Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

This was my summer read for 2011 and I really enjoyed this book. It is a memoir of Frank McCourt’s childhood which has so much hunger and hardship at times you may wonder if it is all true. When they say that life is more interesting than fiction this book is a case in point. Throughout the book I kept hoping that his father would do the right thing and bring home the money so they could eat, but no, the pint had a stronger pull and “Mam” couldn’t control him or get to his paycheck before he spent it all at the pubs. The sadness of death, the rituals of the Catholic religion, the quiet people who do good, the loud people who do bad, the shame of being a cut below your neighbors, the anger at parents who were doing things you didn’t want them to do. This book pulled me in from so many directions that I truly did not want to put it down.

Kayaking on the Androscoggin

On Saturday Lauren and I finally went kayaking on the Androscoggin River. We have done this three or four times in the past but this is the first time we went since we have moved here. What has taken us so long? Oh yeah….all those other life events. It was a great day for kayaking and we did see one bald eagle with a fish in its talons as it flew off to build some distance between us.

Unfortunately there was one annoying group of kids, 20 or so, putting in around the same time we were with coolers of beer, bottles of Jaegermeister, a boom box, and mouths yelling the f-bomb every minute or so. Fortunately they were in canoes that kept tipping over and were moving slow enough that we were able to paddle ahead and out of earshot range. I just hope all the bottles and cans made it back to land.

It felt good to get on the river again.

Table Rock Loop Trail

View from Table Rock in Grafton Notch State Park

I have been asking myself recently why I have not gone hiking more since I now live in the land of abundant mountains and trails. The White Mountain National Forest is practically in my back yard and Grafton Notch State Park is just a short ride to the north. So I kicked my lazy butt out of bed this morning, laced up the hiking boots, threw some water and trail mix in a day pack and headed to Grafton Notch State Park with the purpose of climbing the Table Rock Loop Trail. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this trail and it did not disappoint. You get a lot of bang for the buck on this particular trail (okay it’s a 2 buck honor system fee). They have a nice parking lot at the trailhead where you cross the road (Route 26) and begin hiking the Appalachian Trail for a very short while (0.1 mile) before you have a decision to make which is:

a) Do I go counter-clockwise and take the steep and rocky trail up? This is the orange blaze trail, or

b) Do I continue up the moderately steep Appalachian Trail for about one mile and then branch off to the right on a relatively easy trail toward Table Rock? (Blue blaze trail)

I chose option B and reached Table Rock in about 45 minutes. The views here are spectacular looking at Old Speck Mountain directly ahead, Sunday River Whitecap to the south and the Eyebrow to the north. Although the weatherman last night said a high pressure system would make this day sunny it was cloudy enough to keep the top of Old Speck hidden from view.

So I continued the loop which is 2.4 miles taking the orange blaze (steep and rocky) trail back down which is hard on the legs. I met a couple who said they have done this hike many times and think it is easiest to do it the other way. I have to agree with them so unless you only want to take the blue blaze trail back and forth I would recommend taking the steep (orange blaze) trail up and the (blue blaze) trail down. If you’re in pretty good shape this is really a worthwhile hike.

Old Speck

The Eyebrow

August Summer Fun

Lissy at Songo Pond

My sister Ingy and her kids came to visit us last week after Amber and Tommie’s wedding. It was short but sweet and the day they were here was perfect weather for swimming at the lake. I wonder if it’s possible to be angry or sad when you are frolicking in a lake that is perfectly refreshing? I don’t think so. Besides swimming at the lake we showed them downtown Bethel, the view from the top of Paradise Road, the Covered Bridge on Sunday River and Sunday River Ski resort where we watched a few folks fly down the zip line. Then we went to the Swain Farm Stand and picked up some fresh corn for supper that night.

Just some of the family

On Saturday we drove down to Cape Elizabeth to have a family lunch after my nephews Luke and Ezra and their dad Artie had completed the Beach to Beacon road race. We made it back to Bethel in time to catch one of the comedy shows at the first annual Maine Comedy Festival http://mainecomedyfest.com/ which took place right here at the Bethel Inn Conference Center. It was very funny, easy to get to and a perfect way to end the day. Is there any way to make the summer last longer?

Four of a Kind

New Month - New Couple

It’s August and that means Amber and Tommie did it… they got married. It happened on July 30^th and it was an uncharacteristic day for New England in that it was….perfect. No rain, no clouds, not too hot, not too humid….Sunshine and blue skies all day long….how did they pull that one off?

It was nice for me to see both of them plan and put together this beautiful event. It reflected their personalities and their style, it was wonderful. Needless to say it was great to have family get together and also see some of Amber and Tommie’s long time friends. There were two I did not recognize at first probably because I have not seen them since they graduated high school or because I’m just getting old. I’ll let Tommie and Amber share the wedding photos they like with the blogosphere. I just saw some of the photos that Don Watson (Tommie’s Dad) took of the wedding and they are beautiful. Of course any of you reading this who would like to see the great photography of Tommie and Don Watson just need to click on this link http://www.coast2coastimages.com/ and it will take you there.

Anyone who knows Amber and Tommie probably thought that this might have happed awhile ago seeing that they’ve been with each other since 9^th grade and they’re both 28 years old now. But they are planners and sometimes good plans take awhile. Congratulations Amber and Tommie; may desire take you where you want to go.

Mother of the Bride with some of the Beautiful Girls