Nobody 834

Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010

Nobody # 834

Nobody Asked Me But:

Travel by jt

If life is but a thousand deaths

A thousand born agains

I leave behind a piece of me

Whenever travel ends

Still light of hope shines brightly as

Towards west and home I flee

Another journey lies ahead

Another mystery

Three destinations. All of them terrific. My trip review will begin with the end and end with the beginning. Our last stop, first among equals was not on Golden Pond, in New Hampshire, but at Hidden Pond near Kennebunkport, Maine. And, no, we didn’t see Bush, 41 up close and personal, but we did see his fishing boat speeding across the water (according to our tour trolley driver, he likes to frustrate his secret service watchers by outrunning their trail boat) and then anchored not far from shore. But back to Hidden Pond. Our cottage, Thank You, (that’s its name, not me being overly polite) perhaps our all-time best all-around lodging was in a forest. It had a large living, dining, kitchen area with a cathedral ceiling and a fireplace. There were two bedrooms one with king bed and the other with twin beds – in case Barbara sent me into exile for snoring. Each had its own bath. There was a small back porch leading into the trees and, finally, to my immense pleasure, a screened porch running the length of the living-dining- kitchen area. It had two couches, a chair, a redwood picnic table and a swing – where I spent as much time as weather permitted. (Happiness is reading the NY Times and drinking coffee while swinging there.)

Another fun thing in was that in addition to the two indoor showers, it had an outdoor one in a wooden enclosure just outside the main bathroom. Of course I tried it and of course Barb snuck a couple of pictures of me and of course I am not going to post one here. Eighth amendment, you know.

Every morning at 8, a basket was delivered and placed on a hook just inside the porch door. It contained, a thermos of coffee, a pitcher of orange juice, a fresh, warm baguette, two muffins, 2 slices of breakfast bread – fruit or chocolate – and a New York Times.

Other amenities which the weather and/or our schedule prevented us from taking advantage of were a nice pool with cabanas, a sandy area with a fire pit for evening gatherings and, for an afternoon treat, some of the best macaroons I have ever tasted. There was also a flower and vegetable gardens where guest could pick at their pleasure.

Hidden Pond is an easy 10 minute-drive from Kennebunkport, which is a bit too touristy for me, but fun. Several other attractions are 30-60 minutes close such as:

Sanford - the home of Shaw’s Ridge ice cream (I wrote about this wonder after our visit two years ago) where the hot fudge sundae with fresh coffee ice cream is still incredible, but only second best on this trip.

Portland - one of my favorite small cities has a great bakery and equally great pizza. Standard Baking Company produces English muffin bread, which was a breakfast staple, supplementing the goodies provided by Hidden Pond. Barbara wanted to bring some home, but alas, we returned to find out that they only bake in on weekends. On our last trip, my wife fell in love with what they call a financier – fluted cookie with ground pecans and chocolate chunks – and found them as good as before. This time it was my turn to develop a food crush on something they call a cork, by whatever name, simply chocolate heaven – doused with espresso.

On the docks, across the street from the bakery, is a restaurant that is becoming our Portland standby. This was our fourth or fifth visit to American Flatbread Co. Most of you know what a fan I am of the pizza at Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock, with Barbara’s favorite, Larchmont Pizza, a close second. IMHO, the pizza at Flatbread is their equal.

Nubble Light House – really cool to see, and Brown’s ice Cream stand close by was not too shabby either. My black raspberry was chewy good and my wife’s mocha chip was delicious – even if we had to eat them in the car on a cool evening.

Back to Kennebunkport - On our trolley ride we not only saw the Bush compound and fishing boat but the houses of two other famous past residents – authors Booth Tarkington and Kenneth Roberts. (Incidentally, one of Robert’s well-known novels, Arundel, was named after an adjoining town.)

Road Food – I am no longer a huge fan of New England lobster. I find the taste rather mediocre.

Next week, Part II – A Tale of Two Rooms<<<

Glen Beck knows history – One day, he rhetorically asked his Fox News viewers: "Why did we buy Alaska in the 1950s?" (Uh, Glen, actually we bought Alaska in 1867.)

Action: LaBron and his manager use the race card, saying that the intense criticism aimed toward James is racist.

Reaction: I assume this means that his biggest critic, Sir Charles Barkley, is “white, clear white, inside?”

Traffic cameras at red lights – in LA rather than placing their 32 cameras where they are most needed, at the most dangerous intersections, the 15 city council members insisted that at least one be located in their district.

The Immaculate blood-letting

I did a dumb thing - my first one ever. While we were back East, I left my car parked in an airport lot under a tree. Returning home, we disembarked to a dirt and leaf covered vehicle almost too dirty to drive home. The next day I washed the worst off wearing a Henley shirt I bought in London. Big mistake. When I finished the job there was a large spot of fresh blood right in the center. I completely checked my body, and I was not bleeding nor had I recently bled. Strange! Perhaps I will make a scary movie about it.<<<

Action: survey shows that men are most attracted to women with great arms.

Reaction: sure they are.<<<

News Item – We have are 52,681 contract personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reaction – Between these mercenaries and the CIA with their drone warfare, perhaps we should just bring the regular army home and leave the fighting to them.<<<

A man in Polk County Florida who was pulled over in a routine traffic stop ended up 'executing' the deputy who stopped him by shooting him eight times, including once behind his right ear at close range. Another deputy was wounded and a police dog killed. A state-wide manhunt ensued.

The murderer was found hiding in a wooded area and as soon as he took a shot at the SWAT team, officers opened fire on him. They hit the guy 68 times.

Naturally, the media went nuts and asked why they had to shoot the guy 68 times.

Sheriff Grady Judd told the Orlando Sentinel: “Because that's all the ammunition we had.”

Right on Sheriff Judd!<<<

Yesterday we had our once a year press box seats at the Rose Bowl and watched the Bruins, rather unimpressively, defeat the hapless Washington State Cougars 42 to 28. Here are my post-game grades:

Passing offense – C+ (not enough yards gained but a few key completions.

Rushing offense – A (Franklin And Coleman together gained 396 yards. Enough said.)

Rushing defense – C+ (Some big stops, but also some big gains allowed.)

Pass defense – F (Would have been worse but there is nothing worse.)

Pre-game free food - C-

Press box free food - B

Too funny. I am listening to a terrific history book, Haynes Johnson’s The Age of Anxiety. I will have more about it later, but I want to pass this along now.

During the McCarthy witch-hunting era, many states passed anti-communist laws. One of the best was Pennsylvania, which denied state aid to communists – with the exception of blind communists.<<<