Rain, rain, rain

May 15, 2011

Hi from Bar Harbor, Maine. I guess that, like Seattle, rain is the harbinger of Spring up here. Only one day of sun in the past week! It's supposed to last throughout the Northeast until next week. But I cope...visiting the few indoor places that are open and figuring what I'm going to visit on the way back down.

The John Greenleaf Whittier home was something else. It is owned by a private foundation and is truly representative of a farm family of the 1830s. A little old man who used to be a teacher is the local self-taught expert on Whittier's life and work. He had some wonderful local stories and insights into the era. I didn't think of Whittier as a radical, but apparently he was actively involved with the other greats of his time. He was an active Abolitionist and an early advocate for women's suffrage. My kinda guy.

At the Kennebunkport Public Library book sale, I found a book of poems and have been re-reading some of Whittier's work. (No, George and Barbara were not available for lunch...)

I'm also looking again at William Wadsworth Longfellow, whose childhood home is in Portland, Maine. It was one of several sites that were of interest. Portland is a lovely city of about 68,000 permanent residents and lots of summer tourists. Interestingly, it is a resettlement location for Catholic Charities and there are many people from Sudan and Somalia residing there. It's one of the places I'd like to revisit.

Misty though it was, this morning I took a drive through Acadia National Park. The area was first named Eden...and appropriately so. It is overwhelming. Big waves massage the seawalls. Whispering streams flow through the forests and sometimes make small waterfalls over the rocks cut to make the roads. Little bunches of white flowers peek up from inch tall grass. Each curve in the road presents a breathtaking view of assorted greens. This is an ideal place to appreciate nature's terrors and good spirits. I want to stay for a while, but when it's sunny.

It looks like only stuff in the Atlantic Provinces big (relative term) cities is open now. Historic sites and museums in smaller towns are still closed so I'm just going to soldier on to Newfoundland and just enjoy the scenery and the ride...

Tried some sauteed fiddleheads and my first lobster roll. McCloskey's children's books Blueberries for Sal ans A Day in Maine are in my future.

Hugs to all.