maine stay

it's been a wonderful first day with the callahan's. i arrived late last night after a day of travel. i left the portland airport at midnight for the last hour and a half drive to kevin & kelly's. the drive was fantastic ... though it was dark outside, i could tell i was in maine. i love this state. there were several moments last night when i would pass a evergreen-lined lake illuminated by a large orange moon just abouve the horizon. sheer beauty. i found a good radio station and cranked up the speakers in the rental car and made my way north with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

today was spent doing what i could to help out around the house. it started with the obligatory trip to the local bakery where they make some kickass donuts. i mean ... donuts! in maine! does life get any better??? only with bacon. i think one of these days i'm going to open a store that only sells the things that i like: donuts, bacon, macaroni & cheese, peanut butter, jazz, funk, chill music, camping gear, drums, chocolate cake and snowboards. of course, there's room to expand. there would probably be an adult section. and a kids section. to edify the different sides of people. donuts and bacon would be the link in the middle. :)

the rest of the day was spent helping kelly around the house, playing with raelin, mowing the lawn, emptying and relocating a sandbox and a little chill time with kevin. oh, and i of course got to meet Liam who is now 5 weeks old!!

my two favorite moments of the day:

1. Raelin telling me as we are brushing our teeth, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Liam had a blowout yesterday." (referring to his poop exploding out the sides of his diaper). (Raelin just turned 3, btw).

2. Mowing the lawn. I *love* mowing the lawn and they have a lot of it. I find it very meditative, despite the sound of the engine. I love the smells, I love the gratification of mowing smaller and smaller patches of tall grass. I love the physical effort of pushing a mower up a hill. It's almost as good as using a chainsaw. Maybe better. Maybe. I love the symmetry of the grass when done. It reminds me of how fascinated I was with Zambonie's when I was a kid (the machine's that they use to clean the surface of the ice on ice rinks). Okay, I *still* want to drive a zambonie one day. And bigger tractors. And operate one of those large construction cranes and demolition balls. and ...

I'm writing this by the way from a tent in the yard. It's warm, the stars are out. Life is good.

And it feels especially good to be here with the callahans helping out in what ways I can. I am deeply grateful for all the people who contributed funds to helping me get out here. I couldn't have come without their help and I know how much I and Kevin and Kelly appreciate it. It looks to be a wonderful week.