Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh, argh, I seem to never be getting to this post! Nothing really major has been going on, I seem to always be working on chores until I just want to watch some TV and go to bed.

Well, last month we were playing in the snow. This month has been a pretty decent month of spring with sunny days sprinkled into the rainy ones. A few weeks ago it was even warm enough that Zane and I took a bike ride down to the beach. There were tons of other little kids there playing in the sand, and a good time was had by all. You could almost hear everyone's skin sucking in the vitamin D. The sun is also staying with us longer each day! Our winter is almost over. Some spring flowers are coming up! Unfortunately, a squirrel ate a bunch of the bulbs Zane and I planted last fall, and Zane and I are officially mad about that.

Story telling has been happening a lot. I tell Zane stories at night after lights out, and in the last couple of weeks Zane has started to tell me stories! I really enjoy them. In one the story evolved as he scribbled on a magnadoodle: "This is a bush. A mouse is under the bush. It's raining. A pony comes and gives the mouse a ride. The pony licks the mouse dry." In another he was looking at a model of Buckminster Fuller's dymaxion bus, and he told me it was an underground bus for people in an underground city! I have no idea where he got that from, but I was thoroughly entertained!

I've been working on and off on potty training. He's getting more used to the idea of sitting on it, but we haven't lucked out on pee happening at the right moment yet. Because of the Presidents Day holiday coming up we'll be home for the next 5 days, so I think I'll try a more concerted effort. We have a chart on the door that Zane gets to put stars on for each attempt. Let's try to fill that up!

We've been in a bit of an art mode lately. Zane's coloring has developed a little more purpose than just scribbles. Now if I draw a line, or put on a sticker, or give him paper with a picture on it, he specifically colors on the objects or lines. He's pretty precise! He's also into big circles and zigzags, and he pretends he is writing his name. He can occasionally recognize some letters, too, so I sometimes work on that. I recently got a small folding table and chairs just his size, so now he can do his projects in comfort instead of on the kitchen floor as we used to.

I'll be taking a trip to Maine all by myself soon. I'm going back just for a quick 4 day trip to see my Grandma who has taken a spill. In order to do a quick trip I need to do red-eye flights and travel light, so Zane will be home with Michael. It will be an adventure for all of us! I'll miss Zane but get a bit of a break, too. Zane and Michael will get intense time together which will hopefully be good! To make myself feel better (and hopefully Zane, too), I made a series of little paper boxes with a little goodie inside for each morning I am gone. Then I made a chart which Zane can put an airplane sticker on each night. I'll probably call a lot, too!






After a pretty disease free fall and winter, we've had a spot of trouble lately. First, I developed a case of mite bites that thankfully no one else in the family got. I got some medicine to clear that up, and lots of overdue in-depth cleaning has happened around the couch where JoJo hangs out, as we suspect that's where they came from. Unfortunately, two weeks later I still have an itchy rash not from the bites themselves but from my allergic reaction to the bites. I think I need to go back to the doctor to see about this. Then some sort of major crud has been going around Seattle and affecting people differently. I got completely exhausted with a headache and fever for several days and pretty tired for more days beyond that. I even took two sick days and took Zane to daycare for one of them. Then Zane got a fever for several days with some very nasty chest congestion. He's been pretty miserable and unable to rest properly due to coughing. I think he was finally a tiny bit better today, so hopefully we are on the mend.

Well, that's the catch up! I'll try not to take so long with the next post.

Home Sweet Home

Boy are we glad to be home! There's nothing like your own comfy chair.

Before we left for Maine, Zane had a pretty excellent Christmas. He got very excited about his presents and grasped the concept of unwrapping quite quickly. I think his favorite presents are his very own chair with his name on it, a standup piano keyboard, a remote control, some monsters, and a garbage truck ("Gabboo").

At Grandpa Milt's house he got to play cars with his cousins, and he got a cool car from Grandpa and an electric guitar from his Aunt/Uncle/cousins.

On Christmas morning we were off to Maine. The trip to Maine went pretty well, although Zane only slept for one hour of the trip. He had a fun time watching planes take off, but mostly I think he liked to see all of the airport service trucks zipping around. He made the sign language sign for fan when we got into the small plane with propellers. Smart kid!

We started our visit in Maine in Harpswell with my Dad, Becky, and Brady. Zane was pretty ecstatic to be in a house with THREE cats! We had a little blizzard while we there, and it was cold and blowy so we didn't get to go out and play in the falling snow. Zane learned the word snow. We did take a drive out to Cook's Lobsterhouse during the storm, and while we were there only two other groups were in the restaurant. Zane spent a lot of time wandering around with a chaperone. He got to see his first big fully decorated and lighted tree there, and he also had his first french fries. Brady brought my Grandma Henderson up to the house, and we all had a quiet visit with football on the TV.

It was a little wearing to be in a non-baby-proofed house. It's amazing how much I take our safe house for granted! I had to follow Zane around and make sure he didn't fall down the basement stairs, or go up to the second floor and fall down those stairs. Pens, scissors, cleansers ... And we had to keep the telephones and cats safe from Zane.

Tuesday we headed out to Camden, and Zane got to re-meet his cousins Ian (9) and Julian (5). He really had fun with them. Ian was especially good and patient with Zane. My brother's house was pretty fun for Zane, but from my point of view, a mega death-trap. The two resident cats, Manuel and Polly, are a little shier than my Dad's cats, and Manuel can be downright vicious. There is a red-hot woodstove in the middle of the house surrounded by a sharp and trippable brick hearth, and fronted by a slippable and trippable carpet. Stairs to go up and fall down. Cleansers. Tiny Bionicles parts everywhere. Mousetraps! I was exhausted. I didn't want to keep Zane cooped up and constantly say No No No, so I followed him around and put my body between him and danger. He had a blast.

The Christmas tree here was decorated with many outdoorsy things. Zane is still very excited about fish, so he was happy to see lots of fish ornaments. There were also many boat ornaments, and boat toys for the bath, so Zane learned the word boat. After learning the word he came into our room, spied some wooden duck decoys, and said "Da Boot!" He was sure they were boats, and we decided that was OK.

It was finally time for Zane to have a Maine snow experience, so on a beautiful and relatively warm sunny day, we went to the Camden Snow Bowl. We got the sled, stuffed Zane into his snowpants and boots, and went to have fun! Whee. Zane would not crack a smile. He seemed pretty stunned, like he couldn't understand why we were torturing him with layers of clothes and freezing air. We finally gave up and went into the lodge to eat, and he perked right up and had a grand ol' time. I have a feeling that when we go on our next vacation to Hawaii he will be happier.

Zane also got to spend time with his Grandma! Grandma is an early morning person, so I got to catch up on some sleep while Zane ate healthy breakfasts with his Grandma. One day I was in bed for 10 hours, the next for 12. I can't wait for July when she will be with us for a whole month! And not just for the sleep.

My friends Ann and Jon came to Camden to visit, and gave Zane a super-stylin' embroidered vest. I think maybe Zane will wear it for his dance class starting on Wednesday. My aunt Vicki came to visit, too, and we had quite a full house of guests. It was pretty relaxing, because Zane was napping! We also had a quick visit with my Grandma Robarts and Aunt Connie.

At this point we were pretty exhausted with keeping Zane alive, and really looking forward to going home. Back to Harpswell, which we decided was actually quite safe compared to my brother's house. A nice lunch out with my Dad, Becky, Grandma Henderson and Aunt Vicki and we were off to the airport! Yay!

Well. If only it were so simple. The weather issues of earlier in the week were all gone, but for some reason Newark Airport was all backed up in air traffic, so our plane from Portland got in late before our flight, and so our flight departed very late. I spent much time with Zane in the Portland airport running back and forth and making friends with other little kids. Zane was great in the terminal, but on the plane he ended up screeching and crying for most of the 1+ hour flight. He fell asleep right before we got to Newark. By the time we got to Newark, air traffic was still backed up, so our plane hung around in the air for 10 extra minutes before landing. Then they couldn't find anyone to drive the skybridge to the plane. Finally we got off and trotted trotted trotted to our connecting flight -- and missed it by 5 minutes. @#%%@!

After a really long wait at customer service, we were able to get a flight for Monday morning (a day and a half later), so we had to stay in a Newark hotel for 2 nights. During deplaning, running to miss our flight, wading through customer services, getting our bags, and getting on and off trains and elevators Zane slept soundly in his car seat on wheels. He woke up just before we got the shuttle to the hotel. The shuttle was completely packed with people standing in the door well and loud music coming from the driver's area. This was just a sign of things to come!

We were put up in the lovely Newark Ramada Plaza Hotel. As you can tell from these reviews, it pretty much sucked. And Continental only paid for one night of such luxury, so we had to shell out for some of it. This is odd -- I just went to look at my Facebook account where I had mentioned staying in a yucky hotel, and the post is gone! I don't think I even mentioned the name of the hotel! Creepy. I've been edited. The hotel was in some sort of weird freeway interchange and freight yard dead end, so you couldn't walk anywhere. Not that you'd want to what with the State Prison next door. There were no diapers in the hotel store, so Michael had to take a taxi to get some to tide us over. The towels were very thin and small, and they wouldn't seem to let you have more than one wash cloth at a time. Unvacuumed floors. We asked for a crib several times and didn't get one. The lobby was stained and filthy. At the restaurant we had to ask for a high chair three times before they gave us one. At least the shower was hot with nice water pressure, and we didn't seem to encounter bedbugs.

The restaurant was pretty good, though, and we managed to pass the time walking around the hotel over and over again. Zane and I played with hinged door stops over and over in an empty dining room, and Zane finally began to learn the concept of up and down. Because of the Ramada, he learned some vocabulary! Zane napped and slept pretty well in a bed surrounded by pillows so he wouldn't fall off.

Zane had really had it with travel, and he began biting us frequently. I decided not to deal with it too harshly until we got home, since I figured he was just out of sorts. He also started sitting in his travel seat and saying "home", which was sad.

When it came time to leave, we were almost late to the airport because the shuttle was too full and then didn't come back to pick us up for 30 minutes, but eventually we made it home. We stood in the living room and jumped up and down!

We've had some transition time with sleep schedules disrupted, and Zane has been very clingy and has more separation anxiety than usual. After his very first time out, the biting subsided, too. Mostly we're back to normal now.

On Wednesday our friends Jeff and Claudia visited with their son Finn, who is one month older than Zane. Zane was a bit of a pill about his toys -- he didn't want Finn to have any. Luckily, Finn didn't care.

And now, hopefully life will go on. No more travel adventures for a while!

A Wicked Good Time

Helloooooo everyone from Maine! It was wonderful visiting with you all, and we miss you already.

We had a wonderful time in Maine. Zane was an excellent traveler, weathered the time change, and slept and napped pretty well considering all the changes. It was hot hot hot, though, and a few cranky times were due to that and not being able to sleep well in the heat. A few times we went to the library to play and cool off. We're glad to be back in cool Seattle.

Zane's brain seemed to get really stimulated by the travel, as he started doing a bunch of new things. First, at Pa Jim's he learned to climb down stairs by navigating the two steps from dining room to living room; then he applied that to other steps and even a couch! Later on he climbed up onto the rim of Grandma's bathtub, which was a little precarious. He's really into climbing now, and tried to climb out of his high chair and crib last night. Saturday morning I put him in his exersaucer for my shower, and when I got out he was standing by the tub. Little Houdini!

Zane has really begun to babble in a way that clearly sounds like language. There were enough times that he "coincidentally" said what sounded like a word right after we said it, that I think he is beginning to copy words. He also clearly knows some words, such as "cat". Cats were a big highlight of the trip: 2 at Pa Jim's, 1 at Grandma's, and 2 at his cousins' house. One day Zane was crying after waking up from a nap, and nothing would console him until I said "Do you want to go find a cat?" He immediately stopped crying and got a big smile on his face. He's definitely got Henderson/Robarts blood in him.

With all the new sights to see, Zane also developed his point while in Maine. Now he points to lots of things, and I'm trying to name everything he points to. The power of pointing is also the power to say what you want; Zane also points to things he can't have, and then fusses when I don't give them to him. I will not give in! I will not cultivate a whiner!

Uncle Aaron asked if Zane could stand on his own yet, and I said no. Aaron then gave Zane a try, and got him to stand in sumo stance for a few seconds! Aunt Colleen and cousin Ian also got him to repeat the performance. When Zane stood, we all said "Yay" and clapped, and Zane even clapped a bit! Zane won't do it for me, though; he gets rubbery legs around Mom. But, today he was fussing for me to pick him up and let go of his support to reach for me -- he accidentally stood for a second! Now that Zane is home he's also walking a bit if I hold his hands while he is facing me. If he faces away he gets rubbery legs again.

We also had many wonderful firsts: Swimming in a lake (which was awesome!), crickets, fire flies, real ducks, the moon and stars (it's been too light in Seattle), Maine blueberries, bug bites, cat scratches and band-aids. On the first night in Maine I took Zane out after dark; we heard crickets, smelled the ocean, and saw fireflies, stars and the moon. Zane said "Aahhh!"
This was also Zane's first time to meet most of my family and friends Ann and Jon! Above Zane reads with Grandma and cousin JuJu. To the right he meets his Great-Grandma Robarts! Oh yeah, and two more teeth up top!

I also had a restful time. While we were in Camden my Mom took Zane in the mornings when he woke up, and I got to sleep an hour or so extra. Just four days of that and I really felt refreshed! Mom and Zane got quality time, and I got rest. Everyone wins! When Zane had naps I didn't have all my chores waiting for me at home, so I actually got a lot of reading done. My book is languishing again, but I'll get back to it soon ...

I feel like so much happened in Maine I could write a book! When I get more pictures from other people I'll post more.

Meanwhile, before we left for Maine, we had some adventures and experiences. We had another developmental assessment which was fun as usual. Zane is zooming along and ahead of his benchmarks on all stuff except Communication. I need to work with him more on language games like nursery rhymes and finger plays. I think his week in Maine gave him a bump up, though. We go again at the end of August.

We went to a visit with the nutritionist to explore Zane's skinniness. The upshot is that he seems to be grazing and nursing a lot and so is not interested in eating. The grazing and mini-nursing is just enough to take the edge off his hunger so he can go play, but not enough to give him the calories he needs. To make him eat more, I need to feed him less often. I've been working on that plan since then, and Zane is eating more solids (and pooping more). He's also nursing less, so my milk production is dropping. That's a little scary for me, but I'll adjust. It will be nice if he only nurses in the am and pm so I can stop pumping at work. Meanwhile, maybe I can go to just pumping once at work during the day.

We also had a day trip to Fiddle Tunes, which was awesome. The day was beautiful and we were accompanied by Bee. Zane missed the ferry rides due to sleeping, but he had a great time listening to music, playing in the grass, and dancing with Laurie.

Then, the day before our Maine trip, we took a break to go to the Ballard Seafood Fest. Zane got to play in the water park at the Ballard Commons. He was more mesmerized by the other kids than the water, but I think he still enjoyed it. It will be super fun when he can walk on his own.

And that's the roundup! This week we have an appointment with a speech therapist to somehow check Zane's eating, and then we have a regular checkup. Let's cross our fingers for some chubbiness!

Oh, and Zane has a fever today that started last night. :(

Maine Events

And for my final Maine report, I've strung together a bunch of short videos.

Miscellaneous Maine

Here are some miscellaneous things from our visit to Maine.

Michael tried to eat my nephew Julian. Luckily Julian was wearing his new National Geographic watch and binoculars, and he was saved.Ian beat his Dad, Aaron, at Monopoly with the help of a team of advisers.No vacation is complete with out substitute pets while we are away from our Bijou and JoJo. In Harpswell we had spazzy Scout, and in Camden bloated Manuel and Polly (not shown).
We stopped by The Maine Dog in Camden to visit the Flemish Giant rabbit who lives in the store window. This is a Big Bunny. He's about 3 times as big as JoJo.

Celebrations

There was much rejoicing in Maine while we were there. Of course, I like to think it was because we were there, but probably not. Not entirely, anyway!

December 31st was my nephew Ian's 6th birthday! Wow! I feel like he's no longer a little boy, he's a regular kid. A regular spazz! Ian could eclipse Maine Yankee in energy output.

We also did some Christmas presents all around since Michael and I had come in to town. Here my other Maine nephew, Julian, helps Michael with one of his presents.

After we did Christmas and celebrated Ian's birthday, Michael and I, my Mom, and my Dad headed to Belfast for a New Year's Eve dance played by the Hep Cats. I got all dressed up, fully knowing that only a few other people might be dressed up; I even wore my new petticoat. I must be city-fied, because I was really surprised to find that no one else dressed up. There had been a lot of snow recently, and every one else was in jeans, warm shirts, and practical muddy boots. I wore boots, too, I'm not crazy, but I did change into dance shoes. The floor was slick with mud. I'm used to dance floors being wet, but it's always beer, which is nice and sticky. The mud on linoleum was pretty slick. I had a great time anyway, and many people told me they really liked my dress and the fact that I dressed up. We all had a great time dancing; here I am with my Daddy!

New Year's Day Michael and I saw my long-time friend Ann and her husband Jon. We had a great lunch at Cappy's Chowder House, and then we had to go our separate ways. Too short a visit! Someday I hope we can have a long one.

Then my Aunt and some cousins from my Mom's side of the family came over for a New Year's Day get together. It's always great to see you all! Not many people made it this year as have in past years, partly due to another snow storm which was already dumping snow.

Snowtasia!

I really prefer to visit Maine in the summah, but if I have to go in the winter, it might as well snow! While we were there, we had two beautiful snow falls, both nicely scheduled to not interfere with our travel plans.

The first snow started on the evening of the 30th while we were snugged up in Harpswell with my Dad, my stepmom Becky, my brother Brady, and the cat Scout. It was still a snowy winter wonderland when we woke up. I shoveled and snowshoed, and then the sun came out for even more beauty.

To cap it all off, when were set to leave for Camden, I saw an owl fly onto a branch in the yard. He was very big! He stayed for about 10 minutes while the Henderson-Gibson-Williams paparazzi snapped many photos. This owl was pretty big -- maybe the size of a raccoon. I'm thinking he might be a Barred Owl. A recent blog post here says, "The widespread reports of Barred Owls being seen in the daylight hours in Maine this winter has some people thinking these birds are having a tough winter already and they are stressed and hungry enough to come out in daylight." I hope he wasn't too stressed. Very magnificent.
On New Year's Day in Camden, we had another pretty snow storm which started at about 2pm. We went for a nice long walk around Chestnut and Bayview Streets in Camden. It was absolutely beautiful, and I'm really glad I didn't have to drive anywhere. This ivied lamp post is at my brother's house, where we were staying.

The Pain of a New Year

Back from vacation! We had a great time, but it is definitely good to be back. I hadn't exercised for 2 weeks, so going back to the gym today was a pleasure, but I'm pretty sure I'll be waking up tomorrow to pain. Oh well. Such is the price of sloth.

And today I crossed a major milestone and rite of passage: my first mammogram! Ygh. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be, so that's OK.

As I go through my pictures and such, I'll blog a bit about my vacation in Maine.

Touchdown in Maine

Michael and I are now in Maine for a little over a week. I don't have any riveting events to relay or fascinating pictures to show. Today Michael went to the YMCA and then we went to WalMart. Yay. But really, the relaxation is fantastic.

Michael, my Dad, and my brother Brady are all out at a sports bar watching the Patriots (currently losing in the 4th). Oh whoops! Nope! Now the Patriots are ahead. I imagine there is much joyous spilling of beer at this very moment. Woo hoo. I'm not really a sports fan.

We've palmed our girls off on very generous friends. Our neighbor Gavin is looking in on Bijou. He has reported she is eating whipped cream from a spoon and he will soon watch a movie with her on our nice flat screen TV. My friend Sabina and her family are watching JoJo at their house. I brought all of her luggage over and set up a 6'x6' pleasure palace for her in their computer room/basement. They have 2 little girls who are very exited about having a rabbit for a week, and I think JoJo will come back very happy and well cared for. It was hard to send her away for a week, though. I cried when I stuffed her in the pet carrier to take her away! Michael and I are softies ...

Brady Is An Official Through Hiker!

My little tiny brother Brady made it to the end of the Appalachian Trail! He started in Springfield, GA on April 8, and made it to the top of Mt. Katahdin on October 17. That's 2175 miles folks. On foot.

CONGRATULATIONS BRADY!

Brady's next task is cheering the Red Sox to another World Series Victory.

Attack of the Hendersons

In addition to meeting old and new friends, I also of course spent time with my family. My Dad and I had a nice drive to Skowhegan to see my Grandma H and Aunt V before heading to Harpswell for the rest and relaxation part of my visit. I enjoyed reading on the porch while bird watching. I helped my Dad set up a nice awning on the porch; we can call it an awning because it was white and green, otherwise if it had been blue, it really would have been a good ol' Maine tahp. A quick trip out to the Henderson Mooring at the Orr's-Bailey Yacht Club was a nice interlude, too.

I started out the week in Camden with my Mom, and I helped her get a blog started. She'll be heading to Quito this weekend for her next teaching assignment, and hopefully she can keep us updated through the blog! Earlier in the week I enjoyed visiting with my Grandma R and Aunt C in Camden a few times. I also had some extra family around since my sister-in-law's niece was visiting so she could take sailing lessons at the Camden Yacht Club. We had fun painting our nails and putting jewels on them.

All that fun aside, nothing beats the energy of my nephews! We all trooped out to Fernald's Neck Preserve and Balance Rock and had a swim, and Aaron and the kids tried a little fishing.


On the way back my Mom treed the kids in an old cedar tree.

I was also a Very Bad Aunt and encouraged violent behavior from Julian; but he's soooo cute!

And while we're on the subject of attacking Henderson's, let me close with this link my Dad sent me. It's a mashup from the Prelinger Archives showing the Henderson family protecting themselves from a zombie attack. Enjoy!

[edit: embed removed because it would automatically play, which is annoying. Follow this link to see the video.]

New Friends in Maine

In addition to meeting up with family and old friends in Maine, I made some new friends, too! I went to Rockland last Tuesday night to see Petula Darling, and I finally met her rabbits Morris and Midge. Morris came to see who was in his house, but Midge was very ... retiring. I could only get a good look at her by taking a flash photo under a piece of furniture and then looking at the result. I'm afraid she looks a bit like a Wallace and Gromit were-rabbit from that point of view:


Although he is a famous interwebs personality, Morris was kind enough to grant me an interview

After the visit, Morris and Midge had a wash up. The camera added a few pounds to Morris' physique; he's really quite svelte.I also met Petula Darling's husband Davis. Have you blog readers noticed how she mentions him but never describes him? Now I know why -- he's really handsome and intelligent! She's making sure she keeps him to herself. :> I thoroughly enjoyed blabbing away with Petula and Davis until I had to tear myself away and go home. Just before I left Davis showed me a hawk skull. Under an antique microscope. He really knows how to impress me! I love bones and old science equipment.

For my next visit I hope to get my act together and bring a petticoat-worthy dress, and we can go out on the town.

The next day I went up to my Dad's and finally met his new cat Scout. She's a young whipper-snapper and full of energy. She also agreed to an interview.

So there you have it. I met two rabbits, a cat, and Petula's husband on my trip to Maine. That's pretty good!

Stress Free = Long Life

Well, I'm back from Maine, and it took bloody forever. I was supposed to catch a 4:14pm flight out of Portland (Maine), get to Detroit with 40 minutes between flights, and be home by 9:25pm. I actually got home 14 hours later than that. Thunderstorms in NY mucked up at east coast air traffic. We finally flew to Detroit 2.5 half hours late, and my flight was long gone. I had to stay in a hotel overnight and fly out the next morning.

But you know what? I just relaxed and enjoyed it! The flight to Detroit was through towering fluffy clouds with afternoon light making them peachy and gold. Far off thunder heads looked like massive glaciers and icebergs. It was like being in a Maxfield Parrish sky. I had no trouble getting a hotel in Detroit, and I got to luxuriate in a king sized bed all my own. Kind of like being on vacation from life: not on vacation, not at home, just in limbo.

Anyway, I'm home now, and pictures and videos will appear soon. Meanwhile, take a look at Poodwaddle Clocks where you can Calculate Your Real Age based on factors like health, risk behaviors, and stress. I'm happy to be reminded that remaining stress-free when factors are out of your control gives you a better chance at a longer life. According to the website, even though I am 39 with a base/average life-expectancy of 75, I'm really 10.7 years old and have a life-expectancy of 103.3. I feel 10.7! I'm just glad to not actually be 10.7 anymore.

I wonder if Michael knows I'm so immature and he's stuck with me for so long?

Hello from Maine

I'm here in Camden, Maine having a lovely vacation with my family! It's warm and humid as a freshly used washcloth. Kind of nice for walking in the rain, 'cause it's warm rain, unlike Seattle cold rains!

I've been shopping at L.L.Bean and Freeport, I toured an arboretum and had an evening cookout on a private cove, and celebrated my brother's 41st birthday with family. And lest ye think Maine is bereft of culture, I also went out to a bar to listen to live blues last night. Today is hiking in the day and a visit to Petula Darling in the evening.

Tomorrow: to Skowhegan and Harpswell!

The edges of the US fall off

I play Cajun and Zydeco music (which is from Louisiana) with some folks here in Seattle. We frequently play for some civic events which shall remain nameless to protect the not-so-innocent. Tonight at band practice I heard that there was a small problem in our being hired for the event when someone spoke with the event organizer and said
"Bande Pastiche? Cajun music? Why don't we have American music?"
The fabulous organizer straightened the person out forthwith.

On a similar note, I get e-mails at work about weird reference questions from around the country. I don't remember the exact words of the question, but it went something like this:
"I need to do a report on New England. It's not in America, it's another country."

Well, golly gee, I guess global warming has already knocked off New England and Louisiana from the continental US!