Bloom Where You Are Planted

When I was in college and first realized that my life was a chaotic and frenzied fumbling because it lacked any sort of organizational system, I bought a pocket planner that was called, "Plans & Intentions", and on the back cover it said, "Bloom where you are planted." I really liked the type of encouragement both of those texts gave me: intentions, flexible and nice to do, are a lot gentler than plans, rigid and less optional to carry out;  "blooming where you are planted" teaches you to start living like you don't want a waitress to ask you what you want for lunch and instead of food, you sez, "Ah've bin alave fur A.D. years and ah have not lived uh day ian ma laugh," or rather, don't wait until your circumstances are perfect to begin developing into your prettiest flower-self. Well, dear planner, I AM lisnin to yur rules.

Usually when I don't like something, I drop it totally or adapt it to fit what I need. Instead of fighting against living in Lewiston (which I don't always like), I am attempting to embrace it. There are a few locations in and around town that are absolutely lovely for walking in the woods, so the first new intention I have is to try to walk in the woods (or outside) for a least 30 minutes a day, weather permitting. Since initiating this intention, it's happened. Hooray! There've been two places I've walked this week.

Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary 

Conveniently behind Hannaford grocery store is an anodyne to the wild heart from the urbanscape of Lewiston called Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary. There are a few trails that cover a few miles, and for the few minutes you trek its footpaths, it's possible to disconnect from the derelict hovels that populate the area I live and work in.

Just like Robert Frost

life!

Aliens!

I see ya

BUSTED!

The strangest pine I've come across

Ferns make the forests here feel enchanted

Dandelions are everywhere right now

The first time I encountered this field, it was near dusk and it was a total surprise to see; it felt like a holy little secret

Bit of a botched photo editing job but an attempt to show the loveliness of this peaceful tree

The view to the left of the field; hard to believe this is a 3 minute drive from my house.

 The challenge to wood walk started when I bought a new pair of hiking boots last week that need to be broken in ASAP for my hiking/backpacking trip to Katahdin in July. I hope to explore other trails in the area in my intention to be in the woods for 30 minutes a day in those boots.

Popham Beach

Like I said, I am trying to walk in the woods for 30 minutes a day, but sometimes it's okay if the walking is happening somewhere other than the woods. For example, walking on Popham Beach. Popham Beach is surreal. The beach area is massive in width and curvy in length; the maritime forest is lush and full of pine; the rocky islands emerging from the continental shelf in the cold Atlantic keep watch of the shore with their lighthouses. After my trip to Old Orchard Beach, I didn't really understand what all the fuss over Maine beaches was, but oh buddy, was I misguided. Unlike any other beach trip I've ever taken, we were able hike up the aforementioned rocky islands and I would wager to say at least 3 miles of beach with constantly changing archetypical Maine geography.

There are pictures from the top of the island in the foreground later; on the island in the background, you can see one of the two nearby lighthouses.

Wade in the water, children

Lovely moss colors

The other lighthouse

The rocks are covered in kelpy seaweed

Trying to be like Old Gregg, but it didn't work.

THE BEACH IS SO EXPANSIVE

There is a little friend hidden in this picture of a protected rare bird nesting area

Here are the tracks

Here is the sign

THERE HE IS! Liddle piping plover!

The never-ending beach

It feels like the desert or the moon.

This was water from the tide coming in, so some spots were warm and others were streaming with the cold ocean water.

Slow down!

 We spent several hours at the beach, and it was a perfect day for it. The temperature inland was in the 90s, but by the coast, it was in the 80s and a refreshing breeze was coming off of the ocean while we walked. I've never been to a beach where there is so much to explore that you don't just layout and it was WONDERFUL. After a lot of walking and weirdness, we headed back toward home, stopping in Bath for lunch.

Kennebec Tavern, right by the Kennebec River that I'll be Whitewater Rafting in two weeks! Not this part, obvio.

It was the kind of day that said, "HEY, YOU BETTER HAVE A PINA COLADA." So I did.

Lovely little bistro, n'est-ce pas?

 It was a quintessentially summer day of driving winding and wooded roads, windows down, country music blaring. Such a lovely day called for a lovely evening.

Redneck Country Club

Another new intention I have is to be more bloomy where I am planted, which mostly means spend as much time on my deck as possible. I eat out there, blog out there, hang out with friends out there, befriend random cats out there; que magnifico! It also means trying to be less afraid of where I live and go outside because even if my neighbors look weird, they're safe and where I live is safe. There is so much good stuff to be seen! Like baby birds.

In my backyard, there was a little family of chickadees!

Mom, where are you?!

A human knee for scale of how tiny the babies were.

A dandelion, also for scale of how tiny the babies were.

IT'S TOO HOT. Plomp.

Feed me regurgitated worms!

The irises in my yard are blooming where they are planted, so I will too.

 I started a Maine Beer Challenge with my friends, and it's really not a challenge, but mostly just us hanging out and trying all the different Maine craft beers we can this summer. After the beach yesterday, it was still too early and too hot to go our separate ways, so we inflated a kiddie pool on my back deck, filled it with cold water, stuck our feet in it, and assessed Sea Dog Brewing Company's Wild Blueberry, Raspberry, and Apricot Ales. To help keep our beer cool, we stuck it in the pool, which reminded me of the beer dive they used to do at Thorpshire-Raintree pool, and then I felt like we were having our own even more redneck version of that.

The Redneck Country Club

Not safe to dive

 We went for a walk in the neighborhood after we were done with the beer challenge and it felt so normal, not scary, and very summery. My heart was glad.

view down my street

Rainbow!

They're going to start a bike gang.

The warm weather this week has considerably lifted my spirits and I hope that it will stick around. The tables have turned from the days of me saying, "HOLY COW, IT'S -12 DEGREES OUTSIDE! IT'S SO MISERABLY COLD!" and my northern friends saying, "Pfffft, it's not cold til your eyeballs freeze," to them saying, "HOLY COW, IT'S 87 DEGREES OUTSIDE! IT'S SO MISERABLY HOT!" to me saying, "Pfffft, it's not miserable until it's so muggy that if you drive your car for two minutes down the road and you're wearing white shorts, they're going to be see through from sweat by the time you get there so better wear a long t-shirt."

I just heard an ice cream truck!

JB