Jet lag? From Driving?

The United States Capitol 

 We got home on Monday and it is now Friday. We both feel like we have jet lag even though we drove both ways.   We drove from Maine to Connecticut, overnighted in Connecticut  and then drove home to Virginia the next day.  

Since we had Buddy (dog) with us, we did not eat at any sit down places-instead doing drive throughs and gas station shops.  I suspect sitting for hours, eating crap and not sleeping on your own bed all contribute to the fatigue.   

I had a nasty fall shortly before we left Maine, and I think being bruised and achy takes a lot of energy as well.

Maine is really beautiful.   I know I have posted pictures and comments before.  But it really is.  The only downside (aside from falling down) was the bugs.  So many bugs.  I got bitten and chewed up every time I went outdoors!   Of course we have them here in Virginia too, but not as bad as Maine.

This sign made me happy.  This is just outside of Scranton, PA.   I saw it on the way to Maine, but didn't get my camera ready in time.

I have to say, Buddy is a great traveler.  We have moved all over the world with pets, but not actually in the same vehicle- they flew to their/ our destination.   Before this trip, we got Buddy a "jacket" 

and a sort of bed/ seat cover for the back seat.  It had a built in seatbelt, so we felt that Buddy was pretty safe there.  He did really well with it:

My sister's granddaughters, my grand nieces, watered our plants and kept them alive as well as bringing in the mail.   They did a good job and we were glad we didn't need to worry about that.

There still seems to be Covid-19 in the world.  People, like us, are traveling.  We have cousins from the west coast coming in a couple of weeks.   We are all vaccinated, so we cross our fingers and hope for the best.  

The January 6 hearings are going on now.  January 6, 2021 there was an attack on the US Capitol. 

These hearings are Reminiscent of the Watergate hearings in 1972- just before we got married.  But the insurrection at the Capital was a lot more frightening.   

More later....

We are spending our last night in Maine

 After two plus weeks in Maine, we are heading back to Virginia tomorrow.

Austin went to SOAK in Oregon and we have been house and cat sitting.  Molly, the cat has spent time at our house, so she knows Buddy and they put up with each other.  I actually think that they like each other but don't want to let on.

Buddy & Molly

 

We moved out of Austin's house when he got back so we wouldn't get in each other's way.   The place we are staying is a part of a converted barn that has been made into a sweet, self contained "apartment", an Air B&B called Spellbound Farm.    The owner has 30 chickens and gifted us a dozen fresh, non GMO eggs!

We had lunch with Austin at the Flipside Coffee Shop.   They had vegan food for Austin and gluten free for me!   And regular food for Nick.  There were a couple of yarn bombed posts which as a knitter I had to photograph it

So much more to say and more pictures to share, but for now, it's bedtime

Yarn Bomb

Austin & Nick at th4e Flipside Coffee Shop

All around Austin's place

 

Life goes on but it doesn't for all of us.

 A terrible thing happened this past week.  A school shooting in an elementary school in Texas.   So many people's lives are changed forever.  When they try to sleep they will think of their loved ones, now gone.  When they wake up, they will hope it was all a bad dream.  But it doesn't go away.

There will be marches and memorials and funerals.  And then, time passes.  Nobody forgets.  But life goes on and a new normal sets in.    Normal.  what does that mean?

And I feel great sadness.  Despair.   Anger.  Grief.  And then, I go on living.

We are still in Maine.  We went into town and I bought some yarn.   We recycled and took trash to the Transfer Station- what the dump is called here.

We drove through McDonald's and learned that they don't sell salads any more.

Doing laundry last night ns this morning.  Working on putting new plastic on the green house/ hoop house on Austin's property.

The other day we went sight seeing  looking for the Owls Head Light House.  We found the parking lot, but discovered that there was a bit of a walk to get to the lighthouse.  More walking than I can do. So we did not see the lighthouse.  We did see the Owls Head Post office and Penobscot Bay though.

We worked on patching the green house/ hoop house on Austin's property and now we are tired.    Life takes a toll.   I don't have the stamina or strength or balance to do what I want to.  I want to be able to climb and run and walk through small spaces without feeling like I am going to tip over.

Of course all of those children and teachers who were gunned down will never experience aging.  And my life goes plugging on.   Why?

 

 

Ten years have passed and some things are not any better than they were

 On our drive from Virginia to Maine, we passed this sign and remembered the horrible day of the shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.  This is from Wikipedia:

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and six were adult staff members.

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Then this week, this happened:

• Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, the Texas Department for Public Safety said.
• The 18-year-old gunman was on the school premises for up to an hour before law enforcement forcibly entered a classroom and killed him, officials said.

Warren Maine- our son's home

 Austin bought this old house here in Warren, Maine about a year and a half ago.  I probably wrote about it at the time, but I don't remember.

Austin originally came up here (yes I am in Austin's house as I write this) to study at the Maine Media Workshop-https://www.mainemedia.edu/.  He has made friends here and has really been doing interesting work in filmmaking.  I am one of those parents who is proud of her children even if I cannot exactly explain or sometimes even understand what they are doing.

Austin had the opportunity to attend SOAK, a regional Burning Man even that takes place in Oregon.  Austin flew out of Maine to Seattle where he spent a few days with his older brother, Morgan- who lives there.  Then he took the train from Seattle to Portland, Oregon where his sister Courtney lives.   All three of them will be attending SOAK together.

Morgan and Austin being silly

Maine is so beautiful,  and Austin's 200 year old house is very cool with lots of character.  And it could be a full time renovation job if you are into that.  Here are some of the photos I have taken.

When I attempt to label each picture individually they shift around and get skewed, so, I am just adding them and describing what's what.

What you see here is the garden shed; the house with the sun setting behind it; the side of the barn; view of the house from inside the garden shed; Nick and Austin in front of the house-on the left and the attached barn on the right; a nice picture of Austin when we were having a nice lunch on the pier (not sure what the body of water is called);  Austin's house after dark and last but not least, the amazing ferns growing behind the house 

Maine. We went to a car show in Union, Maine

 We went to car show in Union, Maine.   So many familiar car models.  The car with fins is a 1961 Chrysler Newport.  The same model car we had when I was a kid.  The car we drove across the country and back in.  The  to car my sister learned drive on.  Our was white though.

There's a picture of a bright yellow car that is a 1967 Dodge Dart.  The same model I learned on.  But my mom's Dart was a dark copper color with a black roof.

The orange and white Volkswagen bus is the same color combination as the one my son bought.   The one we saw today was a 1974 model.  So was my son's- but his was a well worn and well loved one called "Smudge" because it burned so much oil.

The music played at the car show was classic 1960s music and so great to hear.

It's so strange. funny that those "antique" cars are the ones we knew as kids!