Mooselook Part 2

Sorry....no Maira pictures in this post...I think that these were all taken while she was napping. But here are some more hi-lights from our week!

I love this picture:

I love when Callum and Maira just use their imaginations and play by themselves for a while. Not only does this give mom and dad a rest (haha) but also, it is really great for us to be observers watching Callum and Maira use their imaginations. Callum REALLY got into his cars this week, and he would drag his big mat onto the porch and play with his hotwheels, narrating little stories, posing conflicts, resolving differences between rival car factions, and basically fixing a wonderful little Matchbox world. All in ten minutes. Maira, on the other hand, really got into pouring water from one container to another, and then saying ANENNNN (Mairish for AGAIN) to me ad nauseum. In addition to cars and water pouring, both kids got really into loons and ducks. Callum and MeeMee would make up loon stories together, using wooden decoy loons as props....very cute.

Here are two big hams: BaBa and Callum.....BaBa went for a two-plus mile walk each morning, treated us to some hardcore submarine music on the Bose radio, and read faster than I have ever hoped to read in my life. He also fell asleep a lot while reading. Also, he drank lemonade and vodka cocktails. Its all gold. (note Callum's submarine shirt)

On Wednesday, Amanda, Callum, and I went and hiked 2500 foot high Bald Mtn. I am proud to say that Callum climbed this mountain ALL by himself--and there were some seriously arduous sections of bouldering, shimmying up skree, and climbing around roots. He hiked with great aplomb, and we are proud of him. Then, on the way down, he feel asleep while being given a piggyback by Amanda. Note the double sweatbands on his wrist. OH, and did I say the hike was only Amanda, Callum, and I? FORGIVE ME!! Also in attendance, as you can see in the picture, was CampCabin, Callum's aptly named toy lobster.

On top of the mountain there was a firetower. I have RARELY in my life with Callum seen this kid so giddy and excited about climbing up the 8 flights of stairs to the top of the tower. He LOVED it. Here is the view from the top, looking out on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. There are a couple of big islands in the lake. I think the one you can see is called Student's Island.

Happy mommy and Callum. Also of note was that, as we neared the top, the sky opened up like crazy, and it rained and rained and made the rocks very slippery. It was kind of scary and it made me nervous. But all was well!

We had a week-long ongoing Scrabble game NOT in 'real time.' It was a leisurely pace, and people had an hour or so to GO when it was their turn. This made the game pretty relaxed. Callum showed great interest in the game for real! In fact, he and CampCabing teamed up and had their own rack of letters, and they played a couple of good rounds, scoring a sixteen point word at one point! I hope CS gets really into Scrabble....I love this game and no one plays with me. Actually, Amanda does, but she is only good for like 12 minutes, and then she starts making up words like, and I am totally serious here, "Curnavelhukel.'

Mooselookmeguntic Lake 2012

Where to start? Wow. We just returned from an absolutely wonderful trip to Mooselookmeguntic Lake where we stayed in a gorgeous cabin right on the water. Mooselook, as it is called, is located IN actual Rangeley, and it is mere YARDS away from its bigger cousin, the famous Rangeley Lake. An unusual, mysterious, bizarre lake that seems to make its own weather, have wave swells bigger than I have seen paddling or boating on the ocean, and have boulders strewn throughout the entire body of water--you are NEVER safe to travel by boat in this section of the lake....there could ALWAYS be a huge boulder right underneath you, mere inches below. I dont even know where to start, but perhaps I will let the pictures speak for themselves (with a little commentary, of course)

Callum sitting on the dock. This camp and dock were very old and rustic. Grandpop surmises the camp was built in the 1800s. The dock itself is built on nothing but old railroad rails for support, and rocks to anchor it in place. THe boards are rickety, as you can kind of tell from where CS is sitting. A VERY rocky beach that didnt lend itself well to 'swimming' per se....but rather playing, exploring, cooling off, and, as Callum and Maira found to be their favorite, filling up buckets and pails and dumping them on me while I stood below the dock.....notice our beloved Old Town camper in the background....a great boat.

Ms Maira really came out of her shell this week--her vocabulary, mannerisms, and personality seemed to literally EXPLODE this week; perhaps it was the high altitude or the ions emanating from the water...haha. She FELL IN LOVE with ducks (the kids found a duck whom they named EMILY, and this duck came to visit each day), loons (as did Callum), cheesecurls, blueberries, blueberry picking, and BaBa, whom she had to tell EVERYTHING to (Hey BaBa [pointing at Callum] buddy eatin noonut!! [Mairaish for DONUT]). Also, she slept aggregately for about 4 hours all week.

The inside of the gorgeous cabin. To the right, there was a loft of about 5 steps, and up there were four bedrooms. Callum and I shared a monastic cell containing a dresser and a set of bunk beds, of which Callum fell from (the top, of course) on night 1. He was okay and slept there again for the rest of the week. It was his little fort  #shadesofJJ. Notice, below, the nice porch off the great room (BaBa is sitting reading some WWII book) where we spent a lot of time. Through the doorway at the left center of the picture is the kitchen, where there was an old wood cook stove. I love those.

Also, as hot as it was for the rest of the world last week, it was cool on the water--actually cold one day. And we used the fireplace for a couple of days.

Amazing view out onto the dock, lake, mountains, etc. Off in the distance are, actually, the White Mtns of NH....

Going canoeing from the camp was a chore, since the Newfoundish coast made it virtually impossible to launch from shore. Thus, it was a two person job to manually lower it into the water off the dock. We didnt spend a TON of time canoeing on this lake, since, as I mentioned, the water was very active and indecisive--wind could pick up in an instant, and navigation was almost dangerous with the little kids, since there were so many jutting rocks. There was even a lighthouse in our cove--called Bugle Cove, by the way. Still, amazing views from the lake of the mountains, etc. And we had to get a picture of the camp from the water of course....

More to come, obviously. Thanks for checking in....feel free to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by the blog!

Meanderings 75 (just four)

Callum at LL Bean, hanging out in the fishtank....





No other new pictures today. So..............I decided to do this: Two years ago today, this is what we were doing. We were over Dave and Muriel's house, and Callum was checking out the chickens with Dave (see? Another cool thing about a blog is you can see what you have done!).

1. How come when you go hiking to the top of a mountain, they always tell you to bring extra clothing because it can be so chilly up there? Isnt heat supposed to rise? Shouldnt it be HOTTER at the top of a mountain. This isnt so much of a meandering as it is basic physics. Seriously.

2. We have stopped going to the library in our town, and we now go to the one in Winlsow, where the people who work there are actually NICE and happy to help you. How can you work in a library, around books, information, coolness, art, music, and beauty and NOT enjoy helping people learn? I dont get it.

3. To anger these bitter people, this is what I am going to do: I am going to write a book called "!." That is correct. The title of my book will be 'exclamation point.' Furthermore, I am going to have a pseudonym when I write this book, and it will be "-45.8." That is right. My name will be a number. My magnum opus will be "!" by "-45.8." I am going with a 'negative' number to confuse them/piss them off even further. People will say "Have you read ! by -45.8? I love it! I love ALL of -45.8's work, in fact." This is probably the best idea I have ever had. Libraries will have to put my first. And book stores will have to virtually create my own section because you know all the nook reading hipsters arent going to be able to figure out how to find !. By -45.8.

4. What would be the worst ALL YOU CAN EAT buffets of all time? All you can eat pancakes is a terrible idea, right? I mean, I cant eat that many pancakes. And I wouldnt want to. What about allyoucaneat baked potatoes? No toppings like chili or cheese. Just butter. And salt. That would suck. And what about tomato soup? Who the heck even wants ONE bowl of tomato soup when they are out? Tomato soup is what you eat when you have nothing else in the house, right?  I am going to keep thinking about this. I welcome your ideas.

Let's go to the zoo!!!

How many people who live in central Maine knew that there is a zoo RIGHT in the willywacks of Mt Vernon? How many knew that Mt Vernon is the 'hometown' of Amanda, and current domicile of the 'old willards?' How many people in central Maine even read this blog? How many people who DID know that there is a zoo in central Maine in Amanda's hometown of Mt Vernon also know that this zoo is quite possibly one of the strangest places in Maine? I dont mean strange in a strictly BAD way....just a 'strange' way. In fact, I hesitate to call this place a 'zoo' and, in all actuality, refer to it as more of a 'situation.' You have to kind of see it to believe it. So, therefore, last week the Goldsmiths went over to the D.E.W. WILD ANIMAL 'SITUATION.' I joke and stuff....but it was a great time and you all should go. Well worth the ten bucks JUST to see the camel verbally assault you and the horses procreating (plus, there is a zoo there too!)

Callum was enamored with this lovely piece of ass...... (too soon??)

And Maira loved sitting and talking to the Jacob Sheep (which, by point of trivia, are possibly the most persistently loud animals I have ever experienced)

Callum's overwhelmingly favorite animal was definitely EDDIE, billed as a "sexually mature camel." I'd like to see a sexually "immature" camel: Would this camel constantly say 'thats what she said" and tell penis jokes and make lude gestures to other camels reproductive organs? At any rate, Callum loved Eddie, but our camera battery had died by the time he wanted to go back and take a picture. He didnt want to take a pic at first because, honestly, Eddie was a bit scary: Eddie was actually a disgusting animal who made noises like I imagine a T-Rex making....also, Eddie ate and chewed disgustingly, and, every 48 seconds or so, would burp this cacophony of gaseous turbulence that actually rippled his dangling proboscis-like tongue. I guess what I am trying to say is this: Eddie was gross.

But a close second to Eddie for Callum and Maira was "Rudolph," who, as you can see, was one of the many Reindeer they had. These really are beautiful animals!!

They gave the reindeer a lot of space, and we took our time seeing the 'daddy,' 'mommy' and 'baby' deer. Some of the babies were VERRRRRRY small (perhaps only a few weeks old, even). Look how small Maira is.

They both loved the zoo, and we will definitely be back!

They also had lions, tigers, black bears, Spider Monkeys, lemurs, lots of birds like pelicans, flamingos, parrots, etc.....

It really is kind of cool to see this zoo carved out of the Maine wilderness....just very funny and you wouldnt expect it.

On the way to the zoo, Maira looked at two of her new favorite 'car books,' which were AMUNNN!!! (which is Mairish for BATMAN) and IPIEEEEEEE!! (Mairish for I SPY...which is kind of like a where's Waldo kind of deal...you have to find pictures of things and stuff and things....)

Nannie, Upbob, and sand....

Callum and Maira BOTH love to dig! And, before, they had this little "stand up" kind of sand box 'table' thing....but it definitely wasnt big enough for the Moriartyish construction Callum had in mind. So.....I built him a sandbox on the side of the garage by the woodpile. This has TOTALLY confounded my wood situation (haha) but I will live. While he was at his "Grenda Day" last week, I dug out a huge hole, laid down a tarp, and filled it with approximately 450 pounds of sand. I started putting up 'borders' around it so the sand wouldnt become the lawn (and vice versa). But as you can see, someone was excited to get started with his construction.....

His other favorite thing to do is put all his Agway animals in the sandbox as "statues." Maira, too, loves to dig in the sand. She particularly likes rocks--she just likes to pick them up and then drop them on the ground.

Nannie and Upbob came up to visit last week. One of the gifts they brought up to Callum (and his favorite by far) was a set of little Batman figures. See there is TwoFace, Batman, a penguin, the Joker, "the Governor" (NOTE: Callum DOES NOT call this the 'penguin'--even though this IS the penguin--he maintains that it is the governor). I think because it looks like the "governor" from Governor's Restaurant??? Oh, and then there is the Riddler. Callum is into role playing with his characters. We build forts out of books and boxes. And we create situations. Hey....come to think of it....this is just like Nannie! Nannie LOVES creating situations too! haha....

It was a nice little visit, and we went to Governor's for lunch. Then, we came back and just hung out, trying to find as much shade as we could. Upbob's MS makes the heat really unbearable, so we just tried to relax and drink some of my homemade lemonade!

As you can see: With both Callum and Maira their beachballs from Nannie were a HUGE hit! (Even though it took Upbob and I like 2 hours AND the US Army Corp of Engineers to blow these damn things up....)

Sidenote: Maira is REALLY loving her books lately....she is wicked into them. EVERY morning she brings in books to read while Amanda and I try to relax in bed. Her favorites by far are The BISCUIT series. Also, she (and Buddy as well) LOVE all the SPLAT THE CAT books. And, just like her brother, she is really into the C.ookie Monster penned masterpiece LET'S EAT

Meanderings 74

1. At Dairy Queen the other night, there was a sign on the window that said "We have cakes for EVERY occasion," and the EVER was indeed capitalized. Now come on. Isnt this false advertising? I mean, there are a LOT of 'occasions.' What if I went in and said "I need a cake for my second cousin's 27th consecutive pushup milestone" or "Happy Birthday John Locke and all social philosophers!" or "Congratulations, you finished powerwashing the deck!" I mean, these are all "occasions." Is Dairy Queen ready to meet the challenge? They SAID 'every occasion'......

2. When you order something on the Internet (or is it OFF the Internet??) or through a catalog, you have to (obviously) pay the price of the item....PLUS, you have to pay 'shipping and handling.' Have you ever stopped to consider this trite phrase? Shipping, I dont mind paying for. Things need to be mailed and I understand postal employees, fuel costs, etc come into play. But what's with this 'handling' deal they have going on? What's that mean? "Handling" sounds vaguely dirty and sexual. Can I pay even MORE money to NOT have you 'handle' my new book or my daughter's new dress? What, exactly, is the definition of 'handling,' and how is it different than 'shipping?' In order to ship something, doesnt one need to inherently handle it as well? Are we being duped?

3. I am kind of surprised the stupid liberals havent attacked Steve on the children's show "Blue's Clues." Steve is the most incompetent pet owner in the existence of the world; in fact, every episode is predicated on the fact that Steve has lost his puppy Blue, and we need to solve his cute little riddles in order to get the dog back. Dude, get the hint: Your dog doesnt like you. That is why he runs away at the beginning of every episode. Each episode starts with Steve saying the same thing: "Can you help me find Blue!?? My puppy??!!" STOP BEING ANOTHER DEADBEAT DOG OWNER, AND WATCH OUT FOR YOUR PET. He is probably pooping on my lawn as I write this!

4. Remember "New York Seltzer?" Anyone? It wasnt really just plain "seltzer;" it was actually a fancy early hipster kind of soda. My mom used to get it at yuppy-wannabe-country places like the Mansfield Country Store. You guys remember this? I think it was right next to Clearly Canadian, another elitist drink. I'm a Fanta guy. Just sayin.

5. Entertainment Magazine just had a cover story with the huge caption: "The Art of Coming Out." It had pictures of celebrity  men who had recently "come out" proclaiming their homosexuality.  The article dealt with the new and creative ways people were 'being' gay. This headline is a self-defeating prophesy, and, to be frank, very disrespectful towards gays; why does their need to be an "art" to it? If you are gay, then be gay. This isnt a "fad" we are talking about here: There is no "art" in being what you inherently are. Do you get what I mean? I mean, wouldnt it be silly to have an article with the title "The art of being white" or "the art of having brown eyes." I AM white and I do have brown eyes.. No art involved. I just am. With all "minority" types of situations, the more they try to exploit the differences among us, and linguistically create a field day over them, the farther apart we all get....

Ortiz, Teleni, and Frothingham....

A couple of weeks ago we went down to see my dad, who is recovering wonderfully from his hip replacement surgery! It has been a VERY long road for him (dating back to my first year playing rugby in college actually, when HE sustained an injury...haha) and we are all proud of him (this is an extreme understatement). We spent a few hours hanging out with Papa and Grammy Goldsmith, talking, looking for Kody and Jesse, playing with Papa, and, of course, looking at fish.....

Callum was marvelling at all of Papa's cool "medical gear" like his stretchy thing to help pick his leg up onto stools, his cool red walker, and, of course, Papa's "grabnabber" which allows Papa to pick up the bits of lobster that fall onto the floor while he is eating them...haha. Callum loved this, and, of course, wanted his picture....

Maira, of course, is at home wherever there are both FOOD and CATS. And Papa's house held both of these treasures. Here she is, relaxing, eating some potato chips, and calling for KITTY Jesse and/or Kody--these are Papa's 120 pound Maine Coon Cats....

Again, a great visit. It is great to hear about all the progress he is making each day--even today, in fact, when I talked to him I heard great news that he got out with Babs, went over to pick up some stuff from Bob (his reading/surgery/oldguy buddy), and grabbed an ice cream and some native corn at the farm stand in town.....small victories and baby steps (no pun intended!)

We stayed with Tim and Eleni, and this was also a blast--great friends. While we waited for Eleni to come home from work, Tim and Star (his dog) took us to a VERY special place from my childhood: Frothingham Park in Easton (my hometown). This place has HUGE historical ramifications in the life of yours truly, most notably, perhaps, for the famous "Ultimat Wednesdays" that took place here:

Ultimate Wednesdays were the best days of the week--BY FAR. During summers in college, after a long day at work at PRAC in Boston, I would meander over to Frothingham on Wednesdays at 6 for the craziest and most intense and most well attended pickup Ultimate Frisbee games of all time. Sounds silly, right? SHUT UP. It was awesome. And you know it. We would play in the outfield of the baseball field above....we would have 20 kids on some Wednesdays. Amazing time in our lives. And those times were sacrosanct. And they could be. We had no responsibilities. Life was grand. (Oh...and then, after frisbee, some of the lesser educated individuals would go bowling....I, however, went hom to go to bed....haha)


As you can see, Callum, Maira, and Starduog had a blast at the park--even though we danced around some pending thunderstorms.....

Another important and formative time in my life was, when in elementary and middle schools, my mom sent me to the Park Program in the summer--it was basically like a rec. day camp for kids in town....I LOVED it (and so did my sister!!) We would go every day and play games, run around, and look for excuses to get drinks from the most lavish bubbler (what people from Mass call 'water fountains'....in Maine, a 'bubbler' refers to a bong.....)

 I took this picture below of Callum playing in the sandbox because, for one, it is cute. But, also, I want to call your attention to the rock in the background. I didnt get a good picture of it...but this is a legendary rock....when we were younger, this huge, misplaced boulder seemed like the BIGGEST rock in the world, and we used to marvel at the 'older kids' climb it. Callum, for one, was astounded by it. But, to me, I laugh at how small the rock looks now. Things change. As writer Thomas WOlfe noted, "you cant go home again....."

Does Facebook cause depression?

I am being serious here. For all its supposedly glamorous attributes, and the way it is supposed to help us all stay so 'connected' to the world around us, I am going to take a contrarian view (big surprise there) and argue that Facebook is destroying individuals. I am not talking about destroying the obvious things like social skills, interpersonal skills, time spent doing other stuff like reading books or playing with kids, etc etc. Here, I am talking about Facebook--and all 'social networking' for that matter--damaging self esteem.

In the interest of full disclosure, and to offer a bit of refutation, it might seem ironic that I am voicing this opinion while I myself and writing on a blog--a blog that the world can read (or at least four people in the world) and a blog that my wife will soon post on Facebook. All I can say is that the purpose of this blog is worlds apart from the purpose of FB--the intent here has always been to 'chronicle' the real life events of myself and my family; I want Callum, Maira, and Amanda to look back on this blog someday and say "oh my gosh....remember in 2010 when daddy peed his pants that day?" and stuff like that.

One of the reasons I am averse to FB is akin to the reason I hate summer so much: There is too much 'peer pressure' to go out and do 'amazing' things to, and please pardon the cliche, 'keep up with the Joneses.' When it is a nice day outside, I feel badly sitting inside, reading a book or playing Thomas the Choo Choo, since the world tells us we need to be out doing other stuff, right? Likewise, when I log onto FB and see everyone at their camps, their concerts, their vacations, their hanggliding trips, their blah blah blahs, dont I get a bit jealous that "I" am not there too? Should I? Do you?

Dont get me wrong: It is great that these people do these things, and I am happy for them. Furthermore, I am not judging them. Good for them for having fun. What I am talking about here is the INDIVIDUAL reading their newsfeed. Now I am no psychologist, but I would argue that seeing all this "fun" taking place around them might in turn make the reader on FB feel a bit depressed that Tim is at a Duxberry Beach, Jay is at Pink Floyd Concert, John is hiking, Hank is on a lobster boat, George is in outer space, and Jon is on a bike ride.....and here I am, alone, reading about everyone doing cool stuff. In college, in a communication class, we called this kind of behavior a parasocial relationship, and it can be pretty detrimental to one's psyche.

I have a great life. We have a nice house, a canoe, two healthy and beautiful kids, an ATV, a steady supply of British Comedy on DVD, and lots of coffee. We have fun. But, in the interest of full disclosure, I cant lie when I say I sometimes get weary of looking on my newsfeed seeing everyone else seemingly having more "fun" than me. Who is with me? FB takes the "grass is always greener on the other side" adage and puts it steroids; if indeed FB creates this sort of "global village," then that 'grass' becomes an Iowa cornfield!

Sprinkler Uniform.....

Approaching 90, and playing horseshoes and baseball with his great grandkids....God Bless him.....
this is amazing and beautiful and admirable.....

My hope (for myself) for everyone is to be healthy and be happy with where they are at. I truly fear for people that eventually there will be some million dollar study so some dude can get on NPR, and the study will argue social networking's connection to depression and, God forbid, suicide. Be happy with where you are at. If you succeed in that, please let me know how you can do it! ha ha. In the meantime, I am going to go out and try not to pay attention to how much fun the rest of the world is having, since I dont want it to interfere with the precious time I have been given to make my own joy.

Callum's little party.....

 All the kids enjoying some fresh watermelon, hot dogs, and ice tea!

The day started off with Callum and I running our races (see last post...hehe). After Callum's one mile, I had my 5K trail run....it was so hot and humid and wet and I am not lying when I say it was probably the worst race I have ever run......

Caden and Maira are special friends....they seem to love to entertain each other! Very cute!

Even though Callum's birthday was actually on June 14, last Saturday we had a little party for him...it was a mellow little gathering....exactly the kind of party Callum wanted to have. Attending were MeeMee, Grampy, BaBa (after his Black Fly Festival Parade...haha) Uncle Jon, Aunt Kelsey, The Fitzpatrick family, and Dave (Muriel was home sick). The Favry family is going to come a weekend soon when they have more time to stay longer, and, as I speak, Nannie and Upbob are in transit for a little Maine visit. Papa, of course, is still recovering at home from his surgery, and, in my  next post, we'll write about our visit to see him!

It was a beautiful day (although kind of hot, I thought). But it was very nice to sit outside with everyone and relax....we had hot dogs (for the kids....and some adults....) and I made some pretty good marinated chicken strips--one batch was marinated in the famed "Spiedie" sauce, and the other was marinated in an Asian style sauce I put together: Peanut sauce, wasabi, garlic, soy, etc....

Me, CartoonBrad, Siena, and Mia!

Two lovely ladies!



Callum's first race.....

Summerheat 5K Trail Run and 1 Mile Fun Run.....an annual fundraiser for the XC team at Winslow High School....Callum ran the 1 mile run....he got third place amongst the other males....an impressive time of 11:43.....he ran with me the entire time....so proud of him....hopefully this is the first of many!!

The home stretch!!! (also, FYI, my classroom is the one on the very far left of this picture....)

After the race!