Welcome2010

Evening Folks
This will be the last post of 2009. There is much I could say but have decided against it. What I will say is I am thankful to be alive and fairly healthy. I am much stronger than I thought and at the same time more vulnerable. I intend to live every day to it's fullest..whether it's working a 12 hour shift or reading a book. I will laugh, smile as much as as I can. Be as helpful to myself and others as I can. Look at my strengths and weaknesses as just that...mine.
I hope all of you reading this, whether it's for the first time or as a follower that you take time to enjoy your life...I fully intend to.


Dale
10:15 pm
December 31
2009

I took this picture last summer of the sun just breaking over Rockland Harbor here in Maine. Sun breaking on a new day to represent a new year.

Merry Christmas

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Great New Year and all the happiness and joy your hearts and minds can hold. Special thoughts go out for Mick, Lynn, Toto, Nate, Debbie, Jennifer, Joe, Alex, Sam and Binx.






This song is dedicated to my Mother, Butch and Danny.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND THOSE YOU LOVE

DALE GEORGE CAREY
CHRISTMAS MORNING
2009

The "mountains" of Augusta

Mount Augusta State Airport


Mount Staples


Mount Loews Front Range



Mount Loews

Mount State Armory

And to think..this is only after 2 storms.

It's that time of year. You just gotta love this.

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

The Desert Of Maine

Afternoon folks
This is a natural event of which there are 4 in the world. It was formed about 11,000 years ago when a glacier "dumped" sand here. It was eventually covered by topsoil and lost. About a 100 years ago, due to clear cutting and lack of crop rotation the topsoil was depleted. Small patch's of sand appeared and eventually over 300 hundred acres of desert emerged. It was pretty much abandoned till the 1940's when a man bought it to make bricks with. The lack of silica made the bricks crumble. Plan 2 was to make glass..compounds in the sand left black spots in the glass. Finally he hit on making it a tourist and family vacation spot. It has been ever since. There is a tug of war going on with Mother Nature. She is slowly creating top soil and taking back her land..it's down to about 60 acres of desert now, but, due to some force more sand is pushing it's way to the surface and spreading but not as quickly. The pond of sand has been measured to be about a mile deep. This is mentioned in The Deserts of America, had been used by movie companies, for military maneuvers to simulate oversears fighting conditions and has been on Ripleys believe It Or Not as well as several documentaries over the years. Not sure what to expect I had a good time. Talked to a couple on their honeymoon from CA, 2 guys from Germany that were players on our team. The guide was Carol 70 years old and sharp as tack. It was down to 38 degrees and I did not bring gloves..that might be why some of the pics are blurry. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
Dale









As you walk through the trees you see where they have been sand blasted from the mini sand storms they get. The temps reach up to 120 on a regular 90 degree day. We averge about 100 inches of snow a year here, roughly 8 feet. In the desert the drifts are sometimes 30 feet at a time. Fortunately the wind in Maine is predominately east to west so it blows away from the buildings here.

OOB...Old Orchard Beach

Old Orchard Beach was started in 1657 by a man named Thomas Rogers as "Garden By The Sea". It has undergone many changes and been destroyed several times by either storm or fire. It is gerat beach area, amusement park, and family vacation spot. In the summer you will hear more french than english. Quebec and Montreal are only a few hours away and this is a prime vacation spot.
In 1873 The Boston and Maine Railroad opened a stop here and things really took off. In 1892 electric trolley cars connected the resort to nearby towns increasing the popularity yet again.
In 1898 the first pier was built. It was 1770 feet long and 20 feet above the tides. In 1902 the amsuement park was enlarged to include roller rinks, merry-go-rounds, and vendors.
In 1907 a fire destroyed much of the park and downtown. In 1909 a storm took out much of the pier reducing it's length to 700 feet.
The Big Band Era ushered in a whole new scene for the park. Guy Lambardo, Rudy Valle and Duke Ellington were among the headliners to play here.
In 1978 another storm severly damaged the pier and it was immediately rebuilt and opened in 1980. There are an estimated 1.2 million visitors a year here.
It's old fashioned and kind of hokey and man I love this place. It does not have the glitz of Atlantic City, or the gambling, and it has not changed much in all the years I have beem going here..guess thats part of its apeal for me.
There are several websites about Old Orchard Beach or OOB as we call it. Hope you enjoyed your tour.
Dale