Thursday, August 14, 2008
Anniversary And Local Color
Today just happened to be our anniversary. We naturally didn't make any plans to do any thing special, so by-the-seat-of-our-pants, when Rick had a spare hour this afternoon, we headed out to the nearest blueberry farm.
This family farm has strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I believe they have peaches and a variety of vegetable as well. We pulled up to the little hut where produce was for sale, and went in. As we walked through the door we saw a sign that directed shoppers to pull the rope, which was connected to a big cast iron bell, for service. Rick rang the bell and in just an instant two teenage boys pulled up in an old golf cart. The back of the cart was full of blueberries and the boys had smudges of purple on their faces, hands, and clothes.
The younger of the two boys hopped out of the cart and asked if we were there to pick blueberries. Now we could have bought some already packed in those nice little square cartons, but what fun would that be? I can do that in the supermarket back home. So I said, "Yes." (Rick might have thought about buying the already-picked berries, but I didn't give him a chance to answer. I wanted to soak up some local color.
The kid said, "Okay. We've got a special deal today. If you pick a bucket for us, you can have your bucket. Do you want to do that?" As Rick started to mumble something about how many berries it would take to fill both buckets, I said, "Sure!"
The boy shoved a bucket in each of our hands and said, "There ya go." And off we went. It didn't take long to fill our buckets and I think my sceptical groom of 27 years didn't mind it too much. He even got stung by a bee when he pinched it in a handful of berries, but didn't complain too much. By the time we got our two buckets picked, my hands had really soaked up some local color.
We did go out to dinner tonight, but it was not a celebratory anniversary dinner. Rick had a meeting with another adjuster to discuss a "problem" claim from _____. (you know where) Not much fun, but such is life.
On our way home we went by the store and bought some heavy cream. I just finished off my bowl of fresh blueberries and whipped cream. Yummmmm! Go ahead, envy me. It's okay this time. After all, it was my anniversary present!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Quick Drive Up To Maine




Sunday, August 10, 2008
Silent Visitor
Promises of God
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD."
"Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth."
"And the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days."
"But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.""...the LORD said to Himself, I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.'"
"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.'"
"...and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh."
(All scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Genesis 6-9.)

By late afternoon the campground manager came around and asked us to unhook our sewer hose because 1.) rain water was standing around the drain and 2.) she wanted us to be able to make a quick evacuation if need be.
As the sun began to set, the rain began to stop. And God placed His bow in the cloud--a reminder of His promise.
The River crested during the night or early morning and ran high most of the day yesterday. This morning the river level has dropped considerably. Through it all, God's promise remains!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Around The Campground


















I rarely title my photos, but if I gave this one a name it would be... As Time Goes By.
I took a few more pictures around the campground. Watch for them to show up as puzzles on my side bar.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
MOOSE SIGHTED!
Okay, I know it's not a REAL moose, but it was so cute I thought it deserved a place on my blog anyway.
I've had a terrible time trying to get connected and staying connected to the net long enough to post anything. (Plus I laid around here for a few days while I recovered from my fall.) So here is this short pointless post. I intend to do some laundry today and take a few pictures around the campground. Maybe I can get lucky and get them posted later. Hang with me. I'm doing my best!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
My Feet Don't Hurt A Bit
I collected a small variety of bottles and cans, clutched them tightly to my chest, and headed back inside the camper.
Now I've done this many times, so it is one of those motions I go through, almost daily, without giving much thought to what I'm actually doing. I seldom have problems with this task, though one time I did drop a can of Coke and it landed just right on a tiny little rock...The ants loved me and the sticky mess I created. Since that time, I do pay a little more attention to how tightly I clutch the drinks.
As most of you know, I'm vertically challenged. Not enough to be disabled, but enough that I have to partially climb the steps of the camper to reach the door's latch, especially when my arms are full of drinks and I can't reach above my head without dropping something. And as some of you might know, camper doors swing out when they open. So, my normal MO (method of operation) is to step up on the first step (if my arms are empty) or the second or third step, (depending on how tightly I'm having to squeeze my armload of carbonated, artificially colored and flavored, high fructose corn syrup) unlatch the door, then step back down the steps while leaning backward to allow the door room to swing open. Then I climb the steps once again and, whew... I'm inside, safe and sound.
This particular evening, just before I attempted the "open door with arms full" trick, it rained. I'm talking a downpour. Even though the awning was out, the wind had blown the rain in under the awning and the steps were nice and wet. And slick! And I, in my typical fashion, had bare feet.
I was really concentrating on not dropping any of those cans or bottles, so this was a "climb to the third step" trip. In one smooth motion, I unlatched the door, stepped down to the second step, and swung my body weight backward to clear the door. I looked down just in time to see my foot slip on the wet step, thus sending the lower half of my leg all the way through the steps. Being the quick thinker that I am, I thought to myself, Oh no! I'm going to fall!
I must have the gift of prophecy too. Sure enough! My head hit the ground first, and bounced. I've not gone to the doctor but I'm positive that whiplash is the term I'm looking for here. Then my body, thinking my head was having so much fun, followed. When a middle-aged, Dodge-Ram-seat-shaped hunk of fat, muscle, and bones flings itself off a flight of steps head first, the neck connecting it to that head is bound to get jammed. And, at the exact time I started my "down-to-earth" trip, the gravitational pull experienced a power surge! I guess I hit with such force the earth shook because my dear hubby came to see what was going on. He had to gather up the drinks because the impact popped them out of my grip and scattered them.
I have not hurt like this since my van was T-boned by a crazy lady trying to make it through an intersection on a red. I've still got a headache too. My mom thinks I gave myself a concussion. I don't think it is quite that bad, but you can bet I might use it as an excuse the next time I have one of my mental moments. Parts of my body that never touched the ground, including the gross squishy parts you can't see, hurt. I scraped my elbow, bruised my shin, my back, my ribs, and did who-knows-what kind of damage to my neck...but looking on the bright side, my feet don't hurt a bit!