Aye, the summer dark feet

I've stood beneath green skies - yes, green the way I sees them - In the weeks since I've last written. I've taken early morning bike rides down straightaways - trails that lead to and parallel the crisp, cool tide. In the weeks since I've last written, yes. I've spent pacified nights on a screened porch - sparkled by fireflies in the inky dark. I dreamed of my brother and sister - how I miss them. Southern weather has come to visit - but for just a few days. I've targeted buoys with endless pebbled ammunition. In my weeks. I've, too, spent nights in the ceremonies of my own porch - feasted upon by mosquitos. Every evening I witness South Portland head to an early sleep - we own the town upon its slumber. And, aye, my feet are darkened by the long days under the sun. I've swam in the ocean, with its shocking temperature stealing my lungs. Sometimes, the clouds appear as pinkish smudges, warped by this very strange

latitude. And I love everything. Deep breathes - the salt flavored air! And what is a night without a walk on the beach? I've deciphered the moonshine as it collides with eddys by the coast. And I've met the spirit of my house, its a mirthful ghost.

Recovery

don't mind the posts that have nothing in them or abbreviated text, they're space holders, I will translate my journal entries to them soon

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worked some, celebrated too much

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Parents leave

photo of a rainbow after a spritzing shower, it was refreshing!

Journey to points South

journey to points south photo in Kennebunkport area

Journey to points North

Easily the most adventurous and most spiritual day of my time in Maine! I had never left the immediate area of inner Greater Portland (you like that?) and I explained to my parents, who love an adventure as well, that anything outside of the area is new to me. We decided to start in Freeport and make further decisions on our trip later. In Freeport there are many outlet stores, and the L.L. Bean 24/365 store is there. Nothing too exciting there. Next we decided to go to a group of island south of Brunswick. Map. Notice Portland in the lower-left and Brunswick at the top-center. You will see below Brunswick the islands of Orrs and Bailey. It was short journey, we expected it to take longer. But we got to a point called Lands End at the tip of Bailey. The moment we got out of the car and stepped towards the coast, I felt a feeling of home and a sort of justification of my move. That is where the photo was taken, and

the mist evoked a mysticism inherent in the coast. Along the way down to the island, I saw a view straight from the works of Hokusai, a great Japanese printmaker. Wikipedia. I did a search of his work for something comparable, but I could not find much, mostly disparate elements from several prints that could be combined, by pastiche, to construct a composition of Mackerel Cove. Picture. There was a lot of fishermen out, which is an occupation that I am very removed from, having lived inland for all my life, and my visits to the coast in mostly vacation spots. Overall, it was a peaceful area that I could easily reside in. After the island tour, we went to Cape Elisabeth, just south of Portland. The rock formation here was different than the ones at Bailey and even different from Fort Williams. Oh, how I do enjoy the variety of the coastline! Picture.

visit from the parents

Well, having prepared for this for the past week, I anxiously awaited the arrival of my parents, their first visit to Maine. I checked in on their journey during my breaks at work, and left a half hour early to do last minute errands. I met my parents off the interstate, because Broadway is a ill-navigable road. After we met up, I led them to my house to show them it's charm. They were a little sketched on the rope for a door latch. Next, I took them to Fort Williams to see the lighthouse and tremendous few from the coast. The weather was warm, and it was just sunny enough for a cheerful reunion. Then, getting hungry, we headed into Portland for a dinner at Bull Feeny's. It's in Old Port and is a historic structure. We parked the car on the top story of a parking garage and saw the sunset from a great height. I showed them WF. The evening wound down, and they dropped me off at my house, and they returned to their hotel in

Biddeford. I went over to a friends house, then we all took a walk down to the Casco Bay Bridge, which is where the photo was taken. This fulfills my promise to catch the lights of Portland from across the harbor. Better photos exist by better photographers, but this is moment from my life, and as such more valuable and more illustious. We visited the harbor at low-tide and it astounded me to see that only a very small fraction of the bridge's span is above water, the rest being flood plane and land.

more work ruminations

Now with three shifts to my credit, work is starting to become easier. It's not a lot of physically strenuous activity, but its more of a presentation and customer oriented service in the grocery department. How many times will I be asked where the tahini is? And why does that word not exist in the spellcheck editor? Unfortunately the store lacks a substantial bulk section like the WF's back home. No cereals, very little tea selection, but a good amount of grains, flours, nuts, etc. I do a lot of product label reading to pass the time, I figure it will help me learn the information before my actual classes occur. A trend that is interesting is the humorous/quirky/absurdest content on the labels. This extends to the store proper, as well. An institutional uniqueness exists within the culture of the natural foods that soon enough will verge on hegemony. But is this better than droll product packaging. Should

they be wrapped in simple, nondescript coverings? Something more utilitarian? Anyways, the photo is from the outside dining area at work, a wonderful place to sit for break, though it gets blustery there at times. This, above all, is the biggest ideological difference between my former grocery employer and WF. Wf wants it's customer to stay and explore, while my previous grocer wanted the customer to get through the checkouts as fast as possible.

Report on First day of work

So last night was my first official day of work at WF. It went smoothly, and fortunately my orientation was spare of annoying videos on how to lift properly, and customer service techniques. My biggest challenge is going to be learning the locations of items. Beyond that, product knowledge (ingediants, diet restrictions, nutritional information, uses) is an education in its own, but I look forward to that, because ignorance on the items I stock is unacceptable. Also, getting to know the names of co-workers will take some time because there is around 150 of them, yeesh! Overall, this will be an amazing place to work and it will give me an opportunity to expand my food awareness. Eventually I wish to take cooking courses at a school around these parts, and learn me how to cook somethin' delectable. The picture was taken in an elevator at the store. Its in the backroom and I use it a lot to take stuff to and

from the backstock location on the second floor. It might just be me, but I find it odd that there is a button for 1st floor and one for the 2nd floor. There really should be just a 'GO' button, because when your on the 1st floor there is only one way to go, and vice versa. Eh, the little, inconsequential things that take up more mental energy than they ought to.

beachcombing

Like a scavenger I scoured Willard Beach for interesting items that were washed up by the storm. Found: A four-foot long frond of kelp, which is pictured. Five oysters - full bodies, though missing the muscle. Lots of skipping stones - which were made of shale. Tossed the frisbee around. Watched the sun burn off the mist out on the bay. As commented before, my house lies beneath the flight path of Portland Jetport, and it was ghostly seeing the planes silhouetted through a layer of fog.

the soaking / ch 16 done

The waterline rises, the waves roll fierce, the wind gets wicked. And I get adventurous . I went to Fort Williams, and oh how great it is to have a park like this so close. It has a great vantage from up on the cliffs to see how the weather affects the water. Just fantastic. I saw several tide pools, created by the surging waves. The rain was dispersed by the wind, severing what were large droplets into many smaller ones, floating and falling. The seagulls used the coastal winds to drift casually in the air. I also used my 35mm, and I've now a couple rolls to be developed, from the past two weeks. One thing, though, about all this rain - there is a rain spout that empties just outside my room, and it gets frustratingly loud, it woke me up this morning. I prefer the gentle patter of the window, not a faucet. I finished ch 16, but I was tentative on one part, but I want to finish the entire book before I go through and revise it, no sense getting

stuck in one section. 6 chapters to go! Today's rainfall: 4.61 inches! thats a two-day (really more like 30 hours) total of 5.56 inches.....

old port fest

The storm that never arrived yesterday came a little later last night. We went down to the beach to watch the lightning explode over the bay, but that was a snooze. THEN it became more eventful, but only after I had went back to my house. Today we went to the Old Port Fest - they shut down a couple blocks of the older section of Portland, hence the name. Standard fare for a festival, lots of live music all around. Eh. Rainfall, mostly after sunset: .95 inches.

a phantom squal

Great anticipation. I awaited a blustering storm. Hail. Gale force winds. Darkened skies. Lightning. I waited. But a whimper. Just a soft rain. A crow who dipped its cracker in a puddle. Nothing. Aye, it passed south. Another time. Having the stretch of fine, high sun days was great for out-of-doors-activities, but it browned the land a bit. So it was that the past couple days found the plants the hydration they needed. Quenched, they now blush their verdant green, an affectionate complexion, indeed. The splendid display of photosynthesis, in concert. Good theater.

one month report

So it's been a month. And I feel fortune has been kind. The house I live at is in a great location, on most days I can smell the sea, and hear it occasionally. Not to slight any past roommates, but the ones here are fast friends. And there are the characters that frequent the place, they who gravitate to the spacious porch. Its an open door relationship that provides an almost continual ushering of new folk. This relationship extends to the animals, too. The climate is nothing to complain about, but then again I appreciate most types of weather. Despite common conception from people back home in PA, it's not all that much colder here. Take that! The greatest source of frustration was the job search, and its slightly interesting that my orientation at WF is one month after I rolled into town. The photo is of the truck that sits out front of the store.