This is one of my favorite paintings.
A friend posted a video on Instagram of her daughter running by on a dreary winter day — it’s a split second long. I loved the complementary colors and motion, so I thought I’d try to capture both on a small 12″ X 12″ canvas. … Read the rest
This is acrylic on a 24″x 30″ canvas. I took a photo of Olive in a blueberry field on Christy Hill in Sedgwick ME on an overcast day and thought it would make a good composition, if I made up a horizon and cloudy sky.… Read the rest
I noticed something about women’s fashion while working for the Postal Service: many if not most, blouses, tops, or business outfits for women don’t have pockets!
Most of my career was spent in Post Offices where I was the Postmaster or manager, so I organized them for me. I had pens located at a few stations I visited often during the day like the retail window, the desk, or the area set aside for receipt and notification of mail. But, I kept a pen in my pocket for the dozens of other places I would visit throughout the day. I couldn’t carry one around in my hand, because I was called upon to use both hands all the time.… Read the rest
Back in 1988, I received my first promotion to become the Postmaster at Camptonville CA. In 2014, I would become the last Postmaster of Camptonville, but that’s another story and another post. This one’s about the failure of musical education in the United States.
I needed a radio for my small rural post office with a good adjustable antenna to pick up stations from the Bay Area. It was June and I went to the local Long’s Drug Store (now, CVS), because they sold consumer electronics at the time. I found a ghetto blaster that looked promising: it had an impressive telescoping antenna, tone controls, headroom, and a cassette player.… Read the rest
This morning I was getting dressed and noticed a design flaw in a pair of corduroys Denise found for me at the local thrift store. This defect makes them uncomfortable in some, but not all, situations. So, I tolerate them. Over the years, I’ve noticed that clothes I buy at the thrift store or some overstock/bargain outlets like Ross or Marshall’s have some quirky characteristics such as too few belt loops, shallow pockets, buttons too high on the collar, or inaccurate sizing (just to name a few). I always wonder if that’s why an otherwise attractive garment failed to sell or was returned or discarded to a thrift store.… Read the rest
I felt a New Years rant coming on, but didn’t get around to publishing it until today.
First up: There must be something wrong with me. I’d rather eat at a taqueria than Chipotle – there, I said it – I’m out – that’s just me – not hating or judging anyone. From an early age, I always knew I was different than the rest – but, that’s another story altogether. I don’t feel any different after eating organic/fresh than I do eating other kinds of food (unlike just about everyone else on social media). In fact, I recently ingested a bunch of home cooked fresh stuff and felt terrible.… Read the rest
Many men wish their handwriting was better and I’m one of them. This primer, How to Improve Penmanship, at The Art of Manliness, “will teach you everything you need to know about improving your cursive penmanship.” At least, that’s their claim. I have this notion that by training my mind, eyes, and hands to improve my penmanship, other skills I’m cultivating will follow. There are indications that writing by hand improves your cognitive abilities, but I’m hoping my art and creative writing will also benefit. We shall see. One specific writing skill I would like to acquire is the draftsman or architectural style of writing.… Read the rest
This past week, I came to the realization that I’m probably not a coffee drinker. I like coffee drinks or drinks made with coffee, but not coffee by itself… black. Denise roasts beans for us and does a great job. We have electric and hand burr grinders, a french press outfit, a pour-over device, an Aeropress, and a Cuisinart drip coffee maker. Until recently, we had a Krupps espresso maker. So, there’s no excuse for my not being a true coffee drinker — I have only my own taste buds to blame.
How did I come to this shocking realization? A couple of weeks ago, I decided to start drinking my coffee black and enjoy the essence of the bean without admixture or adulteration of the ebony nectar by dairy products and sweeteners.… Read the rest
Someone posted this bizarre video of Benny Hinn on the Triune nature of God…
Which reminded me of a mathematics instructional video a friend pointed me to years ago.
Then, I recalled a bit of advice from Beautiful Eulogy
Our family lived in Maine from 1993 – 1997 and the area we lived in was ripe with chance meetings of fate, because so many celebs and power people vacation or retire there. Here’s just one example. More will follow and fans of the old TV comedy, Green Acres, will want to check out this post.
Most people who flew out of our area to the rest of the United States and the world would leave on the 6AM flight out of Bangor International Airport. It was a large plane, flying to Logan International in Boston, where connections were made with the rest of civilization.… Read the rest
I’ve watched boys writhing in the pews and struggling to pay attention for years, as the preacher plows through the text, turning over the soil of the soul. Sometimes the man behind the music stand or pulpit is me.
Other boys get down on their knees, but not to pray. They face a chair with a pencil up and press their noses down close to a piece of paper or a flyer for some church event or a bulletin or a sketch pad, rendering caricatures of superheroes or Transformers or stock cars. Older boys may read an appropriate novel. Some do their homework, while others game away on a device of some kind.… Read the rest
This was something I posted back in 2005 and I thought it might be worthwhile to look back to where we’ve been and see how far we’ve come.
… Read the restIt has long been a dream of mine to redecorate our home in a modern theme, but it looks like that will have to wait for another 5-10 years. In the interim, we have decided upon a retro look and have been scouring thrift stores, garage sales and eBay for furniture and accessories from the same era as the ribbon-cutting on our home, i.e. 1961.
Today, Denise, and I were leaving a disappointing garage sale, when we happened upon a young gentleman (who happpened to be from New Zealand), standing in the driveway of his new home, next to this sectional.
“For we are, alas, only too familiar with alluring prophets. We have seen them crumble into fragments.
We have seen them bring the Wholly Other into disrepute, by being themselves no more than ‘very strange.'” Karl Barth
Over on Pyromaniac a while back, there was s a discussion of the role of prophecy in the modern church, which began with Rubber Prophecies and a brief account of two of the “very strange” pseudo-prophets bouncing them. It’s amazing what a wide-ranging and informative overview you can get in the comments that followed.
Since then, we’ve had the Strange Fire brouhaha and the resulting fallout.… Read the rest
How do I love thee? I love thee for thine funky retro greeting cards that thou dost findeth in thrift stores. Man, I hate trying to write prose in Elizabethan English. Anyway, when we bought our home from Mrs. Brass in 1997, we also took possession of a huge stash of greeting cards from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. That supply ran out a couple of years ago, so Denise scours the thrift stores and eBay to find the finest cards for loved ones. That’s one way Denise demonstrates her affection – by sending folks cool special occasion cards. Here is the one she gave me this year for Valentine’s Day.… Read the rest
Yeah, I played some football when I was a kid and really enjoyed it — linebacker, mostly. As I tell my kids, I loved gliding over the bodies, moving down the line and BAM!!! — hitting the runner emerging out of the line. Or, careening into the tight end on a slant: BAM!!! FUMBLE!!!
Anyways, I’ve never been much of a football fan — it’s way more fun to play than watch. I also remember people saying that football players are dumb, but that was never my experience. One of my teammates went on to West Point: There’s a nurse practitioner, a surgeon, one was an officer in the Marine Corps, another the head of the psychiatry department at a major university and one actually became a Postmaster!!!… Read the rest
This post will take some twists and turns, but hopefully we’ll pass some points of interest for each reader along the way (all 3 of you).
We visited our friend, Joan, who was our next-door neighbor when we lived in the village of Sedgwick way back in ’93. She owns one of the oldest, if not the oldest, homes in town. She was getting her wheel all ready for a spinning demonstration at the Blue Hill Fair. It seemed very appropriate to watch her at work in the parlor of the home, near the great brick fireplace and original paneling.… Read the rest
Denise may be an efficient office manager at LRR, but she’s also a stylish and sassy one! Just check out all the latest gizmos in her home workstation and you’ll know what I’m talkin’ ’bout. If it’s any indication of what she’s got going on at her pro gig… well, then it’s no wonder that she has proven indispensable to her employer.
Let’s see; we have a bill holder, an address/phone contraption, a stand for her eyeglasses, a pen/pencil holder, battery charger, field guides for bird watching, binoculars and, of course, her name plaque from her former employer, AAA.
You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged about Maine for about a week.… Read the rest
Blueberries are native only to North America. Wild Maine blueberries, like Maine lobster, are the best — finest kind. They are small and full of flavor, unlike the larger ones that grow higher off the ground in places like New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. Our friends in Maine will sometimes eat the larger, inferior blueberries from away but that’s an anomaly.
Blueberries are raked and it is difficult and back-breaking work. If you are good at it, you can make a big wad of cash during the season, typically the month of August. In the 90’s, that’s how teenagers in our town earned money to buy a car.… Read the rest
Before I begin on this post, I have to make an acerbic comment. I just looked at my blog in Explorer and it doesn’t render properly. This is WordPress, for crying out loud. Why doesn’t Explorer play by the rules? I’m actually glad Google has come out with Chrome to compete with Microsoft in the browser battles. I prefer Safari now or Camino, the Mac version of Firefox. There, I said it and I feel much better now.
As we moved south toward Portland, we found this wonderful place in Glen Cove Maine, the Oakland Seashore Motel. The cottages were cute, but we stayed in the motel.… Read the rest
What trip to Maine would be complete without a lobster bake? And, why do they call it a bake, when you boil or steam everything? Well, that and other weighty questions of eternal consequence will have to wait until later. Right now, we’re talking about downeast cuisine.
We headed down to Brooklin to buy some lobsters from John Candage and found them for just over $5 a pound.
We got together with Bruce and Terri, Paul and Mary, Leah and Emma for some lobster, steamers, fresh corn on the cob and, of course, pie. Mary made the best coconut cream pie, with a great whipped topping.… Read the rest
We decided to visit the Penobscot Narrows Bridge near Bucksport and take a trip up to the observatory at the top – 420 feet high, to be exact. Denise and I were vacationing and hunting for investments just about a year ago and happened to visit when the bridge was opened for the first public walk-across and Bridgefest. It was impressive.
While we were waiting, Emma was wishing she had brought her sweater. She did, however, bring a book along. It was one of about 8 she read in our 12 day vacation. Sidebar: Emma has always been a voracious reader.… Read the rest
One of our favorite places to visit is Camden Maine, which most people know as Peyton Place. We know it as the home of Cappy’s Chowder House and the site of a wonderful webcam.
I love the library there. The town outgrew the old library, so they built a new one under the park out back, down by the harbor, and 
connected it to the original. Most of the holdings are in the new addition, while the original library provides a wonderful place to relax and read, as well as some wonderful views of town.
The first photo is of Denise and I in the underground addition, under the skylight that sits in the center of the lawn in the park.… Read the rest
When you’re in Maine, there are a number of rare treats you’ll want to track down besides the best lobster in the world. Emma and I love two Maine staples, common to the working class downeast; red hot dogs and whoopie pies. The best place to find them in Hancock County are at the Eggemoggin Country Store or, as the natives call it, B&L’s (it was established years ago by Billy and Lorna… but, that’s another story).
Danny makes the best whoopie pies, bar none, anywhere in New England. He also serves up the most righteous cookies and baked goods.… Read the rest
When we moved to Maine in ’93, our first home was down on Naskeag Point, site of the famous Revolutionary War battle. Denise and Emma’s passion for beach glass was born there. We ran straight down to Naskeag, as soon as we arrived on the Blue Hill Peninsula. Emma wanted to bring home a lobster buoy for a souvenir and immediately found a pink girl’s buoy on the shore. Unfortunately, the buoy she found is still an active, licensed color. It’s never a good idea to mess with someone’s lobster gear, so she left it at the shore. She didn’t find much beach glass this time, but plenty of clam shells.… Read the rest
I’m sitting in a very comfortable motel room in Wolfeboro New Hampshire, which I’m sure you know was the first resort town in the United States. We found a wonderful little place on the lake, where Emma and Denise are relaxing in a gazebo, on the lawn, watching some kids being delightedly dragged and tossed about the lake on some big rubber boat by their irresponsible parents.
We finished some takeout for lunch and two pints of hand-packed Morrissey Ice Cream, followed by a nap. Now, I’m ready to get down to some serious Bible study, following this post.
Ever since our first trip to New England, Denise and I have trained our eyes to detect each and every dairy bar along the road, in search of the best soft serve and homemade or local dairy’s hard ice cream.… Read the rest
