So much to catch up on

I've been very lax in my journaling in the last 2 years.  I retired on December 3, 2015!!!  Wow!!!  It's a lovely sense of freedom and I'm so loving it.  It's only week two with a long winter ahead but I think I'm going to be grateful every day that I don't have to get up and head off to meet deadlines, schedules, obligations.  Maybe I'll throw some pots, maybe I'll sit by the fire and read, or maybe I'll discover a new recipe and try it out for dinner tonight.  There are so many possibilities and I'm free to choose my daily path.

My first week of retirement was consumed with planning and helping to  execute a surprise visit from Rick's son, daughter-in-law, and grandson from California.  He was quite surprised when they were here when he arrived home from work Wednesday night.

Hugh and Grampa playing with beer coasters

Hugh is a delight and a handful and I have to give his Grandma Josie big kudos for taking care of him while parents work.  Wow!

More to follow.

Adri reading to Hugh from a book I bought for his visit. He made her read it through three times in one sitting!  We got him a couple other books by the same Maine author and illustrator for Christmas.  

Jason and Rick playing banjos.  

Camp October 2015

It turned out warm and sunny today so I decided to head out to camp and check on things as I hadn't been out for a couple of weeks.  I really like the drive down the dirt road into camp.  

I wanted to bring out a gift that Kurt had given us over the weekend at LCK to add to our Altar to the Universe.  

And now it sits atop our Altar to the Universe overlooking Cobbosseecontee Stream in West Gardiner, ME.  

It was such a gorgeous day, 70s despite being mid October, I decided to jump in the kayak and take a little paddle.  First I paddled upstream to the big rocks and then turned around and paddled downstream to explore the southwestern marsh.  I'm not surprised there were no ducks or geese around as I could hear gun shots off in the distance. They know to stay away during season.  

It's a little hard to video and paddle at the same time so I just tried to get up to speed a little and glide.  

We're starting to get a little color.

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac 2015

I like this photo Michelle took of me at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac.  

Enjoyed our 2015 trip to Lowell, MA for Lowell Celebrates Kerouac.  I'm not the biggest Kerouac fanatic but I like to support Rick's obsession, and I find the people and events very entertaining.  

This year we met several newer attendees, some of whom are members of the Kerouac FB page where we've interacted with them but had not met in person.  

Brian, frenetic, beer in hand, cigarette after cigarette. Hugely entertaining in small doses. The Winnepeg Wildman as noted by Kurt.

Phil and daughter Marin (like the county) skipping school for a pilgrimage to Lowell, Phil reading Shelley at the grave and daughter taking it all in, vacillating between interest, pride, and embarrassment.  

Roxanne, the English professor from Atlantic City, dances to the beat of her own drummer. Sometimes only Jack gets her.  Kicked ass as the chatterbox.

Ken, from somewhere, observant, smiling, loving his tribe.

Rosie, young and brave, from England, traveling on the cheap, like Jack would, finding acceptance, and the tribe rejoicing that Jack is being embraced by a new generation.  

Rick, moi, and Richard

I have to say the highlight of the weekend for me was the jazz and Kerouac readings at Unchartered Friday night.  Plus, David Amram did a 15 minutes version of Pull My Daisy with fabulous back up on keyboard, saxaphone, and bass.  Sweet!  I hope they continue to incorporate jazz into the LCK weekends.