Counting Down

 Now that the holidays are behind us its time to think about hunting for salmon and trout. I'll be heading to "The Switzerland of Maine" tomorrow with good friends for the annual opening day celebration of the opening of ice-fishing. I've been getting traps ready:

 Packing gear:

 And making sure the auger is in good working condition.

I'm sure we'll find time for some fun and ridiculousness. New Year's Eve in Jackman can only mean one thing: the time of one's life. I'm hoping to bring home a couple of game fish for supper on Tuesday - I'll let you know how it goes.

An Afternoon in Portland...With a Nice Surprise

M-S and I went to Freeport this afternoon to exchange a couple of things and then had a great time in Portland. We ate at one of our favorite New Orleans style restaurants - Hot Suppa.

I had a sazerac and some awesome oysters to start. M-S had cajun shrimp.:

In keeping with the theme, I had a catfis po' boy with collards:

M-S had pulled pork, mac & cheese, corn bread, and slaw:

All of the food was delicious. I also liked the ceiling:

After dinner we stopped to have a drink at the Dogfish:

And we were fortunate to see this guy - Travis James Humphrey:

He was REALLY good. Mostly blues, with some country mixed in. I asked him to play "Life by the Drop", and he nailed it with a version all of his own. I found a clip of him doing the song on youtube...check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPkIFr2APs
I would like to see him again sometime, he was as good a pub singer as I've seen. It was a really fun night. We had good food, had fun walking and talking, bought a wok at the Asian grocery, and enjoyed a snowy Portland.
~MET

Can You Tell That This is My Office?

 Today M-S and I are taking care of gifts, boxes, and general Xmas junk, so I have spent a lot of time in my little home office. I love this space a great deal, and its very uniquely mine. Above you can see my desk area. I took the hand-crafted oak desk from the Winslow mill when it closed 14 years ago. To the right (can't really see) is a big pic of Katahdin and my collection of about 100 ties. My fishing poles are also on the wall above the door. Below is the opposite wall:

 My fishing and hiking stuff is all stored in here. You can see my big backpack filled with stuff, lots of maps and other gear, and the drawers to the right are filled with equipment. I've lots of books about all of my favorite things. Most are by Thoreau or John Irving, or about the outdoors. You can also see two ice-fishing pack baskets. One on the wall and one on the floor. The lower one was my grandfather's:

 My father's dad and my father himself are, and will always be, my fishing heroes. So using the Thurston traps and my Tut's basket means a lot to me. Its most likely around 50-75 years old. The basket on the wall:

is a work of art for now, but will be used to fish sometime in the future. One of my good friends, Patty Scully (WEA VP) made it for me. It needs to be treated before I can expose it to the elements, but its beautiful. I love to look at it on the wall with the trap sticking out. You can also see a picture of me when I was a lad, and the calendar that Sarah made for me Christmas. My grandfather's pack is showing its age and beginning to wear out. When it is no longer up to the task I will be proud to put the Thurston family traps in Patty's basket for myself and future generations. This office is my place to work, think about hiking and fishing, and to escape the world for a bit.
~MET

A Very Merry Christmas

 No need for an abundance of words in this post. We had a wonderful day with family and food. After walking Bax this morning we had M-S's egg bake. During the day I played ball many times:

 We looked at all of our cards again:

 Had fun with our grown-up kids:

 Baxter liked all of his new toys:

 Snaks:

 Part of the buffet - goose, egg rolls, moose, garlic sausage:

 eggplant lasagna:

 Dessert and traditional Christmas crakers:

Merry Christmas!
~MET

A 60+ Hour Thrill Ride

 I'm a tad bushed - but home in one piece. I'll quickly bullet the info among pictures of Maeve having fun with Santa:

•  M-S and I went to Portland Friday night, had a great Mexican meal with some spicy drinks, and stayed the night.
• I took the 4:15am shuttle from the hotel and the 5:55 flight to DC
• Sarah and I went to pick up her U-haul and then load stuff from her storage unit
• I got to see Darryl for the first time in years - which was awesome
• We visited with Jim and Jean for a bit before they left for their respective holidays

•  Had lunch with Grant, Suz, Sarah, and Maeve
• Then we loaded the rest of Sarah's stuff into the truck
• Up at 2:45am for a 3am departure

• The drive back was mostly uneventful - a couple of close calls, no bad traffic
• Sarah did a fantastic job navigating, and we had some nice talks
• It feels good to be showered, in sweats, and waiting for a delicious dinner

Now all I have to do is ALL of my "wrapping"
~MET

The Beginning of Some Time Off - and if You Don't Think This Will Be an Adventure...

 ...you don't know what an adventure is. Tonight M-S and I are going to Portland to have dinner and spend the night so I can get up for an early flight to DC. Tomorrow I will be helping Sarah pack a small truck with her belongings and then Sunday we'll be driving home to Maine. She has decided that DC is not for her, and she'll be relocating to the Pine Tree State. Me and Sarah navigating up the east coast for 12 hours...that's excitement!

 My classes did a great job today (including some tough Supreme Court simulations), but during the last 10 minutes of school

they did some caroling. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show, and I think it got the seniors excited about Christmas break, and let them feel like little kids again for a little while. I'll post about the trip with Sarah and about the holidays in a few days.
~MET