Brunch, Superheroes, Common Ground, and CSA

To day we went to the sleepy town of Thorndike to have brunch with the Hargrove's and then to hit the Common Ground Fair. We haven't been in a few years and it was a beautiful day to hit the fair. We were met in the Hargrove driveway by Superman and Batman:

 We brought the fixins for Bloody Caesars and Ciara and Jesse made an outstanding brunch.

 And as it turns out it was a jazz brunch:

 The fair was great as usual, and we got to meet with Robbi at her booth:

 I like all the demonstrations:

 And the funky foods:

And when we got home we picked up our CSA! A good day celebrating rural living.
~METR

Dueling Naps

 There has been lots of baseball on TV and the radio, its been raining all day, so that means its a day made for napping. Kori brought Bella for a visit...

...so the two dogs have been taking turns listening to the Nats and/or watching the Red Sox and helping me nap. I have a very tough life.
~MET

On April 4, 2005 at 3:19pm...

...at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia Jon Lieber of the Phillies threw a pitch to lead-off hitter Brad Wilkerson of the Washington Nationals, and baseball was officially back in the nation's capital. I stayed at school on that Monday so I could watch the first pitch in the team's history and after a few innings I listened to the rest of the game on XM on the way home. Wilkerson laced a single to right on the 5th pitch - by the way. The Nats lost the game 8-4, but I was hooked. I took time out of a history class and we all watched Livan Hernandez throw the first pitch in a major league game in Washington a few days later. (It was a called strike) That was the only pitch we watched - but I saw it.
     Ever since that April 4 day I have been the state of Maine's most devoted fan of the Washington Nationals, and though the team has struggled for most of its existence, I don't regret a moment. I love baseball and I love this team. I attended several games at "the Bobby" (RFK Stadium), and have been to games at the beautiful new park. I have watched or listened to hundreds and hundreds of games on the internet, TV, or XM.
     So - when the Nationals clinched a play-off spot yesterday I could not contain my excitement. I cannot wait to watch every minute of every broadcast of the postseason. I watch the play-offs without my team - but this year will be unreal. Some of my family members will be going to the first play-off game in the District since 1933 (assuming the Nats win the division). I'll be lobbying and going to an NEA Board meeting in early October and could have gone to the game had Bud Selig not messed up the playoff schedule. The Nats will most likely open up on the road, so the game in DC will happen after I am back home.
     This is a team and a franchise worth watching - they have a ton of young talent - they have the oldest manager in baseball - they play the game right - and they will begin their charge toward a World Series title very soon. GO NATS! I'm going to make some supper - then I'll be watching them beat up on the Brewers. Life is good.
~MET

Baxter's New Friend

 My stepdaughter, Kori, has a new dog. She is a greyhound mix named Bella and she came by tonight to meet Baxter. Bax was a very good boy, though he did let her know what the rules were:

I love Bella's face in the above pic: she just seems so put out by his trying to let her know what is what. I had no idea how our boy would react, but he proved again what a good boy we have.
~MET

Every Great Day Seems to Start With...

 ...a delicious brunch and grows from there. The brunch pictured above includes spicy deer sausage, a Bloody Maria, toast made from anadama bread from a farm down the road in Whitefield - and scrambled eggs with leftover maple pulled pork. Dear lord, that was good. Today we got lots of work done, but also hung out with Bax:

 Picked up another OUTSTANDING CSA:

 Worked a lot outside in what might have been the best weather day of the year:

 And then had deer liver and onions for dinner:

 Linda came by to enjoy it with us:

 It was very tasty.

 And of course I played outside with Baxter around 50 times:

 And to top it all off:

The Nationals are on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball with Gio on the mound going for win number 20. Life is good.
~MET

A Weekend to Putter

     I've a long list of mundane things to accomplish this weekend, but I'm kind of looking forward to it. I have to pay bills, mow the lawn, do some laundry, grocery shop, clean my office, etc. This morning did not start well. On our walk with Baxter I rolled my ankle and went down in a heap. I have very weak ankles and wear braces when I hike, but this morning wearing keens I stepped on some uneven ground on a dirt road a took a digger. The good news is that I have sprained them so many times that it just hurts for a day and then its back to normal.
     We are hoping to work some time for some fun things too over the next couple of days. The next few weeks are filled with meetings and such, so this weekend feels like the calm before the storm.
~MET

Another AT Adventure - With Some Wild Weather

 Click on pictures to see them better. The latest installment of backpacking a section of the AT with Jesse took us on a long loop over part of the Bigelow Range. The picture above is looking at Maine's "Smokey Mountains" from the top of South Horn. We started here and hiked up toward Horns Pond:

 There were patches of leaves changing:

 This bog was well above 2000 feet:

 There were so many of these weather beaten trees trying to find a way to grow:

 And the higher we got in the woods the more the woods' floor got mossy:

 The views on the way up the first day were great:

 Our camping stop was at Horns Pond Lean-To. The place was fantastic. This was my tent site:

 Two huge lean-to's:

 An old historic lean-to built in the 1930's:

 The place was so expansive and awesome, that it employs a full-time caretaker:

 There were a dozen or so thru-hikers there last night. The AT stop is at 3200 feet and comes with a beautiful mountain pond:

 Because there is so little soil they use composting privys:

 I've never taken a picture of an AT privy, but these were pretty cool.

 After dinner it started to get cloudy, and in fact we were soon IN the clouds. This picture was taken at 7:30pm outside the lean-to:

 We were in the cloud. Later that night there was a huge storm. I was in a small tent, at 3200 feet, with 50mph winds, lots of lightning, and very loud thunder. I loved it. After a wild night we made breakfast and then went out to bag a couple of big mountains. There we not a lot of views because we were above the clouds too much.

 South Horn is 3820 feet and it was a nice morning climb - though kind of chilly.

 The climb up West Bigelow (4145 feet) was very windy, but fantastic. Its a rugged mountain with lots of cliffs.

 Me next to a cliff with a drop of about 1000 feet:

 At the peak:

 "Relaxing" on another huge cliff:

 There were some views on the way down:

 Wildlife:

 This very old camera was sitting right next to the trail on the long walk down:

 The best wildlife sighting was this falcon - at least I think its a falcon:

You bird experts give me some help. He was very polite to sit on that rock and pose for pictures. The AT is the best place in the world.
~MET