Bobbing Fog

The fog has been bobbing on the cove for several days now: at times we cannot see the near shore for the fog's all-encompassing grey nothingness and yet minutes later we will be able to see the far shore through a thin mist, but cannot see the sun nor the sky. If we had need of sunshine or sky, often we would only need to drive a short distance to find them. Bar Harbor, for example, has been sunny these past few days. On some days, Southwest would be sunny, too. I need to be mindful of this situation, so that I remember to take my sunglasses when we go out in the car, in case we find a bit of sun. Today it is both foggy and gently raining, a delightful combination.

I am happy to report that new detector devices are working well and that cooking is happening in blissful silence.


Yesterday Mama Bear arose early and did her walk/run and then we went to the Flamingo Festival and Parade in Southwest. It was delightful! We took our new chairs, which I think will work better at a concert than at a parade where people crowd to the street to catch the candies thrown from the floats. Mama Bear purchased a pink balloon and made a mental note to obtain a hot pink shirt for next year. The Friends of Acadia marched, playing their wheelbarrows, rakes, and shovels. There were pink flamingos everywhere. The Southwest Polo and Yacht Club, which exists to host one event in the Festival (but has no other meetings or duties during the year) was present. We walked among the various booths near the Harbor House and near St. John's. A smattering of pink parade pictures appears at the end of this blog entry. After the parade, we purchased bread to be served with dinner. We were home in time to get our mail from the Post Office (which closes at 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays.) We watched the Tour de France and the Boston Red Sox and did a bit of reading. In the evening we watched the PBS shows Mama Bear had recorded.

We have also been shopping online: there are so many things we have trouble locating here that we can find quite easily online. I do not know if it is that we do not know where find these items here or that the items are unavailable here. I find I have limits about how far I want to drive to find something and how much time I am willing to put into it. Yes, quests are fun, but for me there are limits, too.

This morning, Mama Bear went to church, again at St. John the Divine in Southwest. The congregation, without a full-time priest, is undertaking a capital campaign. It is interesting to observe this congegration at work: I love the responsibility the laity is taking for leading worship, talking about their ministry, and carrying it out. Today the sermon was led by the Reverend Jonathan Appleyard from Bar Harbor (he shared time with two members of the congregation). My take on the sermon was the importance of being a neighbor (from the Good Samaritan story in Luke). The word neighbor has its roots in a word that means "be near." And that is what we humans are called to do: to be near each other, for when we are near each other in genuine and authentic ways, we not only minister to others, but have them minister to us, sometimes unknowingly. And that presence to each other provides grace - to both parties. I did not stay for the post-worship reception, but perhaps I need to make a practice of attending it.

The words about this lesson are my interpretation of what was said. The actual words said and ideas presented belong to Rev. Appleyard and were delivered in a manner that was more interesting and likely clearer than what I have shared here.

We have discovered we have missed the Moxie Festival, which was this weekend. I am beginning to think that there are too many festivals to attend them all. We also understand that raspberries are now in season (early this year), so we will have to watch for them.

We are having philly cheese steak sandwiches tonight, so after worship we went to the store to get bread for them, plus a few other items that were on the list. We have watched the Tour de France, the Red Sox and are now watching the World Cup game and reading.