More from Maine

These are the plants in the windowsill of Fran's cottage. I don't know what they are, but they are really quite beautiful.

 

 

And two shots from her morning walk:

 



Mary's Dragonboat Races

Mary says:

It was a beautiful day for the festival.  I think we did pretty well - after the first two 500 meter races we qualified for the final.  I'm not sure how we did there.  Then because we did well enough in the first two, we were eligible for the 2000 meter race - 4 times the distance of our usual races.  I was so tired by then but I really wanted to experience the race.  It was great - very exciting, where the boats (I think there were 7 of them) left the dock 15 seconds apart, one at a time. 

 

Then there is this complicated thing about the lane you're in and when you can pass and it turns into kind of chaos with boats almost colliding.  The race is out, back, out, back so each turn becomes and challenge and so much depends on your having a good steerer - we have a great one.  I took the picture of people waiting because you spend a lot of time doing that.  One of the team members' husbands took the picture of the race. 

It got hot in the afternoon sun, but other than that it was a perfect day on the water.

 

 

Fran's in Maine

She writes:

Arrived Booth Bay. This is a night view of the harbor. We just had great seafood dinner. Weather is perfect and. cottage is lovely with ocean views from each room.

The Universe sometimes has to hit me over the head

I remember reading that the Universe keeps sending us lessons until we learn -- and the lessons get more and more pronounced -- until they get our attention. I think I have an example of that.

For years (probably about three), I have ordered my groceries on line, regularly, loyally, from Food Emporium. A few glitches and snags along the way, but nothing bad. Then the store in my neighborhood closed and my business was transferred to another store 25 blocks away. That's when the problems really started: showing up late, telling me the delivery guy can't find my building, things left out for no reason, etc. The most recent mistake was being charged (you get a normal cash register receipt) for two items that weren't delivered. I complained, and was told that I'd be given a credit on my next order, and even as the young woman (whose name was Patricia) was telling me, I didn't believe her. And I was right. No credit.

I complained again. Nothing. No response. No resolution. But still, I remained loyal. This past week, I went to order groceries, go through the whole shebang, am ready to check out and it wouldn't accept my password. I finally gave up and clicked on the "send me an email to reset my password" and the site told me that my email address isn't valid. I kept looking at every letter in it. Yes, it's valid. I gave up, went without and then tried the next day. Same thing.

Oh, I get it.

So last night I ordered from Peapod.com and I have to say I am impressed. More selection, lower prices. I get Food Emporium delivery for free, and Peapod charges $6.95, but if you accept a bigger delivery window, you deduct two dollars so I did that. My delivery was scheduled for 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm today. I was told I'd get an email with a more precise time.

I did. Around 3 pm, I got an email saying my delivery would be for 6 to 8 pm. The guy shows up at 6:45 singing to me in a delightful Jamaican accent. He was happy. He wasn't mumbling. He really was delightful. I wasn't thrilled that he called me Mama, but I'll take it as a compliment. When he looked at my paperwork, he said he knows this is my first order and "Welcome to Peapod!!" and told me what to do if I had a complaint. I was happy with the food; everything was right.

So I get it, Universe. Change. I'll go with Peapod from now on.

Amy Reports in...

Amy (and her husband Barry) have made it to Vicksburg, Mississippi (from Albuquerque) headed to Fort Myers and home.

I tried a dozen times to rotate this photo and it rotates but doesn't stay rotated so I'm afraid you'll have to rotate your head!

Amy says:

The mighty Mississippi in afternoon light. Getting closer to home. Rose [Amy's daughter] says she completely reorganized my closet for me. I told her I don't have enough clothing with me to mess it up. Hope to be home by 1 pm tomorrow.  We will see what the weather thinks of that.

 

 

Stephanie Reports in...

Here are Stephanie and Danny at a Knights of Columbus pot luck dinner.

Amy's Sightseeing

Amy visited Petrogylph National Monument today which is near Albuquerque. A petroglyph is a stone carving made by a prehistoric person. Here is the description from the Monument's website.

Petroglyph National Monument protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago. These images are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers.

And here's her photo:

 

and some more just arrived: