Sorry, oh so sorry, to post so sporadically. Of course this is directed to those stalwart enough to check for new posts only to retreat to your more consistent and productive daily digital muses. Well rejoice dear reader as we have more information for you regarding our meandering amongst the land so easily taken for granite (sorry).
We have been working diligently all Summer. Traveling when possible, reading and playing video games when not. We were lucky enough to kick off our Summer with some major events. My mother was present for our very first Old Port Festival in June. It was stupendous! The city of Portland pretty much isolates several streets all interconnected throughout the city and allows the end of each major street to a specific radio station where music is played all day long amongst great food and street vendors aplenty. For those of you tuning in from Rochester imagine things along the lines of the East End Festival, Jazz Festival, or (dare I say) the Lilac Festival, except covering much more ground and with an ocean nearby. For those of you tuning in from Ithaca and its respective locales, imagine something like the Ithaca Festival... on steroids. For those of you tuning in from undisclosed territories, invite us out and I will attempt a comparison completely free of charge, that is unless you are willing to pay me. Just saying. I have been to plenty of festivals in my life, but the multitude of various cultural and culinary experiences available at the Old Port Festival were truly remarkable. I myself managed to pick up and shirt, with a whale and heart on it stating "Whale in Love!" in Arabic. Wonderful. My mothers visit was also wonderful outside of the festival with additional accompaniment of my cousin and my mothers oh so sweet and bashful pooch, Holly. (who is apparently terrified of strange people in giant lobster costumes, I understood her fear). Not to mention getting to watch the United States soccer team clench a tie with England in preliminary groups stage of the 2010 World Cup, but this old news to all of you I'm sure. (especially in England).
We then move into July which came and went kind of like a fireworks display, it seemed we had come home for Kari's youngest brothers Allen's graduation from high school at the end of June and next thing you know (explosions of fiery red and blue sparkling wonder) we are standing on a large stair case with so many members of Kari's family, I think neighboring vacationers may have imagined a local cult and/or mafia family was in their presence, luckily our collective normalcy must have eased their concerned minds. Allen's graduation was magnificent and I can never quite express just how proud of this young man I am. He is a stand up individual (which says a lot being how tall he is). He has a good head on his lofty shoulders and will go on to do even greater things in college and his life ahead of him, I am sure of it. We kicked the soccer ball around, played some can-jam, and "flew kites." Nothing quite compares to a day out on pickle platter pond.
Allen, good luck to you and all that you do. You have always been and always will be someone that I view with an endless potential and mind that is capable of taking advantage of this potential. You are a great person and will only shine brighter with each day you continue being yourself.
On to the Outer Banks! We went to the Outer Banks, NC, with almost everyone in Kari's family that I have ever met including those close to the family as well. It was an excellent time and true test of the eating establishments of the area. Kari and I were overjoyed to be able to "get away" from it all, but stay put with those closest to us. Thank you Judy for making this possible! Allen, sorry about the toe. We had an amazing time within the confines of our castle like abode and out and about amongst the waves of the fantastic beaches. Not to cut it short, but being with few pictures of these occasions I will move onto some recent events. For some fun photos see link: http://gallow-photo-year.blogspot.com/
Zooming to August! Hot! so very Hot! Of course having an Ocean source nearby that has an average temperature that through comparison makes our refrigerator look like a sauna, painful sacrifices are made in the icy water to escape the suffocating heat and humidity of a New England Summer. Today, to escape the heat and doldrums of day to day living Kari suggested we flee to one of the many islands of the Casco Bay near Portland, ME. This, of course coming from Kari and not myself, was a reasonable and superb idea. We decided on Peaks Island today. Peaks Island is the most inhabited island within the Casco Bay that is not connected to the Maine land via bridge. A favorite location to famed American director John Ford, the island peaked (no pun intended... entirely) our interest. We drove up to Portland, got some tickets from the Casco Bay Lines for only $15!, and hopped aboard. After a brief stint of me gratefully not being sea-sick, we arrived to Peak Island with it's warm welcoming sign, placed I'm sure to comfort and inform any tourist that may have stumbled aboard the boat unknowing of their destination.
We then embarked on a five mile walk smiling consistently without interruption save for the occasional look of shock at the natural beauty surrounding our fortunate periphery. We discussed many wonderful and mostly fictitious things, one such topic being of how we would schedule and organize regular visitation from friends and family. I spoke of the Summer months being of primary interest for most, but claimed October for immediate siblings and their respective significant others. Kari replied with honest concern about what if any potential children are in school. I took this under consideration, but said that it had to be in the Fall as all of us being so recently used to traveling somewhere in the Fall and experiencing new subjects and learning much from our recent collegiate experiences. Then my answer came to me, by then we all will have (hopefully) concluded our collective collegiate experiences, having six separate college degrees (surely enough to encompass all that academia could possibly offer) we could simply educate the children ourselves for that time period of anything they could possibly be missing in their classrooms (rooms with much less captivating scenery I am sure).
We were interrupted midway through our island endeavor by a bright blue dragonfly fly flitting about a little marsh on the inland side of the road which encircled the whole of the island. This little dragonfly of course was merely an appetizer to both Kari and my own appetites for viewing wildlife. After looking at the marsh for a short period I noticed crouched under a small branch a beautiful bird of Blue and White crouched silently, possibly mid meal. I did not attempt to move to close to it as not to scare it off or disrupt a potentially savory dish. I have tried for the life of me to identify this little fella/lady, but no luck. My gut says Great Blue Heron, but too small right? Go ahead and let us know in the comments.
Finally after circling around the fifth mile, we stopped in the local grocer to grab some grub. Then we sat and took in some more of the wonderful view and parted for the ferry once again to return home.
A final note, as I do not know when we will meet again. We are on the move, if you need our new address let us know. We don't move until the 28th of August, but we will be in a cozy little beach house less than a hundred yards from the Atlantic Ocean. This means many new things to experience and post, one of which being fishing. Maybe I will start practicing now, I'm going to go find the cat and see how this pans out. Until next time, gone fishing!
