Mainelife...thru the eyes of someone from away

Can You Stand Yet Another?

Took this picture with the big lens from my office window... while on the phone with my boss.  Both the bird and the boss were oblivious. 

Friday. Friday. Friday!

It's been an  awfully long and rather difficult week on the professional side, but a glorious Maine spring week outside of the office.  The Red Sox didn't lose last night, so it all makes for happy, happy, joy, joy Friday. 
The sunrise was lovely with enough clouds to make it interesting.  We're actually hoping those clouds bring rain later in the day.  We've not had any for 12 days and we're in need of some.  I'm off to play tennis then back to the work treadmill, so y'all have a great day. 
Cavs/Celtics game six tonight.  Will the Celtics finally win one on the road? 

The Kayaks move to their summah home

(taken through the screen with the iPhone).

The kayaks are heading to their summer home in Cushing, where they'll be used to explore the St. George river and paddle to the Dip Net for lunch. 

Baltimore Orioles

We've had a steady attendance of Baltimore Orioles feeding at the oranges since I moved the feeder from next to the kitchen window to a more private location but they're extremely shy.  The above photo was taken two days ago--despite almost constant activity on the oranges, I've not been able to get a shot without scaring them off. 

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the Baltimore Orioles baseball club wasn't quite as hesitant the past two days.   The O's dinged the Sox for two losses and the Sox have surrendered their lead in the AL east to the Rays.  Even Manny being Manny just wasn't enough to get the win.   

It's only May and there's a lot of baseball to be played, but the Red Sox pitching surely makes one feel that a bunch of runs is never enough.   

Pre-game Warm Up for Game 5

A little appetizer of LeBron's recent greatest to get you ready for Game 5.

News From Around York

• Neighbor Hal reports that two deer came for breakfast at his duck feeder yesterday.  The ducks showed up shortly after the deer and began pacing circles around the deer, quacking loudly.  The deer ignored them, even when the male flapped his wings and feigned a charge.
• Don't Tread On Me flags, stop signs and Think Again signs are  popping up all over  York.  A non-binding resolution was added to our spring ballot and should pass by a large margin.  At the heart of the issue is whether to relocate the York Toll Booth (the first toll booth in the state) or repair the current toll booth.  All sites chosen for relocation would take homes and land from York residents. 
• We relocated wind chimes and bird feeders to allow the Baltimore Orioles a little more privacy while dining (they spook more easily than our finches and chickadees).  The Wild Bird feeder is now about a foot outside the kitchen window and Spike can't believe his luck.  It's like having HiDef kitty TV, he reports.
• A rescue search for a missing Kittery fisherman has now turned into a search for his body.  46 year old Christopher Tobey was lost at sea on Sunday when his 40 foot lobster boat capsized in rough seas.  Our thoughts are with his family. 
• RG is on a full boycott of the Boston Herald.  NFL commish Roger Goodell found NO evidence of any taping of the Rams' walk-thru, and the Herald has issued an apology for running the story on February 2nd with no corroboration.  RG has flatly rejected this apology until both Tomase and Felger are fired.  He now wants me to help him comment on the story on-line, but I'm too afraid of what he might write to support this effort.  Although, reading through the 124 comments that are already posted, I don't think RG can get any worse. 

Gloria. G-L-O-R-I-A

K-Sea and Lisa have been very kind to this blogger and my rooting interests in this second round of the NBA series.  I live and die by the Red Sox,  but I take the Cavs over the Celtics?  After last night, it's time to explain that it's not  the Cavs that I'm pulling for, but rather LeBron James, despite his rather inexplicable affinity for the (gag me) Yankees.  I believe that the entire state of Ohio wants LeBron James to succeed because for him to do so defies so many odds. Gloria James throwing elbows at Paul Pierce last night is nothin'.....it's just one more thing to put down as part of the Legend of Gloria James.   

LeBron has been the wonder kid of Ohio since he was in seventh grade. We all knew about this kid from Akron who was going to be the next Michael Jordan.  My brother-in-law saw him play in the first round of the state tournament against Ashland Hillsdale (not our alma mater, but a county school full of short farm kids, more suited to football that hoops). It was LeBron's junior year of high school. Rob called on his way home from the game to tell me that he saw LeBron dunk the ball---a Hillsdale kid set up just inside the free throw line to take the charge. LeBron left his feet at the free throw line, went OVER the kid, literally, jumping up and clearing him, legs splayed and put down a dunk.  Rob could not believe what he'd seen. This kid was that GOOD. 

As the Legend grew (Akron St. Vincent/St.Mary High School was on ESPN and started flying all over the country to play ball), so did LeBron's mom's antics.    There was a game his senior year when she showed up in a fur, carrying large portrait of LeBron and paced the sidelines during warm-ups, saying "Bronie's in the House. That's my son, King James."  Rumor had it she might have had a couple of cocktails before the game.  There was the Hummer she bought him for his 18th birthday, paid for by a loan she took out based on his future earnings.  There were aways stories about Gloria James.  There was the night she showed up at his game in a fur, driving a Cadillac. She refused to say where she got the money to pay for these things.  The portrait became an every game deal, as well as the pacing and trash-talking at those who asked her to sit down.   LeBron loved his mom and Sure, Sure, he graduated with a solid B average and sure he kept himself out of any kind of trouble with the law all through high school....but Gloria James kept the entire state just waiting for the next thing. She needed attention and it seemed that she didn't care whether it was positive or negative. 

No one wanted to judge or borrow trouble, but we all knew of so many stories of kids from tough circumstances who couldn't handle instant wealth and the constant pressure of celebrity and expectations.  And LeBron had more wealth, more expectations, more pressure than any of them.  Then, just as we all wished, he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers.  The King of Ohio would stay in Ohio.  Who would advise him and help him navigate the NBA as a teenager?    Surely, with a $90 million Nike contract at 18 years old  he would behave like a teenager and blow it, just like Maurice Clarett.  But he didn't.  Oh no, he didn't.

Through it all, LeBron has shown maturity, poise and wisdom far greater than his years and in measures much greater than his mother. He handles the press, his neighbors, the fans, with grace.  At 23, he is the face of Cleveland and it's a face the city is proud of.    And when LeBron moves to LA, or Chicago, I'll still be a LeBron girl. If he becomes a Knick, he's on his own, though.

It's Not Cal Ripken

But it is a Baltimore Oriole. 

Continuing Thoughts on the Kindle

The Kindle and I have now been together for four months and 15 days, and I'm happy to report that the love affair continues.  I've not cheated on the Kindle and it's been awfully good to me, giving me more than I'd hoped for in this relationship. And I continue to love the green-ness of it; professionally, I'm a forest's worst nightmare (although we've moved to recycled paper for many of our books) but I don't have to make the same personal choices.

I did notice that I missed the bookstore.  I missed watching other readers pick up a book, read the back cover copy and make a decision to hold or put back the book. I missed picking up a book and reading back cover copy.  I missed book covers. So, now I visit the bookstore to browse and take in the atmosphere (bookstores are to me what shoe stores are to Celine Dion) and make purchasing decisions for the Kindle.  90% of what I want to read is available in Kindle format and that's more than enough to keep me occupied. 

But summer is almost here and I've found that the Kindle can't fulfill all my reading needs. First, my tennis group is also my book club, so almost every time we play tennis, books are being exchanged.  When one of us finishes a good book, we pass it along to another and we discuss it while we sweep the courts or while we're warming up.  I miss sharing books with my friends.  I can still recommend a good book (like Olive Kitteridge, an excellent novel in short stories by Elizabeth Strout) but it's not as fun as physically passing it to someone I just know will enjoy it as much as I did. 

Secondly, now that it's beach weather, I've started to wonder about the wisdom of taking the Kindle to the beach where sand and water and other beach-goers might create an issue (like a missing Kindle or a gritty, sandy Kindle).  I also can't imagine taking it down to the float  (in Cushing) to read. There are some wide spaces between those boards and I don't think the Kindle floats.  I've enough paper books on bookshelves around the house to find something to read at the beach or on the dock, but  it's a limitation that I think will bother me more as time goes on (don't want to take the Kindle on the boat, in the kayak, on my bike, etc). 

Saturday Odds and Ends

It's a coolish day, but the gale force winds and terrible rains have passed to our south.  We're wearing sweaters so that the windows can be open, letting in the good smells of a spring day: newly cut grass, fresh earth and hyacinths.  As I type, that guy or one of his buddies is standing in the back forty, giving me the what-for by way of insistent gobbles.   It seems that I've greatly upset the tribe by snapping photos while they were eating lunch.  They moved off to a safer distance, but they're not done being indignant.

A sharp-shinned hawk has been stalking the bird feeders for the last couple of days.  We've not seen him catch anyone but his presence might explain why we haven't had any Baltimore Orioles feeding at the oranges and grape jelly we've put out.

Today is finishing up the spring planting--the harsh winter took only one rose bush, but a couple of rudbeckia didn't come up and I seem to be missing the Shasta Daisy and a pink cone flower. In addition, the snap dragons and dahlias need to be planted every spring.  Every year I vow fewer annuals, but find that  I can't resist the promise of those pretty blooms.