My Oyster

Daytrippin' in Belfast...

This is the town's old Mason lodge.  It is right on Main Street.  It was dedicated in 1879 before a crowd of 10,000.

The town, it's actually a city, is on Penobscot Bay. It was really a beautiful day to get outside and be by the sea. Here I am at the harbor in downtown Belfast...

One of the very best things about the small towns along the coast of Maine is, of course, the food.  Mammie and Tut and Murphy were my daytrippin partners in Midcoast Maine.  Here they are where we ate lunch - a little shack for lobster rolls and other stuff...

5 Things About Belfast, Maine...

1. It has nearly 6500 residents.  The 2-3 blocks around me in Columbia Heights have about the same number.
2. The area was once the territory of the Penobscot Tribe of the Abenaki Indians.
3. Schooners then seafood then shoes then chickens and now credit cards have been the cornerstone of the local economy over the past 150 years.
4. The English burned Belfast in 1779 then held it for 5 days in September 1814 during the war of 1812.  Bad Brits!
5. It has Maine's oldest & largest Co-op AND Maine's oldest shoe store AND Maine's only curling club & facility.  Who knew?

That is Belfast.  Every time I go I want to get a little apartment on the top floor of one of the old commercial buildings on Main Street - and just knit and stare out at the sea and be creative...

Oh, and no summer day in Maine is complete without home-made ice cream.  Including today...

Unity!

Maine Aug '08 002, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

In Denver. In Augusta.

Exciting night all over.

A Few of the 3,478...

Maine has more of them than California.  Maine has more of them than the rest of the entire east coast - combined.  All the way from New Hampshire down to the tip of Florida.

What are "they"?  Miles of coastline.  And Maine, because of the "cragginess" has tons of them.  Nearly 3500 to be (kinda) exact.  Very few of them are sandy, maybe 20-25 of the 3500.  They are rugged and tough just like the people up here.  Almost all of them are beautiful - at least the ones I have seen and the ones I imagine.  The miles of coastline, not the people, that is.

The few miles you see in the pic above are just south of Portland.  From a plane.  Last night as I was flying in at sunset.  Gorgeous.  Soothing.  Spiritual.  Home.

I gotta say, I wish there were some more coastline in Columbia Heights.

36 Hours in Seattle...

Seattle Aug '08 003, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

Breezing through town for a meeting. This was my view in the morning. I had a great view of downtown and Elliot Bay.

I am amazed every trip here, and there are lots, at how much the city has changed since I moved here in 1988 for grad school and since I left in 1992 for a career and DC.

To me, the changes seem very positive. Lots more people living downtown. Lots more to do and see downtown - restaurants, galleries, shopping, etc.

I have to say though, there was some kind of pioneer charm to the edgier downtown that used to be. It was very "Seattle". Maybe that is still here too - but I just don't see it from the 44th floor of the Westin.

I will get out and about more next trip.

"There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm."

That is a quote from Teddy Roosevelt while he was on the African game trails in 1910.  The pic above is a plane coming into National Airport over his memorial on Roosevelt island.

Today Jean, Suz, Grant & I headed to Roosevelt Island in the Potomac River to celebrate some Sunday morning nature.

I have been here in DC for 16 years now and have never made my way there.  Big mistake.  It is really a beautiful retreat.

5 Things About Teddy Roosevelt Island...

1. Congress authorized the Teddy memorial in 1932 but waited nearly 30 years to appropriate any money for it.  It was dedicated, finally, on October 27, 1967.

2. The island (and National Park) is actually part of DC but is only accessible from the Virginia shore of the Potomac River.

3. The island was known in the past as My Lord's Island, Barbadoes, and Analostan Island - which was the Native American name for it.

4. In addition to the nature quote above, the memorial also has big tablets with interesting quotes about manhood and youth.

5. Roosevelt set aside more land for national parks than all of the previous 25 Presidents combined.

I want to go back and check out the Island in the fall and winter too.

Here are some more pics...

My Little Buddha comes home to Columbia Heights...

That is him on the balcony outside my bedroom.

I think this part of the neighborhood needs a bit more buddha and a little less aggression.  Maybe he will help us all be a bit more zen here on our block.  Just in time for school - across the street - to start on Monday.

I actually have been looking for some time for a Buddha statue to sit outside my bedroom.  I have a beautiful wood cross on the balcony downstairs and wanted a Buddha for upstairs.  

I found this Buddha today at Dragonfly down in Logan Circle. 

I love seeing him looking in at me.  Well, he isn't really looking.  His eyes are shut and he is meditating.  But I do smile and feel a calmness when I see him.  Just as I wanted.

Vacation Challenge 2008

I am not good at vacationing. I need help.

I am good at taking long weekends or a day off here and there and do that a lot as I travel around the world.

I usually only take a proper vacation every couple of years.

• I traveled in Colombia in June of this year.
• In 2006 I traveled in Italy with Ma, Suz, Grant and Daryl.
• I vacationed in Poland in 2004 with my family to reunite with distant relatives.
• Back in 2002, I traveled in Norway with Ma, Tut, and Daryl to reunite with my high school exchange family.

All great vacations – but not that many over 8 years.

The Vacation Challenge: I have a lot of vacation time that I need to use up by the end of the year or lose it. I need to think through where to spend a good chunk of time and what to do when I get there. I can get restless pretty quickly.

Oh, there are a few other factors…

• Timing – well before the end of the year – maybe in early October. Maybe in December.
• Location– Probably in Asia or Europe. Hey, I would consider the US too. Probably not LATAM this time.
• Budget – minimal. Maybe the developing world is the best idea. Not Paris. Not Tokyo. Too pricey. I don’t want to spend a ton of money on a hotel, so cheap or somewhere that I can stay with friends is the best option.

So that’s my challenge.
Any Ideas?

Breakfast with an Overlook...

Nature with an Egg McMuffin.

This morning Jean, Suz, Grant and I got up early to go to Great Falls National Park for a little communing with nature.  We stopped at Starbucks in Adams Morgan to pick up some breakfast.

Here we are.

The canal is right by the river (the Potomac) which is where the Great Falls are.  About 15 miles north of the city.

Here are the falls. 

Complete with kayakers who were not supposed to be there.  Riding the rapids.

The Great Falls are dangerous.  And now we know the dangers...

But the park is beautiful and a nice way to start a beautiful summer Sunday.

Facebook in Real Life...

I saw this on a friend's blog and it really made me smile.

I watched it twice.

I am a Facebook fan, for sure - but you do have wonder about the difference between our approach to society online v. in real life...

I am loving these Beijing Games...

Love Beijing 2008 Poster, originally uploaded by mikeportfolio.

I have always loved the Olympics.

Probably not so much for the sport of it - though I do enjoy the athletics.

Probably not so much for the patriotism either. The USA chant actually grates on my nerves now. I think it is rude and plays into the stereotype that Americans are loud and obnoxious.

I think I have always loved the Olympics for two reasons - the stories and travels.

I can't get enough of the emotional personal stories of triumph. Of suppotive families. Of dedication and redemption. NBC does a great job of finding them and telling them.

And the travels. I think watching the Olympics is almost as good as really traveling around the world. In some ways maybe even better. I have always eaten up the stories about the host country and its people and culture. I have always loved the pictures of people and places in the host country

I still love it all - and Beijing has not disappointed.

The competitions are amazing. I am staying up past midnight every night to watch.

The stories are great - I can't get enough of (kinda) local (DC/Baltimore) boy Michael Phelps.

The travels. Anyone who knows me, knows I love Beijing and am eager to explore much more of China. Theses Olympics have really made me want it more.