Lubec Maine

Old cannery in Lubec, a town that isn't a the end of the world, but you can see it from there. Located at the very tip of Maine, Canada a stone's throw across the harbor, the town is stark and beautiful...and totally driven by the sea and its bounties. The canneries are gone, but fishing is still alive.

Wandering Water Street on a summer day, the gulls screaming and the trawlers putt-putting, the tide lapping against the cannery pilings, and the foghorn in the distance, I always loved the sea sounds and the crisp air.

This is why I love kids

At school today: a boy, lost in thought, tuned out of the lesson I was conducting. One finger was hooked on either side of his mouth, widening it till either side of his lips was practically near each ear.

I put the teacher's manual down and asked "What are you doing?"

"I'm stretching the cracks out of my lips."

A day in the life of a substitute teacher

The Middle School is letting out. There's an endless line of buses that trundle down the new road and onto Rt. 98. A policeman directs traffic. This was a nice end of day, kids going home, my window was open and the sun was warm for the first time in weeks. The day began with frost on the windshield and a heavy sweater but finally, blessedly, the temperatures warmed up. I lowered my window as the buses dispersed and snapped photos all around. I was leaving behind a good day with cute first graders and looking ahead to home,  a cup of tea and my computer and the kitties. A great day, all in all.

Corner View: "Holiday"

Jane over at Spain Daily has resumed the "Corner View" Wednesday peek at life in your corner of the world. The theme this week is "Holiday." Be sure to check out Jane's photo, they are always lovely, and click the links to everyone else's Corner View.

A few years ago, I lived on a sailboat, cruising up and down the Eastern US to the Bahamas and back. Every day was a holiday.

Mount Zion Church

Somebody dropped their drawers!

This cracked me up. Two metal drawers, one on top of the other, placed, not thrown, on a traffic island in the middle of of a two-lane highway. How'd they get there? Why are they there? Why two drawers, and not 4? It's hard to stop in that spot, kind of dangerous too. Oh, well, it gave me something to think about on the drive hime.

Frank Knight and the 240 year old tree

Seven or eight years ago, I wrote a feature on Frank Knight of Yarmouth Maine. I was editor/publisher of The Monument Newspaper at the time, and Mr Knight's stature as the 90-plus-year-old tree warden of the Town of Yarmouth, Maine was of interest.

During the course of the interview, I learned much about trees, dedication to one's chosen profession, and also about courtliness. Mr Knight is a gentle man, in both senses of the word. He showed me "Herbie", New England's oldest and tallest elm tree and told me that the tree had been standing since before the Revolutionary War. It was something special to be able to put your hand on a living thing that pre-dated our nation's birth. The direct connection to a long-ago time was an opportunity one doesn't forget.

My challenge for the photograph was the man and the tree. The tree was too large to get a good photo of it in its entirety that would also show the man next to it who had nursed it for five decades. Mr Knight had cared for the tree through the Dutch Elm disease (14 times!) scourge, droughts, and development. But now the end has come. Not for Mr Knight, still going strong at 101 years young. But for Herbie the Elm Tree. It will succumb to the chop, having blossomed its last leaf. It is succumbing to Dutch Elm disease at long last. (Photo source and information about The Herbie Project)

The photo I eventually chose to use in my feature article was one that I remember to this day. It was of Mr Knight leaning against Herbie with his hand on its trunk, his other hand in his pocket, and a smile on his tanned face. Mr Knight's nearly 100 year old hand on the 240 year old trunk were almost indistinguishable. His aged gnarled knuckles, made all the rougher from years as a logger in his youth were similar to the gnarls and bumps of the old bark. Yet both tree and man stood proud, serving their purpose with dignity amid tremendous changes around them over the course of the centuries.

I can't find the photo now of Mr Knight leaning against his great love, Herbie, and I wish I could. But the memory of my brief encounter with this courtly man and his tree remains vivid. Today there are many news outlets picking up on the story of the soon to be accomplished tree-felling, starting with the New York Times. There is quite a stir and hubbub online from the US to Canada and beyond about the loss of this tree. But I prefer to remember the affectionate, quiet moments with Mr Knight on a summer day in far-away Yarmouth Maine, his faithfulness to history, and his dedication to roots of all kinds.

240-Year-Old Maine Elm Tree to Be Chopped Down
YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) -- The massive elm tree that shaded the corner of East Main Street and Yankee Drive was sick. Like so many others in so many of America's towns in the 1950s, it was stricken with Dutch elm disease. Tree warden Frank Knight was so smitten with the tree that he couldn't bear to cut it down. After all, it had been standing sentinel in this New England village since before the American Revolution.

Over the next half-century, Knight carefully nursed the tree, spraying for pests and pruning away the dreaded fungus, even as the town's other elms died by the dozens. As he succeeded, the stately tree's branches reached 110 feet skyward, its leaves rustling in summer breezes off the Royal River and its heavy limbs shouldering winter snowfalls.

more at link.

Traffic, Comer style

I work at a school so I have school hours, from about 7:30 to 3. This suits me, I have the rest of the day to do my own thing, while it's light out, and a break between school and teaching at church Wednesday nights. Occasionally I get caught in the big traffic jam at Comer Elementary. Leaving Danielsville Elementary school at 3, if I ride back down Rt 98 at just the right time, I get tangled up in the bus and parent traffic leaving that school. I live across the street. There really is so much traffic leaving the school and the road is such a major road in the county, that it does require a flashing '25 mph' signal for the half hour in the morning when buses arrive and at the end of the school day when buses leave. It also requires a policeman to direct traffic, which also suits me. I like having the law outside my house two times a day, with all the burglaries happening.

So yesterday was one of those days when I got caught n the traffic in front of the school before it dispersed. I laugh, because the 'traffic' usually doesn't usually back up for too many car lengths, and the policeman is skilled and keeps things moving along evenly. However something was different yesterday and I did sit there in one spot for about 10 minutes. After a while I picked up my camera, rolled down the window and started shooting. There are many rural scenes all around and within camera-shot, without a zoom, even, lol. I laughed at the irony of idling in traffic in front of the American iconic white picket fence, cows, and birdhouses. 

How it is around here

Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over we sadly must return to regular schedules. Schedules that include paying bills, doing laundry, and eating right. However, while the holidays were on, some folks around here had a really good time as evidenced by the police blotter blurb below. I wonder what they are regretting now that the cold light of day has come upon them? ;) No Christmas party stock room dalliance that can be kept secret, these folks awoke to their name in the news.

"Three arrested after riding on horses while drinking Three people were arrested recently in an unusual case of DUI, after a deputy reportedly found them riding horses on the road at night while drinking. According to the sheriff’s office and the incident report, Deputy Dennis Harbison found the trio riding their horses on James Adams Road after dark Saturday night with no reflective gear on. Harbison asked them to get off their horses and noticed the smell of alcohol and that they were unstable on their feet. He also found several cans of Bud Light both open and unopened in their saddle bags. They were arrested and taken to the Madison County Jail."

We awoke today to a cold morning here in peachy Georgia. Bright, but very cold.No, the photo isn't of Georgia, it's from Maine, but the sun was that bright, glinting off the hard grown trees and icy patches in the yard.

Wunderground reports this morning "Gusty winds will persist across north and central Georgia this morning...creating wind chill values in the single digits above zero. Strong gusty winds from 15 to 25 mph can be expected. Wind chill values will be between 0 and 10 degrees above zero generally along and north of a line from Franklin to McDonough to Danielsville...through 9 am EST. Anyone going outdoors should dress in layers. Those especially sensitive to cold temperatures should remain indoors until temperatures rise later this morning." Hmmm, OK!

The news says "Winter cold dominates country's eastern half""Brutally cold temperatures continue in the Eastern U.S., with snow near the Great Lakes."

Frozen pipes are a concern. Most houses around here don't have them well insulated or protected, there rarely being a long spell of below freezing weather. I don't remember it being this cold at any time in the four winters I've lived here. Mid-teens for an overnight low is pretty cold for anywhere, but especially cold for the people around here who think 45 degrees is a temperature assault on the bones. Above, Drudge Report home page today.

Yet, charmingly, the birds are back. I have heard more birds the last few days than I have in the previous two months. I think some of them are making their way back, or are-emerging with vigor. Anyway, it's good to hear them. They're active in the scuppernine fence at the back of the yard. They are swooping, playing, and chirping to their heart's content. It's great to hear. See the fat one in the middle of the brown foliage? They swoop across the yard and land there and then continue on to the next door guy's roof.

Yesterday I spent in one of my favorite ways, worshiping at church for the majority of the morning, and home cooking for the majority of the afternoon. The cooking and washing dishes after gives my hands a chance to be busy while I think and ponder the truths related to me from the sermon. I spent a long time considering what the Holy Spirit might want me to do to serve Jesus this year. As to the cooking part, I made brownies, baked a bunch of sweet potatoes, and made sweet potato casserole. Obviously I had a lot of potatoes to get rid of! I get them for free from an organic farm and I love them! Just love them. The casserole was a take on southern sweet potato casserole but I modified it for northern tastes. The recipe I was given was simple enough, steam or boil the taters as they are referred to here, mash, add salt, pepper, vanilla, sugar and butter. I omitted the sugar. I mean, they're sweet potatoes, they don't need more sweetening. The ladies of the south love their sugar. And I halved the butter. You just don't need that much with an organic product that has fantastic taste all its own.

These red berries are about the only thing that has color in the yard these days. Except for the occasional cardinal, the colors out back are brown and more brown. I can't wait for spring, which blessedly comes in March here in north Georgia, and not in May as in my former home of Maine. Then the yard bursts into color of all kinds as well as a chorus of noise from the returning birds.

I settled in for the final episode of Cranford last night on Masterpiece Theatre. Oh, what a joy to view great acting, sumptuous scenes, and stellar writing. It was wonderful, all snuggled up on my couch under a blankie and my two cats on either side of me, purring and stretching and kneading. Best of all, though things got pretty sad there in the middle of the run, all ended happily. I love Judy Dench...and Masterpiece. I can't wait for the series to continue with its sequel next week. And after that several of Jane Austen's books are made into series. It looks to be some nice Sunday night for the next few weeks.

So ends my vacation. Today I'm readying the apartment, the car, and myself for the hectic work-week. I'm making soup, vacuuming, doing laundry and bagging up 3 old canvas bags teachers seem to tote around, two with their ministry materials for Good News Club and Pioneer Club, which begin again, and the third for school for my lunch and subbing needs. I'm ready for the onslaught again! The question is, is it ready for me?

Happy New Year

Above, the back yard on a cold winter's day.

The traditional New Year's lunch around these here parts is peas with greens. Peas as in the bean family. Greens, as in turnip or collard greens. Accompanied by cornbread. Sounds lackluster, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. Here are the ins and outs of great southern cooking.

We ate the traditional lunch today, together. My friend had cooked the lunch and invited a couple of us over. It was a feast! The turnip greens were cooked well, tender and juicy. The peas were crowder peas and really tasty too. You top them with a tomato relish. Take a tomato, chopped, and reduce with sugar and vinegar till thick. Plop onto the peas. It is soooo good! Cornbread is baked in a seasoned pie tin - with buttermilk-  for extra moistness and a crusty crust. It is soooo good! A sweet potato oiled on the outside and baked slowly while wrapped in tin foil completes the meal.

We ate slowly, enjoying the cornbread soaked in crowder peas juices, and the potato steaming as we slit the foil. They drank sweet tea, of course. I had water. The peas are supposed to represent coins and the turnip greens, money, for a prosperous new year. So, Happy New Year to all and I hope 2010 is prosperous and happy for all of you.