird rivalry.

I clearly remember its most famous use - in the closing seconds of Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Championships when the Boston fans urged the Philadelphia 76ers, who had just beaten the Celtics at home, to go on and "Beat L.A!"

Classic. And still gives me goosebumps.

Maine is for Lupins...

Maine June '08 008, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

Central Maine seems to be awash in color right now. Everywhere you look there are wildflowers and shrubs with blooms - along the roads, in yards, in pastures. It really is a feast for the eyes.

Maybe it is because I am so used to being surrounded by concrete and hotels and planes and highways that I am particularly open to seeing all the colors and nature right now.

The Lupins are standing out these days - for me. The talll shape. The cool blue and purple hues. They way the seem to grow in clumps - a very social flower.

The pic above is from the drive to my brother's house. Just along the road in North Whitefield. Nowhere too noteworthy, just a nice patch of purple and blue.

Apparently Lupins grow all over the place - North and South America. The Mediterranean. Africa.

To me the Lupin is Maine in the summertime.

In fact, one of the great children's book authors of our time, Barbara Cooney, who lived in and often wrote about Maine, focused on the Lupin in one of her books.

In Miss Rumphius, the protagonist plants lupins to make the world a more beautiful place. Yup.

Sunday Dinner with Family...

Maine May '08 006, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

One of the best things about being from central Maine is that everything there is very familiar. There is a constancy that is very comfortable and very comforting.

The towns are small and you kinda know everyone. The same families have been in these towns for generations. Including, of course, my own family.

Tonight we had dinner with my extended family here in central Maine. My mother's siblings and their spouses. Growing up I spent a lot of time with these aunts and uncle and I revered each of them and have great memories.

Tonight we had a long, long, long dinner at a local restaurant. The service was slow, painstakingly slow - but it gave us even more time to catch up and enjoy each other.

The China Din-ah...

From (Beijing) China to China (Maine)...could there be more of a culture shock?!

China, Maine is a small town in the central part of the state - near the capital of Augusta. It's a rural area. Lots of lakes. Not a lot of people. Lots of farm animals and monster trucks.

Tonight for dinner we (me, Ma, Tut, Chris) went to the China Din-ah for some homestyle cooking. It was actually very good diner food in a woodsy kinda atmosphere. I had the meatloaf. Dad had the scallops. Ma and Chris both had huge steaks. See below.

That is a lot of meat.

And here is Chris with all that China atmosphere...

Back in Maine - home of tourmaline - the state gem...

Tourmaline is a crystal silicate mineral whose name comes from the Sinhalese word "turamali" or "toramalli", which applied to different gemstones found in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Today, tourmaline is mined mostly in Brazil and Africa, but also Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and Malawi.

And MAINE.

In fact, the first US discoveries of tourmaline were in 1822 - here in the state of Maine. The Maine deposits tend to produce crystals in raspberry pink-red as well as minty greens. During the early 1900s, Maine (and California) were the world's largest producers of gem tourmalines.

Maine tourmaline is beautiful and bright and can be found in almost any color, from every shade of blue and green to shades of red and purple, and from pale shades to deep, brilliant ones. "Watermelon Tourmaline" is a type of unique tourmaline crystal found in Newry, Maine. The green outer edge and pinkish core of these crystals earned them the designation "Watermelon."

Prehistoric man and native American Indians mined tourmaline for centuries, but the first mining by modern man began in Maine in 1822 at Mount Mica in western Maine. The largest stone cut from Mount Mica was a flawless blue-green 256-carat stone.