Gluttony 101

So what would you do if 1) you love lobster, 2) you learn that fresh Maine lobsters are now down to $3.59 per pound, locally? 

I thought so. You'd do as I did: you'd buy six lobsters for two people (and wish you'd bought twice as many), bring them home, recruit your spouse to do the dirty deed of dropping them into the boiling water,...and have yourself a gluttonous feast.

But I like to think I did this in order to help support Maine's lobstermen. I mean, with the price of lobster being so low right now, isn't it the duty of every good Maine citizen to buy several lobsters to keep the industry afloat?

I thought so.

Yes!

Obama!

Oh, mama!

Things to Do Today

1. Vote. Check. I submitted ballots number 565 and 566 in my little town. (I didn't vote twice; I voted on national and local issues.)

2. Make sure he votes. Check. (See photo below.)

3. Get my hair cut.

4. Walk myself and my dog and do my yoga. (The dog likes to join me in the yoga routine, but it's not easy to exercise with a 75-lb. dog draped across my mid-section.)

5. If I'm then desperate for something more to do, clean house.

P.S.

Check out my friend Kay's blog post. She certainly struck a nerve with that one, judging from the responses she has received.

Season's Almost Over!

Proof that this political season has gone on WAY too long: My niece was driving somewhere the other day, her three-year-old happily chatting in the back seat. Suddenly my niece heard her daughter say, "My name is Violet, and I approve this message."

...and if you can't vote for Obama, at least vote for the other guy.

Wonder Dog and Wonder Wallet

I've been thinking we should buy a paper shredder, but after seeing the fine work done last evening by Molly, our chocolate Lab, I realize we already have a paper shredder "in house." She does meticulous work, as you can see by the remains of this catalog. I'd like to say she's much less expensive than a real paper shredder, but alas, that's simply not true.

Molly also shreds stuffed animals, even brand new ones still fresh from the store.

I'd love to have a kitten, but I shudder to think what Molly would do with it.

Now for a completely different topic: The amazing, incredible, awesome Wonder Wallet.

I've been making these for the past couple of months, after they were suggested as a fundraiser for my teachers'/retired teachers' organization. I wish I'd kept count of the number I've sold so far, but I'd guess it's around 45.

A friend gives me her outdated fabric sample books (She's an interior decorator), and I select coordinating fabrics for each little wallet. They're quite fun to make, although the cutting-out of fabrics gets a little tedious.

I took twenty Wonder Wallets to a tri-state A∆K meeting a couple of weekends ago, and they sold out within 30 minutes. A few ladies even prepaid for me to mail additional wallets to them once I got back home.

My only expenses are fusible interfacing and Velcro. For a mere $5, the purchaser has a handy little travel wallet to hold credit cards, some cash and a few coins. Clever invention, I say.

Removing Traces

I've just finished reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead. This memoir, containing Anne Lindbergh's diary entries and letters from 1929 to 1932, gives a glimpse into the joys and deep sorrow of her life. Her marriage to Charles Lindbergh, their flights together (including a fascinating around-the-world voyage), the birth of their first child, Charles, are overshadowed by the tragic kidnapping and murder of their little boy. Anne's grief is powerful and all-encompassing, even as she awaits the birth of her second son, Jon, and even as she is joyful at this second birth.

While Anne Lindbergh's grief stays with me, it is one particular passage, dealing with another topic, that especially caught my interest and surprised me. It surprised me because I'd just recently read a similar sentiment in someone else's blog, and it is a sentiment I'd never really thought about before.

Anne's sister, Elisabeth, has just left the Lindberghs' home after a visit, and the maid is cleaning the guest room where Elisabeth stayed. Anne says, "Mary rushed to clean up [the room] and run the vacuum cleaner over the rugs. How I hate that still, closed-eyes look of a room when the person has left. It should not be cleaned up so quickly, as though it could forget the person, as though it could turn, from a living companion, into just 'room,' 'master's bedroom,' so quickly.

In Caryn's blog, she says, after waving goodbye to her son who has just paid a visit, "What am I doing? Why, when I miss the children so when they leave us, do I hurry to remove all traces of their being here? Why not leave those sheets on the bed a while longer so I can continue to inhale and take in the whisper of fragrance he left behind?"

I'm not suggesting plagiarism here! What I am doing is continuing to think about this habit we have of cleaning up a bedroom after a guest has left. I'm guilty of rushing to remove the sheets and replace them with clean ones, of tidying up the room to leave no traces of the recent guest. But why? 

I think, in my case, it helps to ease the pain of having a loved one leave. I've always had a difficult time with goodbyes, embarrassing myself and probably my husband with a flood of tears that I can't seem to harness. Often I'm crying still as I clean the bedroom, removing traces of a treasured visitor. I remember feeling so sad and empty when nieces and nephews, my mother, friends would go home after visiting us. Getting the room cleaned helped me get my emotions under control and get on with my life. But maybe next time someone special visits, I'll leave the guest room as is for awhile after their visit.

Mountains and Lake

Yesterday I decided to go to North Conway, NH, for some Christmas shopping. I couldn't have chosen a prettier day, unless I'd chosen a day when the leaves weren't a tad past their peak. 

Nonetheless, the views of the White Mountains (Mount Washington in particular) were spectacular.

On the way home I decided to drive to Bridgton, ME to check out Reny's and do a little more shopping there, then go to Sebago in order to visit Korner Knitters Yarn Shop, which is having its October sale.

Here, in reverser order of my journey, are some photos of the day. First, a shot of Sebago Lake.

Next, Route 107 from Bridgton to Sebago.

The view as I drove in to North Conway, NH

The view toward the foothills of the White Mountains.

There she is in the distance: Mount Washington.

It was a great day to be enjoying the beauty of New Hampshire and Maine.