Category: Entertainment

#AtoZChallenge | Q is for Quiet and Winter’s Slower Pace

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When we bought our house in Maine, it was a true Maine camp having had a series of haphazard additions in the previous decades that left it with little charm other than the backyard which had lake frontage and gorgeous views. Sadly, those views were obstructed by an enclosed porch that circled the back and side of the house. But, it had an abundance of knotty pine and one good viewing spot in the kitchen.

One other thing it did have that we hadn’t expected was heat. It was usable year round. Our original thought had been to only spend summers in Maine but since there was heat we started making the trek up on weekends in the winter.

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#AtoZChallenge | M is for Mist and a Magical Transformation

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Winter mist is probably my favorite winter scene. It arrives unexpectedly and makes everything it touches eerie and surreal.

“Mist is tiny droplets of water hanging in the air. These droplets form when warmer water in the air is rapidly cooled, causing it to change from invisible gas to tiny visible water droplets.”1

When the conditions are right, it creates a magical landscape. It also has this amazing way of draining color from the scene. All my photos in this post are color but the mist seems to wash most of the color away leaving behind unsaturated wondrous images.

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A Fun Time Seeing “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” at Portland Stage

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I don’t remember how it came up. It wasn’t even close to Christmas. It was actually the end of summer and I was talking to my future husband for the first time. His team had just beat mine in volleyball and everyone had headed to the local bar for the post game social. For some reason, that I’ve long since forgotten, he started reciting quotes from It’s A Wonderful Life.

It wasn’t just the well known ones that everyone throws out from time to time. He could recite the entire movie line for line.  Although his favorite, to this day, is an exaggerated version of George Bailey muttering “Harry, Harry” after his brother arrives at the end of the movie. It’s his go-to quote because he can say it while doing one of the worst impressions of Jimmy Stewart I’ve ever heard.

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Ten things I learned on my first trip to the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity Maine.

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Normally, I am an exceptionally prepared person but when I decided to head up to Unity for the last day of the Common Ground Country Fair I jumped into the car on a whim and with no supplies. We had just celebrated the first day of fall but the temperatures were rebelling and heading up towards the 90s. A few basics like sunscreen and water would have been helpful, but fortunately it didn’t ruin my first experience at the Common Ground Country Fair.

The Common Ground Country Fair is a sponsored by the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and celebrates organic agriculture and rural life. This scouting trip gave me a basic overview of the event and will help me be better prepared next time I head back for hopefully a longer visit.

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Pepperell Mills Tour

A tour through Maine’s textile history at the Pepperell Mills in Biddeford.

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My happy childhood unfolded in Saco. My parents grew up in Biddeford so we still had close ties to that area too.  Most people from the two neighboring towns tend to have connections in both places. While there is a rivalry, it is more of the sibling variety and the two towns remain entwined in many ways including a shared history with the now empty textile mills that line the Saco River.

The Biddeford Mills Museum offers seasonal tours of the Pepperell Mill complete with colorful stories that take you back in time to glimpse the past. The first room on the tour was a light filled expanse now empty other than a few random items discarded off to the side. It was hard to image the room as it must have been when oil lamps provided light and looms lined every bit of the open floor space leaving little area to maneuver.

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