Our Bicycles

We went to Southwest Cycle and purchased our bicycles. They are last year's models, which means we received a great deal. Mama Bear is thinking of naming her bicycle Molly. It is a name she has always liked and the women she has met with the name have been strong, funny, helpful and smart. I like those qualities and hope my bicycle will be all those to me. Well, maybe it will not be smart ... My Molly is quite lovely. Papa Bear has not yet named his bicycle. And may not do so. We have helmets, gloves, kickstands, and water bottles, too. We have had them out on the road a bit and love riding them. Molly and Nameless reside in the basement beneath the stairs.

The gate to the basement has arrived and been installed. The Cat, for reasons unknown to me, went downstairs just before its installation began. After installation, Mama Bear took some treats and went down the stairs. While The Cat was seated next to Mama Bear, Papa Bear placed a treat on the first floor side of the gate, and Mama Bear stuck her hand through the cat opening. Always motivated by treats, The Cat went through the opening, then returned to see if there were more treats to be had from Mama Bear. (Of course there were!)

The Cat has devleoped somewhat of a routine - she sleeps on the settee in our bedroom (the settee that is leaving after the new chest is delivered), arises, is fed, explores the screen porch, has a bit more to eat, takes a nap, goes upstairs to survey the birds in the trees from the second floor window sills, goes downstairs, plays with her toys a bit, takes a nap, explores the screen porch, makes certain the basement has not changed since her last visit, plays with her toys, takes a nap, and so it continues throughout the day. She seems very content.

Our mornings seem to be occupied with paperwork and telephone calls to straighten out paperwork. Mama Bear listed the trustee to receive the transfer of her work IRA as a person, and put the firm's name in the area for the address. She was told the firm was the trustee and that the person's name should have been put into the address area. Papa Bear has received his unused vacation pay and has been in touch with the bank at the House on the Creek to learn how it can be deposited there (there are no branches of the bank north of Connecticut). His first Social Security check will arrive in late June/early July. Mama Bear is awaiting her unused vacation/sick pay deposit. Her first retirement check should arrive in July. We have contacted the Census person who left a note on our door (person came while we were out) to explain that we had completed the Census forms at the House on the Creek. Mama Bear completed her thank-you to-do's and mailed them yesterday.

Today is a wash day - clothes and linens. And maybe a bike ride or a hike. It is gorgeous here: just a slight breeze, blue skies with rare clouds and much sun. Need to check the Maine election results. After seeing all the commercials, I want to know who won the primaries!!

A boutique of photos from this morning follows. They were taken by Mama Bear this morning, just after high tide. And no, we never tire of the views.

Molly the Bike	Bikes in Basement
The Cat	Flowers Near Southwest Cycle
View Across Cove	Gull Cafe Leavings
Cove's End Boat Yard	Mouth of Cove
Cove to House Stairs	House to Cove Stairs

She's a Traveler: Day Two of the Journey

The Cat is a Traveler! She explores hotel rooms thoroughly, peaks out the windows, and sniffs all the furniture. If she can get under the bed, she does. She listens carefully to noises from the hallway, and faithly reports the delivery of all papers under our door (a copy of the bill for the night's stay) when it arrives (yes, we have arisen early, thanked her, and gone back to sleep). In the car she settles into her carrier, and slumbers peacefully. Day Two: Mama Bear and The Cat listened to more PP&M, some really nice violin music and some Bach. It was also hot and sunny and we found more than a few areas where road/bridge maintenance was happening. I am glad to see the road work: people are working, infrastructure is being maintained. It does, however, slow the journey at times. We had a fabulous dinner at Vinny's in Somersville at day's end courtesy of Boo Boo and Baby Bear (thank you!)

Which route did we take? We went through Hartford on I-84.

Years ago, when we drove to Maine for vacation each year, we would leave the House on the Creek at 5 a.m. planning to stop for the night in the Boston, Massachusetts environs. Papa Bear, Mama Bear shared the driving (though Papa Bear prefered to drive or to be asleep when Mama Bear drove) and we always had two children (Baby Bear and a friend of Baby Bear's) in the back seat. We would drive, stopping for occasional breaks (meals, gasoline), We would arrive in Hartford, Connecticut, in late afternoon, and spend an hour or so stopped. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children and a broiling sun or a torrential downpour. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children, miserable weather, and everyone getting a bit hungry and snacks and new toys/games depleted. An hour or so ... you get the idea. After one such experience, I spent some time looking at maps, and found we could avoid Hartford (and its traffic woes) by heading north on the Taconic Parkway and then taking the Mass Pike to Boston. It was longer distance-wise, but we kept moving, which seemed to make everyone happier, and, amazingly enough, did not consume more time: we arrived in Boston at the same time as we would have arrived traveling (and stopping on the highway) via Hartford. I vowed never to travel via Hartford again. (Never is such a long time ...)

Papa Bear, as I indicated in the post of yesterday, advocated for the Hartford route again this year. His thought was that since we would be there earlier in the day, we would have a different experience. And, to be fair, we kept moving right through Hartford. However, between the Taconic Parkway exit and Hartford, there was considerable road/bridge repair activity, and in some instances we seemed seldom to move more than a mile in a hour (or or such was the experience of Mama Bear, driving the standard transmission car with the misfunctioning air conditioner; Papa Bear may have had a different perception.) Did Mama Bear take the high ground and avoid mentioning the delay? Not on your life!! After all, what is the purpose of cell phones, especially when you are stopped and have a bluetooth headset? The call to Papa Bear, who was laughing as he answered, said, "I have two words. What are they?" Papa Bear responded, "Taconic Parkway." And we both laughed.

The exit from the Mass Pike to 95/US 1 South was amazing: I do not know that I have seen so many roads come together in one place that would require so many people to cross so many lanes in so many different directions (California freeways are better organized than this intersection, in my experience). The combination of locals who knew where they were going and moved with authority to get there and travelers who were trying to determine how to get where they needed to be and therefore moved somewhat tentatively only added to the intensity of the area. I am astonished that there are not hundreds of fender-benders or more serious accidents there each day.

One last comment: years ago when were were canoeing, the beautiful Ms. B and the handsome Mr. S were driving with us to our put-in point one fine hot summer's day. We encountered a flurry of white puffs that briefly surrounded the car briefly. "What was that?" queried Ms. B. "Snow bugs," was the deadpan answer from Mr. S. (Ms. B and Mr. S. later married, despite having differing definitions of left and right while canoeing in the same boat; distinctions about left and right are, as you may be aware, important when sharing a canoe in a river and needing to negotiate small rapids - we typically encountered east coast class I and II with an occasional III rapids.) We all enjoyed the comments that ensued from the snow bugs statement and now, anytime we encounter these seeds/petals/I-do-not-really-know-what-they-are, we call them snow bugs and think of Ms. B and Mr. S. . On this journey of ours to Maine, we have been enveloped by snow bugs as we crossed the Shenandoah River in Virginia, at a place in Pennsylvania, and again in New York (we were in a non-construction zone so the cars were moving). I just love these fleeting yet fun moments when snow bugs surround us and then vanish.

Hope to arrive at the House on the Cove by evening. Planning a dinner-in tonight. Boo Boo and Baby Bear will visit this weekend, being supplies with them. Cool, delightful weather is forecast.