Maine

I like my life. In the decade or so that I have been an adult, I've had a lot of fun. Going here and there, doing this and that... it's been really nice. I know that's about to change - in a good way of course; I welcome the change - and I've been trying to make the most of these last months as a carefree, possibly somewhat self-centered, childless person.

Last weekend, for example. My last "just for me" adventure for quite some time (I imagine). I drove up to Maine for a long weekend trip with a friend. We spent a rainy day in Portland. We went to Acadia National Park. We ate really good seafood. We had "drinks" in a church-turned-bar. We cracked jokes, discussed the finer points of the greatest juvenile literature series ever written, recalled songs from our elementary music classes, talked about our families, stayed in a motel room that looked like it had been sawed off from a corner of my grandma's house, bought fancy soaps... etc.

Did I mention how much I like my life? And the people in it? Did I also mention how totally cool I am with the fact that it will be very different in a few months? This trip, planned before I was pregnant, was perfect at the perfect time.

A few pictures. I forgot to bring my camera along for half of our excursions... these were all taken in Acadia. Gol, I do love the North Atlantic.

A Good Fourth

We all know that some friends come and go. Have you ever taken a few minutes to think about all the people who have passed through your life and lost touch with you? My own personal collection of long-lost acquaintances unfortunately grows every year, but it makes me grateful for the people I've kept up with.

I spent the 4th of July weekend with some of those people, my girls from DC. A few of us went up to Massachusetts to visit a friend who moved up that way about a year ago. For four days, we took in the sights of Fairhaven, New Bedford, Providence (RI) and Boston. We admired fishing boats, ran in vain to catch up with a small-town 4th of July parade, gorged ourselves at a barbeque, watched fireworks from a hurricane barrier, went to not one but two kickin' museums, bought overpriced food at Faneuil Hall, talked, and laughed. A lot. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be.

It was also fascinating to see how people had both changed and stayed the same. The sense of humor and all the other good qualities have remained (and always will, I suspect), but at the same time new things like (graceful and inspiring) motherhood, professional evolution and a strong sense of self have made my friends into newer versions of themselves, good versions. I'm not sure how much or in what ways I've changed these last years, but it would be nice to imagine that I can see in my friends my own reflected growth.

A few bits from the weekend:

Uncle Sam with tractor, boat shoes

Boston architecture

Fife and drum band (fifes not pictured), Boston


Fairhaven, MA

Away

We sold our car before leaving Toronto, a move I have regretted zero times in the two months we've been here. Gas is expensive, parking around here is miserable, and our next door neighbors had their car stolen awhile back, right off the street in front of our building. Really, are there any pluses to owning a car here?

Okay, there's at least one. Weekend trips. We loved our weekend trips in Canada. We went camping and hiking, visited Montreal and Ottawa, and just generally had the region at our fingertips. I knew it wouldn't be as easy to make quick East Coast getaways sans car, but I made my peace with it. Not owning a car makes me happy in many ways, so the small sacrifice is worth it.

As it turns out though, it may not be as much of a sacrifice as I thought. Exhibit A: Breakneck Ridge. This 5.5 mile hike on the Hudson River within Hudson Highlands State Park, is a short 76-minute ride from Grand Central Station in Manhattan. What's more, the train drops you off half a mile from the start of the trail. A day in the "wilds" of the Hudson River Valley brought to you by public transit? It took me awhile to believe it.

What a wonderful day! The hike took about four hours, with frequent breaks for water and shade, and about 1200 vertical feet of scrambling over rocks (imagine climbing steps three at a time. There was a lot of that). The view was magnificent, and I could almost picture a member of the Hudson River School crouching nearby with a canvas. What a nice change too, from the concrete and lights and Tory Burch bags of the city. After the hike was over, we went to Cold Spring, a little town 30 minutes (by foot) down the road. I bought some vintage Pyrex from one of the antique stores in town, had an heirloom tomato salad with shitake mushrooms and edible orchids for dinner, caught the train back to the city, and was sound asleep in my own bed that evening. All without a car.

P.S. Orchids: really tasty!