Mt. Jackson with Christopher

"Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."
~HDT
Today I did my first 4000 footer of the year: Mt. Jackson in New Hampshire. I also enjoyed the company of my son, Chris.
Jackson is in Crawford Notch - and the thing about climbing out of a notch is that you start to climb early and steep. You have little time to get your legs loosened up...especially if those legs are close to 50 years old. This picture is just a short time after we left the car:

There were ample places to get cold drinks on the way up:

Once we were above 3000 feet you could see some stubborn patches of snow.

We hiked up into the clouds, so the views were not great.

It was VERY windy and cool on the top. On the way down we crossed paths with many groups heading to the peak. I especially liked this dog named Wolf:

He and his master have done a bunch of the 4000 footers in NH together, including Mt. Washington twice. On the way out we saw this fox at one of the other trail heads:

He didn't seem to have any fear of us at all.

We stopped in Gorham, NH at a pub called "J's" to have a beer and share a plate of nachos. I'm very sore but I feel fantastic. Hiking with Chris is always a blast.

~MET

This Weekend...Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago this weekend I climbed Katahdin with the woman I would eventually marry later in the year. It was an amazing camping trip to say the least. We saw many moose, fed a deer from our hands, negotiated our marriage, took a dip in a freezing brook, and bagged an ice-covered Baxter peak together. It was during this weekend that I absolutely understood that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman.
~MET

This is Why I Love America

This is our new big TV. You can see my laptop next to it. I'm watching the Nats lose to Barry Zito and the Giants - but the GREAT news is that I'm watching the game on my television. I can now watch all the games on the big screen rather than my computer. God bless America.
~MET

Images From My Commute

I have a 35-40 minute commute to work each morning, and of course, the same in the afternoon or early evening. Its not only something I have become very used to over the years, but something that I actually depend on. The beauty of my commute is, well...the beauty of my commute. There are lots of farms with wonderful scenes that include what you might find on a postcard of rural Maine. I look for certain farm animals each morning - keep track of who is voting for whom in upcoming elections - and just enjoy the small towns between North Whitefield and Winslow. Every once in a while I'll include a picture from my daily travels. There will be cows and pastures, fields and sheep, horses and wildlife, or just what catches my eye. Today I came up on this family of geese. They were crossing the road to get into a stream. I loved the parenting skills of the adults.
~MET

Sarah & Chris are Off to See Some of the World...

...before they both begin work at Camp Manitou. I think its awesome that they get these kinds of opportunities - and I think its awesome that they have an uncle like my brother, Jim, who can make things like this happen.
Sarah is off to New York this weekend to spend time with Jim and Jean and see a couple of Broadway shows. They haven't decided which shows they will see - but how can you go wrong??

Chris leaves soon for England and Belgium! He'll spend time there both with some of his friends from the staff at Manitou and with Jim. The kids both pretty excited and will undoubtedly have a wonderful time. Ahhh...to be young.

~MET

Mission Accomplished

I set out to have a fantastic weekend - and I did just that. Yesterday's hike was wonderful and today has been outstanding. We started out like we always do, with a long walk with Burt:

Then it was on to Portland for brunch. We tried Vignola, in the heart of the Old Port:

It has a great atmosphere and excellent food.

I started with a couple of oysters.

M-S had deviled eggs and a potato cake with smoked salmon and mustard sauce.

For our main courses M-S had grilled shrimp, poached eggs with smoked paprika hollandaise sauce, asparagus and polenta cakes. I had a lobster and fiddlehead omelet - yes you read that correctly. It was delicious.

M-S said it was the best brunch she has EVER had. We then did some shopping at the mall and in Freeport.

The big purchase of the day was a new "couch" for Burt for the room that is being redone. He seems to like it...

...though Owen is doing his best to remind Burt that our cat is the alpha male in this house:

I'm watching the Nationals right now. I'd have to say with the nature, the time spent with my wife, and the fine food, that this has been a truly great weekend!

~MET

Baldpate ~ West Peak

"I need to try harder to make climbing a metaphor for the way I live my life. To remember that the destination is secondary, and to really enjoy every moment of the journey. To take notice of every tree, to be thankful for each time my boot makes contact with the Earth, and to find the joy that every step along the trail brings."
~MET
An awesome hike up Baldpate today. Its a long AT walk with some very steep sections.

Everything in the woods seemed extra beautiful.

I took time to notice the mountain flora this morning.

On the way up I saw millions of these:

And they all looked like this when I came back down later:

There were still some lonely patches of ice:

Other other shit to see on the trail:

A great day in the Western Maine mountains.

~MET

Roughing It...For a Couple of Hours

On the way home from a somewhat arduous round of negotiations I was turned around on my own road due to an accident. I was worried that it may have involved M-S because that would have been about the time she would be traveling through there - but she picked up when I called.
The power did go out because of it, so we had to improvise our supper - and got out the camp gear.

The ravioli with spicy sauce, basil, and cheese was outstanding. And to be honest I really enjoyed the quiet of the house during the power outage. I hope everyone in the accident was ok...these country roads are dangerous at times.

~MET

My Baby Boy Turns 21

On May 18, 1989 Christopher James Thurston was born in Waterville, Maine. For 21 years he has been nothing but fun, active, friendly, caring, adventuresome, polite, and charming. The two of us have done LOTS together: from camping and hiking to summer basketball to Manitou to a shared love of all things baseball. In fact, we are probably talking about the Red Sox in the above picture. I have always loved being his father, but I think I enjoy it now more than ever. My top five Chris moments:
#5 - Camping in Baxter State Park last year...taking turns reading Joe Torre's book...fishing...fireside chats...enjoying a brew
#4 - Summers at Camp Manitou...watching him becoming more and more confident...more great father and son time..."Dad, are we Jewish?"
#3 - Watching him play...anything...soccer, football, baseball, and of course, BASKETBALL. From summer basketball at MCS and WHS to his becoming the best player at Cony, it was all a blast.
#2 - Major League games with my boy...Fenway, RFK, Camden Yards... One day in Row 7 at Fenway, Mo Vaughn game-winning HR, catching a ball off Nomar's bat, - WOW!
#1 - Week of camping and hiking in Baxter when he was 12...many climbs...Baxter Peak...Knife Edge...so proud of my kid.
There are lots of other memories, and lots more to come. I love you, son. Happy birthday.
~MET

Monthly Meal ~ Mothers' Choice

Another outstanding monthly meal with Ma & Dad. To celebrate my two favorite mothers, I asked them to choose the main course. So - it was lamb and lobster. We also tried this Scottish beer:

It was VERY good...and at $4.00 a bottle, it should be that good. I cooked the lamb and some burgers on the grill:

Here are the three Thurston men watching the Nats getting swept by the Rockies on my laptop:

It has been a busy and a fantastic weekend. Back to work tomorrow.

~MET

MEA-RA

These are the delegates from AOS 92 (Winslow & Waterville) who joined 135 other educators from around Maine:
Once a year we get together to set the direction for the state's largest professional labor organization.
Lots of discussions, speeches, meetings, awards, and networking.

It went well and I had a great time. I love this kind of lobbying and advocacy work on behalf of public education.

~MET