Memorial Day Weekend - 2011

I got home from camp about 10 a.m. on Friday to help Rick get the new camper hooked up to his truck, backed down our driveway, and packed up.  I anticipated the hooking and the backing part to be more difficult than it turned out to be.  It all went pretty smoothly and we got it all packed up and drove it out to Glen and Holly Bowman's in West Gardiner for their annual Memorial Day Weekend picking party.  No hired bands - just 50 or so campers, tents, etc., and lots of people hanging out and playing music all weekend, predominantly, though not exclusively, bluegrass music.  We had dinner plans with Lance and Regina - (Lance is new faculty at UMF) so our plans were to just set the camper up on the site with the rest of the band and head back home to get ready for dinner.  The weather started out drizzly but by the time we got to the site it was very hot, sunny, and humid.  

We got it set up and everything was go except the water didn't work.  There was water there, the pump was running, but the water just drizzled out of the faucets, at best.  We messed with it with help from Woody for a while without great results.  We knew if anyone could figure out what the problem was it would be this crew as they all have a great deal of experience with campers but we figured we'd bring back enough water for the weekend in case we couldn't figure it out.

We were hungry by then so decided to make a short stop at The Fat Toad to visit with Robert and have some lunch.  We were out of there within an hour, made a stop at The Evil Empire to get a new camp table (Rick stole last year's camp table for his music equipment in the new room) and some other things.  Got home in time to take a short snooze and showers and headed out to Hallowell about 5:30.

We met up with Regina and Lance at The Liberal Cup and had good conversation and a nice meal.  It was the first time I'd met either of them and it was fun getting to know them.  They were in town to find a home before heading back to Illinois on Monday.  Apparently they found a nice house on a small pond in Weld that they took a year's lease on.

After dinner we took them on a tour of Hallowell, walking down to the river, pointing out all the pubs along the way, showed them the interesting artistic display of junk down beyond The Wharf, stopped into The Wharf to briefly check out the early show, then walked back to Hoxter's and listened to Pat Pepin's band for a couple of beers.  We then went back to The Wharf for the later show with Stevie Jones' Dirigo Band and some more conversation.  We parted about 11 p.m.  I think they quite enjoyed the night out, as did we.

We were back at the campsite Saturday about noon and after a bit of tinkering, Richard discovered a plugged filter in the water line, removed it, and our water was working fine.  He's a genius!  They picked most of the afternoon and evening with lots of people stopping by, many with instruments, many just to listen.  We slept well in the camper and repeated the events on Sunday, making a nice dinner of spaghetti and Italian sausage and a bottle of Clos du Bois.  Somehow managed to stay up until about 3 a.m., slept well again, woke up Monday morning and headed back home.  Again, we were worried about having to back the camper back into its spot off the driveway but it went in there much slicker than anticipated.  Even the dumping of the poo into our septic system wasn't nearly as gross as we'd expected.  All in a day's work.

Rick mowed the lawn and then we watched Black Swan and the latest episodes of Treme and Game of Thrones we'd taped while away, and I ran a load of bisque in the kiln.  

Chris and Sara got the keys to their new apartment Tuesday afternoon so we took a truck load of their things up for them Tuesday night.  A nice college student's apartment - a little dingy, but spacious and a great location just a quarter mile from campus.

End of vacation

I have been very negligent in posting recently.  I see my last post was my second week of vacation.  We ended up going to Stonington instead up Cobscook Bay.  Spent two nights down at The Old Quarry Campground; a nice place right on the ocean, great docks, nice people.

Here's a picture of me hanging out at the campground . . . and hanging out . . . and hanging out.

Bill, the owner took us out on a guided kayak tour of the islands one day and Captain Steve took us out the next day in a lobster boat tour to Isle au Haut and around the archipelago.

kayaking around the islands

Isle au Haut

He dropped us off on Green Island, a deserted island where the only other visitors left in a sailboat just as we were arriving.

There’s a fresh water quarry where we went skinny dipping while Steve took his only other passenger back to Stonington.

The freshwater quarry

Rick taking the plunge

Me, enjoying the water

The other passenger was the owner of another island, one of the potato islands I think.  Steve had arranged to pick her up and bring her back to Stonington. We met up with her out in her dory about 50 feet offshore.  The dory shot out from under her as she was boarding our boat and Rick and Steve had to pull her up out of the sea and get her into the boat.  She was very good natured about it; not that unusual an event on the islands perhaps.   

After retrieving us from the island we went to see some nesting ospreys, then a circuitous route back to Stonington.  We had to head right back home, take quick showers and drive up to The Granary in Farmington to celebrate Christopher’s 21^st birthday. 

Chris enjoying his first legal drink

I returned to work on Monday where my office was torn apart with stripped walls and floors.  So I worked through Wednesday out of Sara’s office and Rick and I left mid morning on Thursday to go to the Podunk Bluegrass Festival in E. Hartford, CT.  Nice festival grounds and nice people.  It was very hot but the band played well though they only earned 4^th place in the band competition.  Don placed 2^nd in the songwriter’s competition with his song, Ice in Your Veins.  Ken Irwin of Rounder Records was very interested in Rick’s original song, Highway to Your Heart so they’ve been emailing back and forth and he’s trying to get a national band to record it.  He’s also interested in other songs Rick has so he’s started recording some demos to send him. 

Rick playing at Podunk

The NitPickers

I went back to work on Tuesday at which time my office was ready for me to move back into with newly painted walls and hardwood floors laid.  They also bought me a nice new desk and it was good to get things set back up after purging a shitload of old files. 

Still boxes to unpack

Jared’s 25^th birthday was on Wednesday so we had a little party for him here at the house with Justin and Keely, Chris and Sara, Auntie, Donnie, Glen, Tom, Lisa, Chelsea, Bill and his girlfriend Frederique who had just arrived from France the night before.

Bill and Frederique

Bill and Frederique stopped over again on Friday afternoon and accompanied us to The Depot for pizza and beer after which we strolled through the Gardiner Art Walk.  Bruce was have an opening at Mad Dog.  He and Bill had known each other 20 years ago but of course he never knew we were brother and sister. 

Today Rick went to play at a pig roast and I went up to Aristo and had Justin do my hair.  I stopped by his house afterwards; it’s coming along nice and he’s been taking good care of his yard.  He’s got some delicious blackberries growing out back. 

Tomorrow the NitPickers are playing at The Village Inn.  Eddie and Michelle, and Bill and Frederique are supposed to be joining me up there for dinner.  

The Bumper Sticker Anthology - Part III - my other car is a Segway

My youngest son was born with a physical disability known as arthrogryposis.  At birth we didn't know if he'd ever be able to walk.  After a some surgeries on his feet and legs, and about a year of serial casting, and several years of physical therapy, he is able to walk, albeit with difficulty.  When he started at middle school and had to begin walking distances around the school to change classes, he began falling quite a bit.  The school asked him to start using a wheelchair because they were concerned that he would bang his head on a desk or something when he fell and really hurt himself.  So with some hesitancy, we ordered a wheelchair for him.  He had started playing wheelchair sports with a great group called Youth in Motion, so the idea of a wheelchair wasn't as disheartening as it might have been.  In fact, we made sure to order him one that had cambered wheels for better maneuverability on the basketball court and a wheelie bar to help prevent tipping over backwards when he did wheelies.  He always felt weird about using a wheelchair in public because when he'd get up and walk the few steps to a car or whatever, he felt like a fraud; like he didn't really need a wheelchair.  

We had been following the development of the Segway for quite some time.  If you don't know what a Segway is, check out this link:  http://www.segway.com/individual/models/index.php

I had told Chris that when it was available I would make every attempt to get him one.  It appeared to be a perfect tool for someone with his disability who can walk, but just can't walk distances.  So sure enough, come Christmas 2002, I discovered the Segway was now for sale to the general public.  The only place you could buy it at the time was on Amazon.com.   

I ordered it and they sent me a poster of it in a long cylindrical tube but it wouldn't actually be available for pick up until March of 2003.  So for Christmas that year, I wrapped the tube and both his brothers and I kept remarking about how much he would totally love his Christmas gift.  Of course, the poster tube sat there wrapped and Chris had no idea what could possibly be in such a package that he'd be so excited about. Needless to say however, he was totally blown away when he opened the gift and realized what it meant. 

We were required to go to the company headquarters in NH to be trained on the Segway prior to it being shipped.  And they would not train Chris on it as he wasn't their minimum age of 16.  So Justin and I drove to NH and got trained and while we were there, they gave us the bumper sticker, "my other car is a Segway."  

Chris has now had the Segway for about 7 years. We lived about a half mile from the high school so he rode it to and from school whenever the weather permitted and then left it at school during the winter months so he could use it to get around between classes.  It's taken some spills and has seen better days and he may be getting a new one soon.  For a mere $5,000+/- investment, you too could have the Segway sticker.  But the boost to his self esteem and the confidence the Segway gave him during high school was priceless.  Instead of some unfortunate child wheeling around the school in his wheelchair, he zoomed around the school on his Segway, with a grace that he could never acheive in his usual lumbering gait.  Talk flew about why he got to use the Segway.  "He has no kneecaps" was one of his favorite rumors he'd overheard.  Teachers and students alike begged to be allowed to try it, sometimes to their own detriment.  The school insisted on a strict rule that he not allow others to use it inside the school but when a favorite teacher asked, he was hard pressed to say no.   I think the teacher later wished he'd refused after running into a wall and wiping out.  Chris made it look so easy and graceful but it had become second nature to him from constant use.    

Though other times after weeks of straight pain he perhaps felt differently, I was very impressed when he told me once that if he could wave a magic wand and make his legs normal he's not sure he'd do it.  I believe the wheelchair sports through Youth in Motion, learning to snowboard through Maine Handicap Skiing, and the Segway had a lot to do with that.   

 

We've been through a lot of changes in the last seven years, with Chris going from age 13 to age 20.  If he gets a new Segway this year, I guess the new "my other car is a Segway" sticker should go on his own car. 

What's new

Justin was offered a job at T-Mobile today.  Good starting pay – almost $15 per hour, plus benefits.  He’s been struggling as a cosmetologist for the last few years, and especially since he went out on his own a few months ago.  This will give him a good steady income and he thinks they’ll help pay tuition towards a computer science degree. 

Christopher moved into his dorm at UMF today.  He went up to Alex’s in Farmington last night and Alex helped him move in today.  Good thing he went up last night as we had a surprise snowstorm this morning and it would have been a bitch to drive even the half hour. 

So really all three of my dear sons are doing well.  Jared is still working part time at the public library in Monmouth and is starting his first library science class this week.  He’s got quite a few credits towards the degree already from the English major classes he’d been taking so hopefully he’ll be able to do the library science degree within a couple of years.  It’s a great fit for him, being such an avid reader since he was very little, and he likes the interaction with the public as well.   I think Justin will miss the interaction with his customers but he plans to continue doing hair on the side.  Hopefully he won’t find the call center too stifling. 

Had a good time at The Cup last night with the NitPickers playing.  Good crowd that stayed the whole night.  They’ve got a CD release party next Saturday afternoon at The Higher Grounds and will be taping a segment of 207 next Thursday to be aired the following day.  We’ll ask Steve if he’ll play it on his TVs on Friday during our usual time at The Depot.  This Friday we have the poetry reading at A-One To Go.  I haven’t written anything new for ages though I’ve started lots of pieces.  Maybe I’ll become inspired one day this week.  If not maybe I’ll reread an older piece.  They’re probably not so memorable that anyone would notice, plus who says you can’ read the same ones over again. 

Going for dental surgery tomorrow.  Justin is coming down to spend the night and take me in as Rick and Jared are both working.  So I’ve got just two days of work this week.  I don’t think anything big is happening at the Legislature this week so that shouldn’t be a problem. 

I started working on a tea set for Karen Barrett at pottery.  I’ve thrown and embellished the tea pot but still want to do a couple of cups and possibly a sugar bowl and creamer.  I also made my first candlestick.  We’ll have to wait and see how that works out.