Starting up

I’m following the advice of a former work colleague, Debbie Smith, and starting a blog.  John and I (mostly me for a while) will jot a thought now and then, maybe include a photo, and see where it goes.

Well, we did sell the house in Washington DC and moved to the Portland, Maine area, so to speak.  Closing was a little over a month ago and we walked away feeling we made a fair deal, not a great deal, but a fair one.  Still, we have not found a house here, but are living comfortably in a small furnished apartment in Falmouth, Maine, just outside of Portland.  We had a contract on a condo in Cape Elizabeth, just south of Portland, but we backed out after the inspection . . . too many small things adding up to a big thing.  So most of our stuff remains in storage in Washington and live in an apartment at a motel in Falmouth, Maine, just across a bridge and northeast of Portland, while we look for a house or condo.  It’s taking more time than we thought.  I noted to someone that we are “fussy” about where we move next.  John corrected me in noting we are being “particular.”  He is probably right.

We've been here long enough to makes a couple observations.  Here’s one.  People in Maine seem to celebrate the summer.  They don’t hide from it or curse it as we did sometimes in Washington.  Here, it’s only a couple month and there is a flurry of activity.  There are paint brushes and kayaks all over the place . . . and where did all the convertibles come from.  Of course, the weather is for the most part splendid.  For example, we now enter a few days of sunny skies with the temperature in the low 70s.  Of course, there are warmer days too.  One day a week or so ago the temperature was going up to the upper 70s/low 80s and one Mainer exclaimed to us, “Whew! Another hot one” . . . such a refreshing comment for two who have endured so many DC summers.  Still, with such mild summers, some might give pause to the winters.  Another comment we heard at the front desk . . .  when we first arrived we had a few days with highs only in the 50s.  Someone at the desk commented to their coworker, “Wow! It’s beginning to feel like August.”  We’re hoping that remark was made by a playful Mainer fooling around with the new guys from DC.  We will see.

How do we spend our time?  No, we have not yet gotten to attending the Maine Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield yet.  (Although we still have a couple days to decide before they crown the Potato Blossom Queen.)  Occasionally we do look at a house or condo, but most recently, we just look at them on internet and quickly come to the conclusion they aren’t for us.  As many have noted to us, we just have to be patient.  So in the meantime, we have been learning our way around here.  We know the back ways to get into Portland.  We know a couple good bakeries, and who has the best cinnamon bun or who has the best lobster roll.  Of course, we have been up to L. L. Beans in Freeport a couple times.  The café there has an excellent croissant.  But a lot of time is spent at the Maine Audubon Center at Gilsland Farm, just down the road from where we are staying.  It’s a great diversion for us. 

Not in a very long time have I had the opportunity to walk through fields of buttercups and other wildflowers.

We go there often for a lunch picnic.  Sitting at a picnic table, we have the exceptional and guaranteed company of chipping sparrows and bluebirds.

We have a number of other visitors too.  Wild turkeys, woodchucks, and many, many chipmunks.  There just seems to be hundreds of these fellows all over our area in Maine.

Another place turning into a favorite place for us is Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park.  It’s so easy to get to the ocean or a salt water bay here, just a short drive and bam there it is.

So there you have it for now.  You'll find us sitting on the bench by the gallardias at Gilsland Farm.