9-8-2010
I was chatting with one of my neighbors from Andover this past week. He was reminiscing about his days as a game warden in Portage Lake. He told me a few interesting things, such as when he caught a bunch of loggers with loaded rifles on their skidders. But, he said, he never caught one Canadian logger with a deer in his car trunk, contrary to the suspicion of his supervisor. The most interesting thing he told me though, was that in all of the places he has ever lived, people from Aroostook County are the friendliest, most hospitable people he has ever met. He was amazed at how far they would go out of their way to make you feel welcomed.
While I may not have as much experience as this neighbor of mine, I have traveled to many places around the country, and been welcomed in many towns, I too have not experienced such generosity and friendliness as I have in the County. No matter where I go in the County, there’s always someone who will listen to my ideas. The next time I see them they usually tell me about some cool place to go explore or invite me to their camp. They seem to want to make sure you get the fullest experience out of the County. Thank you people of Aroostook County for being so wonderful!
8-12-2010
As usual August has presented sinus problems for me. I still haven’t figured out if it’s an allergy or if I just get worn down enough to make me sick. This year I’m pretty positive that I was not over tired, as the sinus problems hit me at the end of a recovery week. So I may have some new plant that I’m allergic to. Perhaps I’ll get tested again one of these days and find out. IN the meantime though, training camps in alternative locations seem to fit the bill. After a couple days at camp, I seem to have made a good recovery and am back to normal training. Thankfully!
This week I’m at Sugarloaf with the rest of the MWSC XC crowd as well as the biathletes. It’s a pretty fun group. You can always tell if you are bonding well on super long workouts. We had a 4-5hour hike in the Bigelows yesterday; there was constant chatter for most of the workout, except when we were bombing down the mountain, which required some pretty intense focus and quick foot work. For sure nobody in the group got bored. Besides each other’s company we were rewarded with spectacular view of Sugarloaf and Flagstaff Lake, once the clouds had burned off.
7-26-2010
Little things in life make day-to-day existence much more enjoyable, an obvious observation, but one that is very true. Lately I’ve been noticing a few of these. I’ve been finding that my bed looks more and more comfortable on a daily basis, probably the result of a larger volume of hard training than I’m used to. Regardless it just feels wonderful to curl up into a ball each night and drift to sleep.
Food has been a big one as well. I’ve had this strange craving for chocolate donuts. I finally gave in a bought some and they were a delicious as I had hoped. Apparently I have a sweet tooth, especially for things chocolate. I’ve added honey to my diet recently, but that just isn’t the same as good chocolate. One I accidentally stumbled on yesterday was homemade bread. I’m always amazed at how much better it tastes than pre-sliced bread made from in some factory several hours of driving away.
Unfortunately I don’t have much time for reading anymore, which means if I do find something interesting it has to be short or I can pick it up and read a couple pages or less at a time. One of my favorite topics from childhood was castles. Justine got me a book of aerial photos of English castles earlier this summer. As well as having cool pictures for my to analyze, there’s lots of good information on the evolution of the castles, perfect for a few minutes of reading before falling asleep at night! Comfort, good food, and a good read; it’s amazing how much better life is with them.
Shooting practice at NHC. A mainstay of my Sunday nights.
Here Seth instructs some of our Devo kids and a few adults who were in town for the Fat Tire Festival.
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Joey finishing his first of three laps in the Fat Tire Festival XC Mtn. Bike race. Perfect day for racing.
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John Dixon throwing down the hammer.
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MWSC athletes spectating and enjoying the sun.
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