Politics & Fine Arts

The past couple of days have allowed M-S and I to see some great student art and for me to talk with one of my favorite people - the next governor of Maine. I get to meet with Mike Michaud often, and he was the same engaging, polite, and hard-working man today.

 I will do what ever I can to get him elected. I've been involved and following politics in Maine for 30 years, and I think this is the most important race of my life. Yesterday M-S and I went to UMA to check out a really cool art exhibit. A professor teamed with several high school art teachers to get dozens of high school students to collaborate on a great project. They took photos of local organic farmers:

 Then they divided each picture into 36 sections and students from all over central Maine did a section. Last night they put them together for the first time. If you look at the picture above at the middle row all the way to the right you will see the two people who run our favorite farm store, Whitefield's Sheepscot General. Ben and Taryn are awesome, and the store is amazing. Below is the finished work of art:

 Linda was there with some of her Maranacook students:

Winslow also had some sections. The art was really interesting and we had a great time. The weekend is just beginning, and there will be: fishing - another movie date - AND the Martin Luther King Breakfast. Stay tuned!
~MET

A Fun January Thaw

 The weather in this state right now is...well...whack. M-S and I took advantage of the nicer temperatures to go to dinner and a movie in Brunswick. Eveningstar Cinema is Brunswick's version of Railroad Square. There are some good indie films being shown right now, and on Saturday we saw Nebraska. It was really good - in fact better than I had hoped. We ate at Scarlet Begonia, which has some very good pub grub. We both had one of their signature giant salads, mine with chicken, M-S's with salmon. This morning I had coffee with Dad and took a major digger in his driveway. I went down so fast that I didn't know it was happening until I was on the ground, flat on my back. No serious injuries, though I am sore. After a nice visit with my father I went grocery shopping and then spent a few hours on the ice:

 It felt great to be out there in a baseball cap and without gloves most of the time. The fishing was VERY slow - I even jigged for quite a while:

 ...with no luck. After fishing I went to one of my favorite stores in the world:



Morse's is the best European deli in Maine. I picked up some awesome stuff for dinner, my geography class, and for door prizes for a meeting tomorrow afternoon. I'm just relaxing now, watching football and chillin' with my dog. Life is good.
~MET

January is National Soup Month...

...so all of my meals this cycle will be a delicious soup. I've always been a big fan of soups - I like just about everything about them, and I like to make them. Tonight I'm taking M-S to dinner and a movie, but the meals that I'll cook over the next two weeks will include:

• Beef & Cabbage Soup
• Spicy Tortilla Soup
• Coconut Chicken Soup
• Pesto~Bean Soup
• Hot Potato~Leek Soup
• Cantonese Fish & Vegetable Soup

There is nothing so satisfying on a cold January day than a hot soup and some crusty bread.
Bon appetit,
~MET

Its All About Jackman on New Years Day

      Its the first day of 2014 and I'm sitting in a cabin in Jackman, very tired but very contented. As always, we caught fish - and it was again VERY cold. With the wind chill it was perhaps -40 at times and the fishing was difficult. The great news was that the cabin was great:

 Shaun brought what can only be described as the greatest cribbage board on the planet:

 We enjoyed many games last night. This morning we had an awesome breakfast that included some moose steak from the beast that Paul shot this year:

 When we first took to the ice it was -2, but with little wind.

 The wind kept getting stronger as the temps dropped - we were all very glad to have a shack with a stove out on the ice.

 Our traps were buried pretty quickly:

 Later in the afternoon we relaxed.

Shaun is cooking the fish right now to go with some fried potatoes. Later we might venture into town to shoot some pool and commune with the natives. Tomorrow morning I'll be getting up early and driving to work from here...but its only supposed to be -17 in the morning...without the wind. Life is good.
~MET