Hiatus - day one

The Orchard is closed for the next four days - we're being rebuilt, with some new space added and other nice taradiddles.

There is a part of me that really wants to sit at home in front of a screen and write/edit - and I suppose at some point I'll have to.

The major part of me - and that part has won the day - is going to hare off to Bar Harbor, where C. and I spent last Labor Day camping.

It should be a lot of fun. I borrowed my traditional loaner tent from the W's - I should just buy the damned thing, as their kids have already outgrown it. Still, it's perfect for one or adults.

Meanwhile, today has been just a day to breathe. Slept late - or slept as much as time allowed. The day has been bright and once galleries from last night's Quarterly Meeting had been uploaded I grabbed my shoulder bag, complete with camera, and headed out into the town.

It was immediately apparent that a cruise ship was here in town. There were groups of somewhat over-tanned people scanning maps while standing on street corners, looking at buildings, taking videos of traffic.

Having lived here as long as I have I've gotten so I can tell the signs.

The group I chatted up seemed to come from the Midwest but not as far South as Oklahoma - Nebraska, I'd say - strangely we didn't get to the point. "What do you think of DiMillo's".

"What do I think of DiMillo's?"

It's hard to answer that. My first answer was that it's not the kind of place the locals go to ... when pressed, I wanted to say "because we all think it sucks" but that wouldn't be a gracious answer - so I improvised (which is always a terrifying prospect to those who know me well ...) that it felt much like any other mid-range restaurant in any mid-range town.

So I armed them with some other locations.

The numbers of the lost increased as I went closer to the waterside. A couple of the young larvae were sneaking up on the Guy-In-A-Lobster-Suit down by Brothers Lobster Company.

It gave me great pleasure to call them out. The one causing the trouble was pissed at me for spoiling his fun. I might have felt bad except he used the one phrase guaranteed to lose my sympathy, namely "I was only ..."

After that I walked away and let him splutter. "Jesus, kid, it's just a guy in a lobster suit". Not I like stole your lollipop - though I suppose, in a way, I did.

What a twink.

The roofs of a pair of parking garages gave me some new views of the town. The one next to the State dock gave me a next-door view of the ship. Farther away was the one next to the Residence Inn - very nice.

Shopping for spaghetti fixings at Miccuci's Market - how Italian is that - even in that rather run-down section there were isolated clumps of lost tourists trying to find the local brewery.

It was on the way home through Post Office Park - the scene of last week's "Fireflies" performance - that two distinguished men in prayer shawls were blowing a shofar and talking to the media.

Turns out it is Rosh Hoshanna - who knew?

David Bergman, president of Shaarey Tsphiloh Temple - the "Little Shul in Woodfords" - is shown with the shofar.

Once he warms up he gets a good tone.

Rabbi Akiva Herzfeld is not shown, as he was talking to the media. We all had a nice cross-cultural chat and I walked away with honey to celebrate the New Year.

So now I'm at the NorthStar for our bi-weekly (kind of) tango evening. The lesson is going on and the regulars are starting to drift in. I'm going to take the W.'s tent and spend the next couple of days camping on the edge of the ocean in Bar Harbor. More then.

Actually, kind of a nice day.