I've been to Deering Oaks before with C's camera to get to know the ducks.
Facebook gallery is here.
A very lovely day today, really one having all the hallmarks of Summer in Maine - hazy, warm, a cooling breeze off the ocean.After processing strawberries (which are nearly done) I studied more for my interview tomorrow - the third one and deciding one for my dream job.
There has been a flurry of online activity because of last week's zombie kickball game - has it really only been a week? People are posting about Daid Elvis and the general madness of it all.
So it was nice to get out for a while late this afternoon after a nap and manic dish-washing session.
Deering Oaks (or "Deering's Oaks") are a feature of the Portland landscape going back even to the time of my hero John Adams - I think he mentions them in one of his journals. Apparently you could launch ships from them - so what we now call Back Cove went in much further.
As redone by Fredrick Law Olmstead (who also did Central Park and Merle Nelson's house) they are a jewel of urban design.
What was once a ravine - and a fairly skanky ravine at that - was turned into a fountain around 5-6 years ago. I remember it in it's first incarnation when it served as the site for the Maine Summer Dramatic Institute production of "Midsummer Night's Dream". That production is how I got involved with MSDI until it merged wit CTM.
CTM's waterlogged but very watchable production to "The Tempest", for which I wrote the music (my second go at it) opened the fountain - from what I can tell no one has tried to use it since.
I love the ducks that inhabit the main pond. They are always being fed by folks - I was down there today to get rid of a foccacia (I can't afford real caccia) that was moving past its prime - besides which I worry that the ducks aren't getting enough olives in their diet.
It's always a fight between feeding the ducks and the predatory seagulls who share the space with them. The gulls are sensitive even to the sound of a bag being rattled and will come flocking with loud vulgar cries to snag food out of the beaks of the ducks.
The pigeons are an afterthought. Squirrels are on their own.
And then there are people who use the park. Come to think of it I was there to use it as well.
One of my favorite people was there. The Cat Dancer, a regular on Summer Friday evenings in the Old Port, was there practicing. I have every admiration for people who are good at walking the slack wire - it's one of my goals in life.
C.D. was just doing technique and muscle memory work. He and his compatriots practice on Monday evenings at W.'s school and I was invited to come participate. That will be a blog post to remember.
I try to find one new thing to learn each Summer - something that I just can't do, that reminds me of what students go through when they're totally new at something. It's a good reminder and I shouldn't get out of the habit even though i have my final interview tomorrow in the late afternoon.
So it was a good afternoon, full of experience and learning. We'll see what I do with it tomorrow.
