Summer, thy name is Rockland

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I have driven through Rockland over the years, mostly on my way to Camden which, besides being the film location for the movie "Peyton Place", is more "beautiful" in a kind of Disneyland New England kind of way; Rockland is still very much a working seaport and the starting point for ferry trips to Vinalhaven and other islands.

The Labor Day weekend provided a good excuse to run from Portland ("Silicon Harbor") and the intense training sessions we've been having.  The Store is gearing up.  The tension is palpable.

I'm having the best time I've had in years.

TImes being what they are I wouldn't be caught dead in the town during any other time.  Ah, but Labor Day - or during the quiet season when the leaves are gone and the snows have not yet fallen - those are different matters. 

Now is that magic time that is the very last clear time of Summer.  We've had a notoriously soggy Summer up here - rain almost every weekend; the farmers are afraid for certain crops.

Lettuce seems to have been particularly hard-hit.

TML and BigB hosted an event called "Saltwater Tango", a sort of Summer camp for tangueros - two nights of dancing with camping in the yard of our host, an affable fellow named George.

It was held in a combination house and boathouse on the waterfront of Thomaston.  The top level was for living - and dancing - and the bottom held the business-end of a good carpentry shop.

George and I had a good chat about how our particular stomping grounds had changed - his being Rockland, mine being Tulsa - over the years.  

Change is change - some of it bad, some good - and I hope it's all welcome change.

I also did get a chance to browse around the town.  There is a boardwalk around part of the harbor and it afforded some dramatic views.

You can see much the same from places in Portland, of course - but the context and land were different.

Besides an evening of wonderful dancing I had a chance to indulge my interest in old trains.

Seeing TML play at the Picnic for Alternative Energy was also a not-to-be-missed experience.

Have to run to work now - more later.  This is fun.