Pink elephants? No, they're flamingos!

Saturday morning, David and I got up early to get David to his plane in Bangor (an hour away). Once Avi learned that the Appalachian Trail was too far away from Bangor for him to "finish hiking it at Mt. Kathadin," he lost interest in the trip to Bangor, and opted to sleep in that morning instead. A wise choice....he needed it. I dawdled on my way back from Bangor, making frequent stops, figuring that Avi wouldn't even notice I was gone, since he'd been up reading so late the night before. I eventually texted him to see if he were up. Turns out that he had been awakened at the obscenely early hour of 10:00 am by the sound of a lot of people outside. From his bed, he pulled the curtain aside, only to see a parade of people predominantly dressed in pink! The Southwest Harbor Flamingo Parade had reached its terminus, which for some reason, was directly in front of our house--right in the middle of the block! What a way to wake up!

Acclimating to a New Climate

Avi and I came up to Maine the day before Avi was to start work at Acadia (6/24/2010), as a member of its Youth Conservation Corps. The day before, he had flown up to Boston on his own (first time for that!), and with me navigated a series of Boston subways, buses, and my car to get to Kim's house in Watertown. Early the next morning we headed north to Maine. I remember Maine (mostly from 1987, when I spent part of my summer here at Haystack School of Crafts doing basket weaving) as a place with a "just-perfect" temperature (cool in the shade, warm in the sun), bright blue skies, and huge rocky shorelines. It seems to still hold for now. I immediately wondered why I'd brought all those sleeveless shirts and other Durham-summer clothes. We made our way to the mobile home that we'd rented in Southwest Harbor on Mt. Desert Island (MDI), and met our landlady, who showed us around. I kept watching to see how Avi was taking all these rapid changes and "firsts." He seemed to take it all in stride, showing no real signs of nervousness. I wanted to do a food shop, and he had the presence of mind to suggest a test drive to where he had to go in the morning. Those both accomplished, we headed out for an inexpensive dinner and what would become the first of many many ice creams from the Quiet Side Cafe.....we'd discovered their Black Bear ice cream. We were going to be very happy here in our new home!