They're Back!!

So long to June and hello to July come Saturday. Hopefully, there's much more sun in July than rain; we've had enough thank you very much. Now that school's out, the weekly visitors have returned in force to Peaks Island. Just coming home today on the 2:15 boat, the line of cars waiting to get on the ferry was backed up way beyond what could get on that boat.

More than cars carving their respective space out on the island's roads though are the number of bikes meandering around. I've always enjoyed watching a line of bikes going down the street; of course the line is across the entire street making it nigh on impossible to get by. As a car approaches it's really fun to guess which way the herd will disperse; one side, the other side, both sides or not at all. It's interesting to see what the car driver guesses as well.

Here's a couple of pictures of what moved into next door to us this week. I have no idea how all those bikes made it onto the Island or where the room was for all the kids that ride those bikes or the stuff that tends to go along with the kids. All I know is I've watched a lot of fun taking place next door and that's what summer on Peaks is all about. Enjoy the 4th and spend it with as many friends as possible!

My Father's Day

This was the most special Father's Day I've ever experienced. All my adult life I tended to pooh pooh Father's Day and always just really wanted to sit, be quiet, read the Sunday Paper and watch the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament and talk to my sons. Somewhere in my life I picked up the belief that if you didn't try to be a good Dad for 364 days, one day set aside to buy stuff for dear old Dad didn't mean too much.

Well, this Father's Day utterly knocked my socks off. Jill apparently wanted to purchase an IPod for me to match my absolute love of varied music. Jill also knew this was a mismatch from the outset so she contacted Josh for some assistance. Soon Sean out in Boulder was involved as well. Together, they pooled their resources and bought me this wonderful little beauty of an IPod with a huge 30gb of memory. Translated, it means this little thing can hold about 7,000 songs.

To get me "started", Josh plotted out a little over 1,000 songs he knew I'd enjoy and loaded it up. To say I was stunned would be a major understatement. After only two days I can now navigate my way around it and pick whatever album or song I want to hear. I'm already planning more albums I want to add. At some point I'll figure out how to do that without deleting everything already on it--I hope.

My heartfelt thanks to all for such a wonderful, thoughtful gift. I love you all. I was using it while making tonight's dinner when Jill caught me enjoying my new gift. Thanks for the memory maker; it will be used often.

The Beauty of June

Whenever the rains finally cease, it's possible to just roam around the Island and check out the colors as they fly on by. The lupens have returned for their annual two week stint. It's way too short since they have always been about my favorite wildflower; the purple they display is just so rich and deep.

Of course, with all the rains over the past month, the world we live in is definitely green and growing-disturbingly quickly. It always seems like I just parked the mower and it's time to get it out again. At long last the painting projects are coming into my pea brain's to do list so I guess Summer has arrived, finally.

The kids are now out of school so down front and the boats have definitely become more crowded. Oh well, walking to the boat is far better for me than stressing out looking for a non-existent parking space. Enjoy the weekend and hope it's sunny and dry wherever you are.

Another Sunset!

We've just returned from an evening in Portland. We brought my brother, Russ, and his wife, Nettie, into town. They're returning to Hawaii early early tomorrow morning so an overnight in Portland was required. Of course, it meant a last chance for a nice dinner out before parting. Their total time here was ten days, at least seven of which were spent in the rain. Oh well, welcome to May and June in Maine!

At least the last two days were spent in the sun. Catching the 8:15 boat back to Peaks presented a wonderful chance for another nice sunset. Somehow, all the good ones are always a little different. This one reminded me of the move "Indiana Jones" where at the end the clouds part and the power of God comes crashing down through the sky. Well, tonight's sky looked like that. Clouds with some breaks with the sun's rays shining through. It did make for a nice, peaceful ride home keeping an eye on Mt. Washington framed by the diminishing light. Enjoy.

My Brother

I have a brother, Russ. He's a tad older than me but our backgrounds, at least in the beginning, were pretty similar. We both bear the roots of Hopedale, MA and Matunuck, RI. Our love of the sea and mountains has been constant. Once we both left Hopedale, our paths took different twists and turns. He went to Bates College and I the University of Connecticut. He joined the Marines, I entered the field of retirement through an insurance company in Newark, NJ.

He is a retired Marine Lt. Colonel with stops over nearly 30 years all across the globe. He had the same roommate for four years at Bates. Of course, this roommate came out of Portland High School where he commuted from Peaks Island every day and still lives here today. The first time my brother set foot on Peaks Island was 1953 and has made quite a few treks here over the many years. He is on the Island this week for his 50th reunion at Bates College. Peaks Island he considers a second home as I do Hawaii.

Russ' very first tour of duty in 1958 was Hawaii where he, of course, met and married a lovely Hawaiian native, Nettie. They now reside in Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawaii right on the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Two of their three children also reside on Oahu with a son in Las Vegas. Enjoy the week Russ; it's good to have you here back on Peaks where all roads do indeed lead.