MaryAlice Musings and More

Yesterday I was just too crestfallen to blog.  I came home from my library shift, made a delicious meal for myself, continued knitting on my swatch to get my gauge and when i opened up the computer and typed Wednesday I was just flooded with images of Trump embroiling and inciting and feeding off of his lies and his power feeding manipulations to incite hate in others and to justify all of his entititlements of white supremacy, money mongering and just plan destruction of democracy. Well you see why and you as a reader can be glad that I didn’t let it rip yesterday! So today is a beautiful day.  It was pre dawn light at around 3 this morning.  I took it in, and then promptly fell back to sleep until 8:30!  I made myself a breakfast smoothie and am sitting on the back deck. I am going to Bangor this afternoon and staying overnight.  There is a Pride Event at the Penobscot Theater and I am looking forward to the reception and then seeing Sheer Madness! ...

Tuesday night, Minnesota Lynx play Dallas in Minneapolis.  Had a good day.  My heart breaks with all the destruction of our democracy and human rights.  It is frightening to have a maniacal man as a person in power, and most especially the president.  My heart breaks for families,  for the ways in which there is just focus on making us polarized and against each other.   That we are a country that has not been able to acknowledge and move beyond our white supremacy and privilege.  I just hurt. So I am taking a break and going to spend 2 hours just rooting for my Minnesota Lynx.  So glad for WNBA League Pass!

I still find myself being totally tickled that I can just go to the coast for the day!  I usually plan to do an overnight to stretch out and do more exploring.  That is just what I did yesterday.  I headed off to Belfast late morning, it was a good driving day, hazy sky and not too hot.   I took I-95 to US 1-A, and then onto US 1.  I love US 1.  It is not the fast route, but rather slowly moving through tiny towns, glimpses of great vista's and lots of fun business new and old as the car heads toward my destination. I spent last night at the Nightfall Inn , but before I made it to the Inn I made the stop that I had been thinking about since I returned home.  I stopped for lunch at Young's Lobster Pound. I love Young's and realized that I had not done good planning for my stop.  You can bring your own picnic, drinks, all the fixings to Young's.  I will be planning a wonderful picnic basket for my next trip.  As for...

I know that I thought I might take a "blog break" on weekends, but today on the spur of the moment I contacted our KWW volunteer coordinator and decided to go a "loop road tour".  It is was a great June day, warm, sunny and crystal clear.  I have been hankering to see the "mountain range"  and inside the monument is one of the best places to view the entire range and see Katahdin in all of her glory!  I took off at noon,  stopped by our contact center and picked up maps, supplies and headed off!   I went down the "Grindstone Road"  also known as Rt. 11 or the Scenic Byway.  I love driving along the East Branch of the Penobscot River, and today was no exception.  There wasn't much traffic so I could slow down and take in the beauty and get good looks at the river.  I takes awhile just to get off of the "byway" and onto to the logging road that takes you into the Monument and the 15 mile "loop road" . You get fun glim...

Here I am visiting the neighbors after my first volunteer shift this summer at the National Monument Office!  It was a fun day,  there were a few visitors.  I was reminded about how much I like to talk to people about the monument, the area, and find out what they are interested in doing, and what they are thinking about their visit.  It was a beautiful sunny day, that just invites you to spend some time outside in the wild!  I am going to do that myself tomorrow!  It has been a good week,  I have felt some reigniting of the pace and rhythm of Millinocket and home.  I have had good sleeping nights loving my own bed and my own pillows!  I have been making good food, and brought a delightful pasta dish and salad to my neighbors tonight.  Jan is really under the weather and it felt good to be able to just try and help her out.  When I am sick I don't want to cook.   We visited for awhile on the back deck until the black...

I woke this morning with full throttle rain on the metal roof.  The rain came and came, it is such a welcomed sound.  I love the rain and how it sounds on our oh so sturdy roof!  I had a morning planned that fit beautifully with a rainy day.  The temperature had dropped and the rain went from pouring to just a mild little patter as the morning moved forward.   I made a pot of tea and got out my paperwork,  my note cards, and  envelopes and spent a good part of the morning paying bills,  making needed business related phone calls, and writing cards and letter to friends and family that felt long overdue.   The rain continued and it felt so satisfying to just one after one get a letter written, a card addressed, a bill paid, and checks mailed to the bank! It was also a good morning to do a little cooking and I brought up the 'instant pot" and made some stew.  It tasted really good and after it was done I packed up a conta...

I just got home from the Quarterly Katahdin Collaborative Meeting.  It is so fun to be a part of such a fun visioning project!  "Never doubt a small group...." lots of good ideas and things are happening.  Tomorrow afternoon is the public hearing on the Millinocket budget.  The library is asking for a one year increase!!  While I was away they had the first public meeting and 35 people showed up to support the library!  Tomorrow will be the final approval of the budget.   The town council is also voting on the formation of a utility to bring broadband to the area, it is a great proposal and will change the entire foundation of development in our region by bringing really really fast broadband to all residents at a very very reasonable price!  As I type I am feeling better.  I had an easy day,  took naps and rested.  I also worked out the dates that my friend Marcia is coming for a two week visit!  I got many offers of ...