Still catching up on our summer-of-a-lifetime experiences.
This travelogue-of-a-post will feature our "substitute" puffin
cruise adventure out of Booth Bay Harbor in Maine's Midcoast
and Islands region in the middle of July. Our memory bank was
stockpiled in sumptuous fashion. But first, there were also
many lamp-filling moments this week. I begin by sharing
a luscious sun-petal closeup photo shared on FB by our NH friend
Andrea. I was so enraptured I placed it on my laptop screen.
Next, a chance stop for a fill-up brought this advance guard maple
autumn foliage color into view. (Yikes - it's only August, honey!)
"New" apartment neighbors are raising our spirits, too.
Manchester SMT (Technology Specialists) are living
in the next building over: Elders Bigler, Persson and Knight.
We knew it would be fun having more young missionaries
close by, but within three days they were offering US food!
Here is the pre-consumption portrait of a very flavorful and
savory GF chicken pot pie - gone in a flash!
And here they are smiling from their balcony.
[Sister] Gayla Smith, mother of Elder T. Smith filled my lamp
on Thursday, when she called (from AZ) on the sly (don't know how
she got my cell phone number) and enlisted some minor
logistical help to surprise Elder Smith with a long-distance
celebration of his mission half-way mark. Her request: could I be
the contact for the DoorDash delivery of an ice cream cake
from Dairy Queen? Isn't this a delightful reaction!
"I've always wanted an ice cream cake," he chuckled.
And here are two other happy office Elders who don't mind
helping him celebrate.
Refreshing temps here in Manchester have raised our comfort
level, and perhaps that is why the leaves are turning already.
In contrast, our son and neighbors were dealing with this:
In mid July, we completed Mission vehicle business that included
a rendezvous with Sisters to deliver a car part-way up Maine.
So Vince planned a stop at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens,
luckily open by appointment (partial capacity) during the virus crisis.
Such a renewing and refreshing experience.
I was personally wished "good luck" by a lepidoptera
in the butterfly garden enclosure, who alighted on
my shoulder.
Leisurely we strolled following the directionally-restricted pathway
with our cell cameras constantly collecting our different "favorites".
I love these allium on their tall stems.
I am drawn to this blossom-less variegated foliage of
euphorbia. (A push-over for color blends.)
And these eye-catching red blossoms from the calla lily family.
Vince captured this kinetic sculpture in videos as it twirled
in the gentle breeze and seemed to hang together by
magnetic cohesion as it constantly changed shapes
on its "stage" across from the [closed] restaurant pavilion.
Vince was also fascinated by this "myriad butterflies" wind
sculpture with its shiny metal facets spinning and reflecting
the sunlight. Mesmerizing.
The Gardens were "on the way" to our historic lodgings in
Booth Bay Harbor, at Fisherman's Wharf Hotel and Marina.
Immediately following our earlier washout at the Bar Harbor
puffin cruise, Vince had sought and found an equivalent here.
We settled into our room, then walked along the harbor.
Charming vistas at every turn.
Here, once again, is Vince shooting with
his cell camera. And . . .
. . . here is the shot he took of the opposite shore.
During almost all of our sight-seeing stops in Maine have
included enjoyment of the "Museum in the Streets" info-signs.
Eventually, upon a recommendation, we walked down the roadway
to take a table at the Tugboat Restaurant, and once quietly inside . . .
. . . consumed an early dinner, while continuing to enjoy
the water-side venue.
Just can't stop shooting these blue water views, made
even nicer by the white picket fence and red plantings.
Twilight saw us returning to the marina quays where the next
morning we would set off to view the puffins.
Cap'n Fish's Boat Tour kiosk posted this map on which
we could trace our puffin ride toward the cartoon graphic
on the right side of the screen.
We were headed toward the East Egg Island colony.
Below is the Pink Lady II which would host our cruise.
From the cruiser's deck, we could pick out our corner-view
hotel room, circled with red.
We boarded before 10 (to return by 1).
Vince with his dry humor alternated sotto voce singing
". . . for a three-hour tour . . ." and
"do you know the puffin man . . ."
My overall impressions: we can at least CHECK the box
to say we have been on a wild life cruise tour.
Very bumpy water once away from the protected bay.
Surf and wind, lots of noise. Tiny puffins at a distance
once we arrived after our hour-long journey each way to
destination island. Traveling back, we viewed from
afar the Ram's Island (small) lighthouse, which . . .
. . . Vince agreed to share his shot with me, because all the bumping
and tossing made me too nervous about losing my cell phone
to actually have it out to shoot with.
It was fun to see the puffins, (terns, gulls, cormorants,
gannets, geese, loons and osprey) and . . .
. . . though a bit bleak that overcast day, the coastal views made me
think about Wysocki folk art prints. It was just before this point
in our charted journey that our Audubon narrators,
looking behind (while we sat facing forward,)
excitedly pointed and said "harbor porpoises at 5 o'clock".
For the briefest of moments, I believe I spied the dorsal
fins of a pair of ocean mammals peaked above the choppiness.
Fleeting and elusive, this brought to mind those
spiritual experiences that I seek to recall to my heart,
while an adversarial whisper taunts that it wasn't real after all.
To remember our fun times along the Atlantic, Vince
purchased this small model three-master to ship home.
(Cory had ours assembled within a couple of days of receiving it.)
While a college student, I learned by heart a poem
by John Masefield entitled Sea Fever
with a cadence and rhythm that evokes for me
the rise and fall of ship prow over sea foam.
During these months that our blessing it has been
to visit often where the tall ships anchor in,
it comes again into my mind:
I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
(More stanzas beyond this, of course).
Steering stars. Guiding lights. Filled lamps.
Sending prayers that your week sails smoothly on.
(Ours will be busy with BIG changes ahead to NH Manchester Mission!)
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