Wicked Pissi-Ass

The other morning I was taking a reservation from a mom in Colorado. After we covered the usual stuff about where to ride bikes, exploring Sears Island, kayaking and where to find skateboard parks. Then she asked about the weather. Rather than follow my heart and whine about the fog and drastic temperature shifts we’ve been suffering through, I used my grown up voice and said that we were caught up in a stalled weather pattern and that for the moment, the atmosphere was unsettled. Tom from Brooks, Maine walked in to hear my explanation and muttered…just tell her it’s been wicked pissi-ass and we don’t know when the sun’s coming out. Yup…there’s your phrase for the day.

The silver lining of course is that the flowers are thrilled with the moist ocean air and cool temperatures. The rose bushes are simply spectacular and the air is a perfumed blend of salty and sweet. One of my favorite things about fog is the way that it seems to intensify the colors of everything around us. And of course, there are no better thrills than to see a seals shiny eyes pop up right in front of you when you walk the beach and hear a snort just off the shore…I think they have a sense of humor and love to make the humans jump.

Here beside the rugosa roses near the playground are Nancy & George Campbell from Bow, NH and Annie & Jack McCauliff from Guilford, NH…these wonderful folks have been friends of my dad’s for decades and I’m very proud to consider them friends of mine too. They were buying campers from Dad before I was born and they’ve been coming up to the campground since 1998…with plans to come in 2008. Nancy says that if she couldn’t afford to camp anywhere else all summer, she’d still come here.

Lately we’ve been helping folks plan their days with options that include both indoor and outdoor activities regardless of the direction they’ve been heading. The three museums that have received the most rave reviews have been the Bangor Discovery Museum (the music recording studio is a major hit), the Cole’s Transportation Museum in in Bangor (love the tanks and train) and the Owl’s Head Museum (love the airplanes and old cars). Several guests have purchased special 72 hour clamming licenses and all have reported that the clamming on Sears Island has been great…and it doesn’t hurt to have a sandy beach all to yourself when you’re ready to go for a swim.

Here in the park we’ve felted treasure pouches over beach rocks, conducted a scavenger hunt that required crayon rubbings of leaves, a crab skeleton, a yellow towel and the knowledge of seaweed…for prizes that including squawking sea gulls and pretty pink purses. There was also candy bar bingo (all the major winners here were adults…go figure!) and late this afternoon there will be a button hunt. In between time we’re going to schedule a demonstration in dyeing wool yummy shades of blue, green, turquoise and lavender.

In case you’re wondering, we’re still having trouble with the internet service…Steven was on the phone to Verizon first thing Monday morning and hung up with the satisfaction of knowing we’d have a new modem on Tuesday…Tuesday morning we received two modems…neither were the right ones…so we’re expecting another today. Again, if you’ve e-mailed me and not received a response, please try again because these intermittent problems seem to cause my e-mails to evaporate without rhyme or reason…from my end of the computer, everything seems normal but like so much else in the world, the reality is apparently different.