We celebrated a most remarkable life.

 

On Sunday morning we drove up the coast of Maine to say goodbye to a very special man.

 

 

The kind of man you meet once in a lifetime.

 

 

A humble man so good, so kind hearted and so generous of spirit… his celebration of life had to be held in an airplane hangar.

Was it because he was a pilot?

 

 

Maybe, but more likely it was because he touched so many lives no other space was large enough to hold the mourners.

A lifeline to the Islands

I stood in 90+ temperatures (pressed against a wall and wearing a mask) for over 2 hours. I listened to emotionally wrought eulogies…. and saw grown men openly weep when they tried to speak of what Kevin meant to them.

The outpouring of love and respect was almost physical. You could feel it, in the air and in your heart.

When the service was over and four planes from the airline he started, nurtured and bled for flew over in the missing man formation?

Spontaneous applause and not a dry eye in sight.

 

 

Fair skies and tailwinds Mr. Waters….

The world will be a lesser place without you in it.

Fog

 

Fog is such an ethereal thing…. and for me, it’s usually hard to capture a good photograph.

 

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But the other evening I looked out our front door….

 

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And the strangest low lying patch of fog had enveloped our farming neighbors.

 

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We had none at our house across the street.

 

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But theirs was impressive.

 

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And as the sun started to set…..

 

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The colors began to change.

 

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Orange and yellow fog.

 

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A beautiful sight.

Project finale.

 

Railing installation on the last section of deck required measuring.

 

 

So much measuring.

 

 

I figured 16 balustrades, at 5 1/2 inches apart.

 

 

Which the husband started to implement and then chose to ignore.

 

 

Why did he change the spacing?

I have no idea.

 

 

But he continued on his path.

 

 

And shockingly, something was off.

 

 

There he is with the little level again.

Silly man, didn’t he learn anything from the baby barn?

 

 

When he reached the end? He had too much room to leave it open, but not enough room to evenly space a rail.

 

 

So he jammed one in anyway, because at that point he didn’t care.

I did, but managed to swallow my criticism. It was done, and looked a damn sight better than it used to.

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

I’m pleased with it, as long as I don’t focus on symmetry.

 

 

It’s a cleaner, more modern look.

 

 

But now I can’t decide if the white lattice panel should stay or go.

Guess that can wait till I restain the deck.

Country living perks.

 

We live in a rural area of Maine…. and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Peace and quiet.

Visiting wildlife.

And beautiful scenery.

Some days more than others…

 

 

Living across the road from an organic vegetable farm has it’s benefits.

 

 

And fresh veggies aren’t the half of it.

 

 

Right now, the poppies are in bloom.

 

 

Glorious, riotous bloom.

 

 

And I’m enjoying every minute of it.

 

 

I mean really….

 

 

How can you not?

 

Holy crap!

 

Yes.

I’m literally going to talk about crap…. and you’re going to wonder why you ever started following me in the first place.

 

 

Piles of crap have suddenly begun showing up on our front lawn.

 

 

Same spot, by the kitchen door, every morning, totaling 4 piles.

 

 

Sorry, I can’t.

Weird as it sounds, we’ve lived here for 18 years and have never had a dog leave a deposit. Ever!

It’s too big for woodchuck or fox. And it’s not skunk. They leave a trail of small black poo nuggets on the driveway.

We have started seeing raccoons late at night, and they do make the rounds.

 

 

But I’m thinking coyotes might be setting us up as a rural rest stop.

 

 

So if any of my readers are expert scat identifiers?

Now would be the time to weigh in.

*Poop Update –  since writing this the other day.

 

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The count is up to 5 piles, and since it rained…. closer examination of contents was possible.

(Still with me? You really are loyal readers!)

 

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Seeds.

I think we can safely rule out coyote now.

Sometimes I feel like I’m just phoning it in.

 

There’s nothing like the internet to make you feel inadequate.

And while I consider myself a relatively good cook, photos of the latest trend in baking shared by a friend are making me doubt my commitment.

 

 

Because, to be honest….

 

 

This type of magic never occurs in my kitchen.

 

 

I can’t even blame it on not having the time…

 

 

Because that’s something I have plenty of right now.

 

 

So all I can say is …. stop.

 

 

Stop making the rest of us look like slackers.

 

 

Asshole.

Now you’re just showing off.

Randomness.

 

We’ve been busy with other things outside, but I’m still managing to keep Amazon afloat during the pandemic.

 

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And if you’re dying to read the new Hunger Games book? Don’t bother, it was rather disappointing. And while I’d given up on Stephen King… this new collection of short stories has my late BIL in it again, thinly disguised but still recognizable to those who knew him. He and Stephen went to school together.

And no, I won’t tell you which character. I’m evil that way.

 

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The fabulous rose I planted last year has finally decided to bloom.

 

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And it was worth waiting for.

On another note, isn’t it great when your friends get you?

 

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My girlfriend gave me this the other day and damn, it’s perfect!

 

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As is this beauty.

 

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Have you ever tried to photograph butterflies?

It’s not easy. This was the one lucky shot out of 20.

 

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Our raccoon decided to take a bath, dig through my garden bed and then attempted to climb up the garage the other night.

Why? I have no idea.

 

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But even I can’t argue with that.

 

 

Slow and steady wins the race.

 

But it doesn’t get your deck railing project finished any sooner.

We were back at it and it was still hot.

 

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Unfortunately the heat wave coincided with an extended dry spell and our lawn was starting to crunch.

 

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But old railings were torn down.

 

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And rusty nails exposed.

 

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I stained the new wood we had to waste almost 2 hours going to get that morning because someone… I won’t mention who… cut the other pieces incorrectly.

 

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And then that someone  (oops, my bad)  discovered a sander in the barn and wanted to play.

 

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He was fine on the flat surfaces, but scared me to death when he started trying to sand in between. That thing would hit a beam, jump out of his hand and spin wildly across the deck. It happened a dozen times but I could never quite catch it on film.

 

 

In between his legs.

Close to the power cord.

I knew something was gonna give, and it did.

 

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That thing jumped up and sliced his jeans right open. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt, but at that point I said no more sanding!

 

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Which he completely ignored and kept sanding.

 

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After sanding, and almost slicing his leg off?

He hammered nails.

 

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And swept the same portion of deck I had just swept.

Apparently I didn’t do it right.

We did manage to get a few pieces of wood installed before dinner.

With some gentle persuasion.

 

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So this was basically it.

 

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For a whole days work.

Good thing no one is paying us by the hour……

 

 

 

 

Baby squirrel resurgence.

 

They’re baaaaaaack.

Well, at least the babies are.

 

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And they’re making themselves right at home on the deck.

 

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A little too much at home for my liking.

 

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Because they’re trying to get back into the hole they all came tumbling out of last month.

 

 

Cute? Yes.

Respectful house guests? No.

 

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And then the other day, a friend helped me out.

 

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No, it’s not the same picture.

Look in the lower right hand corner….

 

 

Baby woodchuck is finally earning his keep.

Well done sir.

Carry on.