Hiking on Schoodic Point…

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” 
-- John Muir  

With children ranging from 5 months to nearly 7 years we now look for fairly easy hikes when all the family and friends have gathered.  Schoodic Point is the only part of Acadia National Park that isn’t on Mt Desert and is a favorite place of ours to visit.  There is plenty of opportunities for rock hopping, tide pool searching, stone balancing, seal watching, and picnicking before and after our hike up Schoodic Point Trail. I spend most of my time taking photos but this time I only brought the G9 and the iPhone because I just didn’t want to carry anything heavy.  Although the G9 lens is scratched I can live with the photos for the most part.

When we arrived we discovered that someone had painstakingly decorated the parking lot with beach stones and tiny pinecones…

We had plenty of time for tidepooling…

 

and rock hopping…

…and picnicking.

And then we hiked the Schoodic Head Trail to the top of Schoodic Head with it’s views of Mt Desert and Cadillac Mt.  It was a little hot and challenging for the kids, and the adults who carried them, but fun.

..

A Perfect Day For the Beach…

 

On the holiday weekend, the state beach was full and cars were being turned away…but our little sailboat could easily take us to a quiet,  almost empty beach…where the sand was so hot our feet burned and the water was so cold our skin tingled…

Sailing back, Mrs R and I tried to remember the lyrics to “A Perfect Day”…because it was a perfect day.

 Lou Reed
Transformer (1972)
Perfect Day
Just a perfect day,
Drink Sangria in the park,
And then later, when it gets dark,
We go home.
Just a perfect day,
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later, a movie, too,
And then home.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own.
It's such fun.
Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow.

 

The Pursuit of Happiness…

Deciding how I was going to spend this 4th of July holiday was not easy for me this year.  For the past 59 years I always knew that I would be spending the day celebrating my sister’s birthday and this would be the first that I have spent without her.  I thought of going away…but happily ended up spending time with my daughters, their husbands,  my grandchildren…and of course Mr O.

  

We had a peanut hunt…I can remember doing this at my grandmother’s house when I was their age.

Some of us got wet.

Some tried to relax.

We grilled.

And we played with sparklers.

I do love sparklers!

A Thank-you Song...

Celebrating Thanksgiving dinner in the kitchen may include lots of noise, commotion, and dishes in the sink...but Mr J's Thanksgiving song just needed to be shared...   I think I need to practice filming video though...

"Thank you for the sun so bright, thank you for the moon at night, thank you for my family, thanks for friends who play with me, thanks for every thing I see, I am thankful yes sir eee."

The Fourth Folder...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been tagged by VioletSky to dig into my files and tell the story behind the fourth photo in the forth file...and what do I have to show but another picture from  Maine.   I got my first digital camera seven years ago,  just before one of our annual vacations to Maine...My filing system is very simple...I still have one file for every single day that I have taken a picture...so this is from the file of  2002_08_07.  There were only five pictures in the file, all taken from the dock of our friends' pond-side cabin, but the fourth picture is my favorite.  It was obviously taken by Mr O since it is of me with both my as yet unmarried daughters...laughing as the sun sets...glass of wine in hand...This picture makes me feel happy...

...and since there are only five photos in the the whole file I thought I would make a mosaic and join the fun at the Little Red House ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of tagging four more blogs I'm afraid  I will just ask that anyone who is interested to please join in...

Birthday Week…

The week after our return from Maine was another birthday week for our family…Mr J turned four…

…and Miss E turned two one day later…

I used these as birthday cards…

Mr J’s only requests for his birthday?    A piñata…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and chocolate cake…

Miss E was happy with everything …

chalk to color her feet with…

… a new tent…

…and lollipops…

 

Everything’s been different

   All the day long,

Lovely things have happened,

   Nothing has gone wrong.

Nobody has scolded me,

   Everyone has smiled.

Isn’t  it delicious

   To be a birthday child?

                   ---Rose Fyleman

Visiting Boston…

Before traveling to Maine Mr O , my sister, and I visited Mrs R while she was at work in the Boston Public Library…She works for the company that caters any events held there…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her office is in the older part of the library…designed by McKim, Mead, and White, it was finished in 1895.  We enjoyed taking a self-guided tour of this beautiful building… and we think it would be a wonderful place to have a party!

The main staircase had a beautiful golden glow from the yellow marble…at one point there were architecture students sitting on the stairs drawing….Most visitors were taking pictures of the lions…

 

 

The Abbey Room is dark … with a mural painting, “The Quest of the Holy Grail”, surrounding the room…

 

The reading rooms …well they were just as quiet and peaceful as they were gorgeous…

Hidden in the center of the library is a courtyard…we bought lunch at the library’s Map Room Cafe and brought sandwiches outside by the fountain…Not only were visitors like myself taking pictures, but a professional photographer was there meeting several clients…it was fun to watch him and his assistant while we ate…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right next door to the library is the Prudential Center…It was such a clear day we decided to go to the restaurant at the top for the view…and a Cosmopolitan…

I do think Mrs R has a very interesting and exciting job…