FIMBY

Today I'm tired, very tired. But I'm also thankful for the sun finally shining on our little corner of the world. The first day nice enough this month, August 13th for pete's sake, to go to the beach.

So, I'm sitting at the beach with one eye on my fish and the other on this notebook*. In the warm sunshine, listening to the splashing and laughter I'm able to forget the mess I left behind at home.

We've just had an intense 2 nights and one day visit with three Appalachian Trail thru hikers. A visit that included a potluck supper last night opened up to coworkers, homeschoolers, friends and pretty much any ol' stranger that wanted to come.

This morning Damien drove our new friends back to the trail in the mountains about 1.5 hours from our home. I was left to face my own "mountain" of clean up. Three disheveled guest beds (I'd like to point out we don't actually have a guest room so these beds are located here, there and everywhere in the house), a front porch full of trail debris left behind by smelly backpacks and mounds of dishes and food littered floors from hosting 20 people, half of them rugrats 9 & under, for supper last night. Faced with this daunting reality I did the only sensible thing to do. Left it all and came to the beach.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have hosted and met the three hikers who left this morning, they had trail names (an AT thru hikers tradition) so this is what I'll use to describe them.

(Sm)ellie, the quiet, well prepared and easy going woman from Georgia. On her way to grad school (2nd time around) to further her studies in the interconnectedness of anthropology, bio-medicine and computer science(!). Philly, the storytelling cartoonist from Virginia and Kentucky. Also on his way back to school to pursue a playwright and acting career. And of course Vagabond, also known as Daren Wendell, the man walking around the world on the Earth Expedition to raise awareness and funds for the Blood:Water Mission in Africa. A guy who literally owns only the what he is carrying on his back (Myke you would of loved meeting this guy).

What an awesome experience and privilege to host these folks in our home. If you ever have a chance to put up AT thru hikers in your home - do it! I'd do it again in an instant once the fridge was re-stocked and the sheets washed. People who have been hiking 15-20 miles a day for months, sleeping in the rainy woods and eating ramen noodles and potato flakes for days are pleased as punch with whatever hospitality you have to offer. Just make sure to have lots of food on hand. Hot water and laundry soap doesn't hurt either.

Someday when our family is trekking through North American mountains, backpacking across Europe or doing mission work in Costa Rica, carrying our beds and shelter on our backs I hope we'll be able to crash on someone's floor and get a fresh meal. Afterall, as our guests told us "on the trail, hikers take care of hikers". We're all on a journey, a trek through life. Too bad more people don't live by the creed "travelers on this journey of life take care of fellow travelers". What a nicer world that would be.

Show hospitality, share your table and your garden veggies, make up a bed on your floor. Although you'll be providing rest to the weary you'll be the one enriched. Let's take care of fellow pilgrims on this journey of life.

*post written yesterday in my notebook while at the beach.

Ack! I haven't blogged for 3 days. I'm starting to twitch.

It's been a busy weekend. The sun shone (hallelujah!) and once the flood waters in the backyard receded I tried to rescue the beans and staked leggy perennials. We had a supper around the firepit with friends and watched an outdoor movie at a riverfront park in our community. Ah... summer.

But mainly we started to pack and plan for camping later this month. My contribution was to spend 5 hours yesterday, our anniversary, at the laundromat washing and drying our down sleeping bags. Which take like, forever to dry. But are oh so warm, fluffy and light so I guess are worth the extra time and expense of cleaning them.

At least I didn't just sit there mindlessly watching the tube. In between swiping my "laundromat debit card" a gazallion times (coin-less technology but alas no wi-fi) I finished putting together the kid's portfolios for their yearly homeschool review which takes place this week.

An evening out with friends at our favorite restaurant in the Old Port redeemed "the anniversary" aspect of the day. Wonderful Japanese food, with lots of laughs and these lovely gladiolus given as an anniversary gift.

As if that wasn't enough activity for the weekend we also prepared to host Daren Wendell of Earth Expedition, for a couple days this week.

My best friend Damien (my date yesterday night) has been following this guy's trek for months and invited him to stay at our house on his way through Maine. We weren't exactly sure when he'd be here, sometime in August. When you're walking around the world it's kind of hard to pinpoint these things exactly.

Well, we now know exactly when he will be here. In a couple hours. Damien's picking Daren up right now, along with 2 extras. Apparently, when you find friends on the trail you stick together.

I'm so excited. Finally we're having some strangers stay, something I've wanted for years. To host travelers and pilgrims, practicing real Christian hospitality.

We're also planning a potluck supper for tomorrow night. If you're reading this you're invited. Daren's not just hiking the world for fun. He's doing it to help raise awareness for Blood:Water Mission. And we're hosting a potluck, hopefully the RSVP list will outgrow our home, to help him spread the Blood:Water Mission message, "to build clean wells in Africa, to support medical facilities caring for the sick, to make a lasting impact in the fight against poverty, injustice and oppression in Africa".

So, we're all really jazzed around here. To have someone stay in our home who's hiked the Appalachian Trail (something my crazy family aspires to), who's walking around the world, and who's raising awareness for something we believe but haven't done much about. Lets face it, "life" easily gets in the way of all our convictions to fight poverty, injustice and oppression..

Woo-Wee. There is some serious fun happening in my back yard...

PS. If you want to come to the potluck you have to RSVP for directions and such. Contact me here.

Picked pounds of blueberries (hadn't planned to but how could we resist all those berries) on a hike with friends up Bald Mountain this weekend. Read Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey tonight to the kids. I love Maine.

Yesterday we lived summer, under a bright blue sky. Hiking up and through a rushing brook, wading in a mountain top pond, picnicing and snoozing on the rocks, eating handfuls of wild blueberries.

Tumbledown Brook Waterfall

East Corner of Tumbledown Pond

Webb Lake, Mount Blue State Park

Wild Blueberries on Tumbledown

Enough eco-friendly orientated posts.

What I want to know is what's summer like in your backyard these days? If you care to share, leave a comment with a link to a blog post or flickr photo (my latest photography foray). Oh, and please share something sunny. Because summer in my backyard these days is, in a word, wet.

But I did manage to take this cheery photo at the farm yesterday after I gleaned peas. Today when I went for our weekly share pickup these beautiful strawflowers were all closed up from the rain (notice those foreboding clouds in the background). And what a rain we've had. Today, every hour or so the sky simply opens up and lets down literally sheets of water. And booming, bone rattling thunder at 9am, what's that all about? Weird.

But honestly, I'm glad for the break from the intense pace of summer sun worship. We live in Maine so when the weather's warm we grow food, harvest food, go to the beach, hike, camp, come home again and harvest some more. I needed a break, and this week I got one. Just don't tell any other Mainers I've enjoyed the week of quiet indoor weather.

Ok, so Friday was a tough day. I guess looking back it wasn't quite so bad. All I had to do was hike uphill (both ways it seemed) 5 miles through bug infested forest and muddy bogs. I take that back, it was nasty.

Saturday however, was a gift from God. A late breakfast. Gorgeous blue sky and sunshine, mind you Friday was the same but my head was in the trees and eyes on the trail so I didn't pay much attention. The highlight of the day was water, especially after hot sweaty Friday.

Albany Mountain reflected in Crocker Pond

First, we headed to Angevine Park in Bethel to play in the mountain fed creek. The kids also splashed a bit in the pond but I'm more of a creek gal myself. Oh, and Angevine Park had the most beautiful public restrooms, seriously. You really notice those things when you've been using outhouses. After a picnic lunch at the park we headed into the village of Bethel for an outdoor art show and pit-stop at a cafe.

Cooling off in mountain creek at Angevine park in Bethel, ME

We spent the latter part of the afternoon and suppertime at Screw Auger Falls in Grafton Notch State Park. Lovely, lovely, lovely. More cold refreshing water. The kids and Damien explored the rock formations in Bear River past the main section of the falls. My job was to take photos. We plan to return to this less visited area of the park sometime after a hot hike and actually swim in the pools beyond the main falls (behind the rock Damien and kids are climbing on).

Rock Climbing in Bear River at Screw Auger Falls

Damien prepared supper on the rocks of the upper falls, complete with freshly baked wild blueberry pie. Ok, he didn't bake the pie, we bought it on our way to Grafton Notch at Puzzle Mountain Bakery, a roadside shack (literally) on Route 26. The pies are actually baked on-site in a cabin set back aways from the road. Speaking of food did I mention yet that Damien plans and prepares all our camping meals. What a great guy! Seems he really wants me to enjoy myself.

Happier Camper at Screw Auger Falls

And I did, once I got over Friday's frustrations. On the drive home we wrestled with a couple questions.
How does a family:

• pursue a life of adventure with a beach bum mommy?
• keep true to their non-chem, non-toxic products policy and still enjoy the Maine woods without being eaten alive?

Any ideas or kick-insect-butt repellent recipes welcome.

We're home now after camping 3 nights at Crocker Pond, in the White Mountain National Forest. A rustic and kind of buggy small campground overlooking Crocker Pond and Albany Mountain. A really lovely spot if you've got bug repellent and can boil water for cleaning up.

This past weekend was the first time I've had a really rotten hike. And here are my thoughts about that experience. As written in my 4x3 inch travel notebook while on the trail and later at the campsite. Tomorrow's post will be a little more upbeat.

Not all hikes are lovely.
Not all hikes are awe-inspiring, mountain conquests.

Some are buggy, boggy, bushwacking trials, or trails, of endurance.
Toe-stubbing, foot tripping, leg aching treks.

PMS at all the wrong times.
Lots of sweating and no shower at camp - ugh!

Weary tears of fatigue and frustration.
Unable to discipline myself to reach the summit.
Too tired to care.

So pathetic compared to my seven year old son,
whose energy is boundless and sense of adventure undaunted.

Seven hours of hiking, four hours too many.
Shaky legs, sweaty body, tie-erd feet.

Walk on through, rushing water.
One more creek crossing, end in sight.

Yesterday was family day. We were supposed to go hiking but a check on the weather forecast the night before kiboshed those plans.

Instead we all slept in and after a 10:30 breakfast (preceded by a fantastic thunderstorm), we all sat around and asked the "so what are we going to do today?" question. We hemmed, hawed, made no decisions and each went our own ways for a bit.

Celine started machine sewing a quilt for her doll, Brienne played farm with her playmobiles and Laurent chiseled sketches into wood. I... can't remember what I did (no surprise) but at some point I left the house with the younger 2 to visit a local nursery and to look for Japanese anemone for the shady perennial bed next to the driveway.

While there kids enjoyed the landscaped pond and I had a brain wave - Pineland Farms in New Gloucester has a pond, woodland trails and even lots of pavement for longboarding. The day was drying out and it was still early enough to "get out of town" and enjoy nature.

As the weather got nicer we kicked ourselves a bit for not heading to the mountains but what can you do? Regardless, Pineland was great way to spend the afternoon.

The big surprise for me was the the garden which the girls and I explored a long time while the boys boarded on all the smooth, car free pavement.

Other than the garden and longboarding we explored the pond for most of the time. Laurent was in his element and the girls got right into the fun of catching frogs only to have them immediately hop away. There were literally hundreds, most likely thousands if you included the pollywogs, of those critters.

Rana catesbeiana (American Bullfrog)

Pineland itself is hard to describe. From what I understand its an educational farm complete with equestrian center, cows and creamery. And new this year, a Maine-foods market in the visitor's center.

But it is also a campus with office buildings, conference center and athletic center. Not to mention the outdoor center and woodland trails for hiking that are groomed in winter for cross-country skiing. Who knows what else. Interesting place.

Not quite what I would call a farm though. I guess farming is done there but the whole scene is a bit too neat, tidy and touristy. Kind of like farming for show - maybe I'm wrong.

Anyway, it was a great afternoon and I recommend it as a Maine destination.

We greeted the first day of summer early so we could get into the White mountains mid-morning to avoid late afternoon thunderstorms. Maybe it was the early morning or the huge meal (Damien's birthday supper) the night before but I was cranky and sluggish all the way up. We had a little shower up and on the way down but the summit, although gray and foreboding, was dry and we ended the hike in tree-dappled sunshine.
Top of East Royce Mountain: View to the west, yes those clouds were coming our way

Down East Royce Mountain: I was out of my state of self-pity by this point
After our hike up the 3,100 foot East Royce Mountain we headed back towards home and out to The JED Collective, "a group of organizers, parents, cultural workers, farmers and healers", for a potluck party to celebrate the summer solstice. In addition to the great locally grown veggies, meats & breads we enjoyed the company of friends, the privilege of meeting new folks, a soccer game in the summer evening light, and lots of romping around in a field of wildflowers.

Solstice all ages soccer game

Wildflowers: Celine's holding homemade doll Isabella in arms while picking wildflowers

It was the perfect Tougas family summer solstice. A hike up a gorgeous Maine mountain with a breath-taking view and then supper, consisting of many Maine grown foods, with friends and community folk.

Vanessa and Manis: JED friends

Remember the Mister Rogers or Sesame Street song (I can't remember which) "These are the people in your neighborhood"? Well these are the people, whom we have the privilege to call friends, in our neighborhood.

Introducing The Faire Bande à Part Housing Cooperative, friends and fellow community members: