Morning World

Morning Folks
I have kind of neglected this blog for a few weeks, but I had a very good reason. I have been spending every bit of spare time with a friend of mine. His name is Nate. I hired him almost 3 years ago as a dishwash/prep cook where I work. Over the years we became very close. He is from a broken home..lives here with his mother, Dad in a different state, most of his birth family in Texas where he was born. He helpled me move my mother into my house when she got sick and then helped me break her apartment down. When I needed help transporting her to appts he dropped whatever he was doing to give here a ride. He was close to quitting high school a couple times but we got through that and he did not. When his mother was riding him hard about something or other I talked him through that also. Got him to join the foot ball team which he was okay at, joined the wrestling squad and kicked ass...ATTA BOY.
He is being sworn in monday morning as a Marine. I am going to miss the fuck out of him but I am so dam proud. Let me repeat that...SO DAM PROUD OF HIM. I am going to attend his swearing in ceremony monday..as he explained it's my civic and parental duty.. Yeah, he started calling me Dad at some point. Honestly I am scared to death of his leaving. He has signed up to learn to cook and go become a "Culinary Specialist" for which I am glad. Selfish prehaps but still glad. My blood born son spent 4 years in the Marines and came back whole, a gift from God that. Those of you that know me, know about my life. I have allowed 3 people in my 55 years to call me Dad...I am proud of all 3 and honored to know them all. I am sitting here crying as I post this..not necessarily as bad thing just odd.
Later
Dale

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Voting Day

As a society and a selective group we lost. By a slim margin, and thats a hopeful sign but we still lost. Vote NO gathered 238,398 votes..47.25 percent. Vote Yes gathered 266,324 votes...52.75 percent. Good thing I am single and have no wedding plans in sight.



It's 10:30, 28 percent have posted results and it's 50/50.



As of about 7 this evening it has been too close to speculate a victory for either side. There was going to be an estimated 35 percent turnout for the votes..it is now guesstimated at 50 to 55 percent turnout. PBS says this has been the hottest twitter thread all day..who knew little ole Maine could cause such controversy. The voting place in town is the Civic Center. The police have been called twice as a precautionary measure after the verbal sparing got a little out of hand. The things we do for our religion. A couple weeks back the South Portland Catholic Church gave $152,600. 00 to the vote yes campaign. All of the cathoilic churchs here in town have only Vote Yes placards on their property. I guess that seperation of church and state has gotten a little fuzzy,



Morning Folks

Today is voting day....among the questions is the gay marraige bill..reject it or make it legal. As far as I know we are the last state in New England to have his legalized. It's gonna be kinda cool to have all of New England protected. I personally don't want to get married but if that ever changes I do WANT THE OPTION.
I will amend this as the day goes on and I get more information. I voted last week so as to avoid the crush. It is a work day for me so it was easier that way. They are expecting a 35/40 percent turnout which I am reading in paper is a higher than normal one.
Dale

A historical remodel

Evening Folks
I had a couple of earlier posts about Old Fort Western...well this new post is about her restoration. Maine has some harsh winters..snow, lots of snow, freezing rain, wind. All of that is very destructive to unfinished wood..so therefore it needs to be replaced on occasion with new stuff. A lot of the corner posts and "main" support posts are cedar. Around here cedar is considered scrap wood and cut down early to make way for hardwoods that are more profitable to harvest. On one of my visists to OFW I started talking to some of the construction crew about their work. One of the problems was finding old stands of cedar that were old, tall and thick and straight enough to be used. One of the people I talked to lived about half way to Albion where I own some property. I told him that there was an old stand of cedar about a half mile from the road and that they were welcome to harvest a few if they were suitable. After much time on the phone and email and going to a lawyers office to give written permission to them they cut down 4 to use on the remodel. I am contributing to a piece of local history. In some of the pictures below you can see how a lot of the old posts had rotted and some had lost more than half their circumfrence..some had rotted from age and moisture. Fortunately cedar is mostly insect resistant/repellant so that won't be a problem.

Not sure what this is but I want one

Whatever this is it looks cool as hell. It must be fun to drive midwinter in a driving snowstorm..pun intended.

I was born in a town in Maine named Albion..small town, about 900 people..real rednecks, God love em. I still own property there but can't imagine ever living there again. It is the highest point in Kennebec County. You can see about a 100 miles on a good day. The downside is the winds hit 70/80 miles an hour during a storm and when they come from the north it's freaking cold. I stayed there a few years back and in the barn the thermometer read 30 below..and that's not including windchill. I tried to get out here for high color but last weeks rain and cold beat me to it.

I recently made friends with Chris, the other guy in the pics below. He moved out here from Seattle recently and had not seen a lot of the country so we had a little 4 hour field trip. If you enlarge the pics below by clicking on them you can see the view.

The reason I bring this up, is because in a soon to be published post you will see some trees off my land that were donated to a local historical landmark for some restoration..kinda cool. I am helping preserve a piece of history.

FEELING GOOD IS CONTAGIOUS

Evening folks.
I woke up today smiling, and that has been happening a lot in the last few weeks. I hit a wall..HARD..stood back up..hit again..stood back up and took the final full run and broke through to the other side. Was kinda dazed for a while, but that faded and reality set in. I am 55, reasonably healthy, borderline normal. Piss me off..I yell. Ask for my help I give it. Watch my back when it needs guarding and you have a friend for life. I find that I now have absolutely no tolerance for bullshit..absolutely none. I find my religious convictions very shaken but my moral/principle compass is true north where it needs to be. I am much more focused on today than ever before. Plan ahead but live today.


I owe a lot of thank you's to some people and you know who you are. The BIG 3 are in my prayers every night..thanks guys. I still pray but not as strong or as long as I used to and there is an edge there that there was not a year ago..it may change, it may not.


I feel good, relaxed, happy. I went out and shot pool the other night for the first time in 25 years..I was soooo bad and the guy I was with is almost a pro. We both spent more time laughing at my shots than anything else. But it was good laugh, not negative. I have spent more time in bars in the past 6 weeks than I have in the past 3 years and having a ball. All kinds of bars from gay to biker. Meeting some nice people, a few total idiots and the usual collection of hangers on. Rediscovered beer in Santa Fe and continuing the tradition..I found a place that served room temperature Guinness....man I love that stuff. Going out to dinner with Bill and Sue on thursday, Chris and Ryan on tuesday, the movies on wednesday with Courtney to see something about Wild Things. Friday morning I will rest and then it's off to a few Halloween parties over the weekend.


Someplace I read that people attract what they need. Well, Gerard Butler has not called yet but he may be on a plane up here and there is no phone service in the air. However, I have met some great people in the past few weeks. Funny, smiling, happy mostly and glad to be alive and that is what I am.


I hope, no URGE you all to slow down, take a breath, and look around you. This is one crazy world we live in but you know what, what you put in you get back 3 fold..I thinks that Wiccan but not sure. Smile to yourself and others, take care of yourself and those that you love.


Night
Dale

EARTHA

Eartha is a 3-dimensional scale model of earth built in 3-D. It is the largest revolving globe in the world, designed and built by the employees at Delorme in Yarmouth Maine. It is almost 42 feet in diamater. It is built on a mechanical and cantilevered arm so that it rotates and revolves just as the earth does. Her skeleton is 6,000 pieces if aluminum tubing and her "skin" is 729
pieces of map. She tilts at 23.5 degrees just as the earth does.
It's a pretty amazing site to see. If you ever get to Maine it's worth a visit. The admission is free, it's about 20 minutes north of Portland on Rte 295
There is a lot more info at their website..google Eartha or Delorme. Soon as I figure how to add hyperlinks I will start including them.

























Not sure what the next post is going to be or when but a while back I said I was going to try to start doing something every week. It may be more "foodie" type things. Or it may not. The weather up here is changing, its down in the 30's every night but it's been suprisingly warm for the last few days..high 50's mostly which is kinda weird for here. Ya'll take good care of yourselves and the people you love.
Dale

Colds

Evening Folks
I woke up Sunday morning with a headache which seeems to becoming a mild cold. Not sick enough to stay home, just general yuckiness. Have a couple posts lined up and a roadtrip planned this week but that will depend on how my head feeels. On a couple of other blogs I have seen this as a way to say, "My brain is filled with this and nothing is coming out straight". Everyone fron the CDC to nurses I work with say you don't get sick from a flu shot but every dam year this happens a couple days after I get it.
ahhhh ahhhhh choooooooo
Dale