Yesterday (the 25th) was another warm sunny day in the high 70s, since our kayaks were still mounted to my car I headed to Robin’s apartment. We walked down the to dock and spotted little 8″ fish waiting for dinner to land on the water; one was close to the surface so I reach down quickly and grabbed the fish in my hand but whimpishly dropped it due to its sharp fins. We played with the fish for awhile before heading down the road to Field’s pond for another kayak trip; this pond is a part of Brewer Lake and is at the opposite end where we first kayaked this year. There were two reasons why I wanted to kayak here, it was well lit by the setting sun and was abundant in aquatic plants (lily pads, peat moss, algae, water grass, etc). I grew up playing in and around frog ponds, catching turtles and frogs so this setting is brings back memories and enjoyment.

We mostly heard croaking from male frogs boast their vocal cords from lily pads and hidden areas with the occasional cry from Red-Winged blackbirds (a much different setting from two months ago). We spotted two Great blue Herons as well as the two Ospreys in the distance. We found a secluded area teeming with algae and peat moss, a perfect setting for turtles. We paddled around open and tight areas looking for turtles; after awhile Robin spotted a little head poking up from the water, she thought it was a small frog but a seasoned veteran like myself could tell it was a turtle from the way its eyes were positioned and the way it blinked. I paddled quietly next to the turtle and caught it; it was a 3-4 year old Painted turtle, my favorite species.

The weather for Tuesday the 24th was in the 80’s with mild humidity, blue skies and sporadic cumulus cloudscapes; the skies stayed this way all day which is generally a good setting for sunsets. After eating supper Robin and I loaded out kayaks and headed to Pushaw Lake to watch the sunset on the water.

When we arrived the sun was still in mid-decent and the waves choppy as they always are on Pushaw; we put into a marsh area where the tops were covered in lily pads and marsh grass. As we made our way closer to Ram Island the waves grew larger, some splashing over our kayaks and into our hulls- I almost turned around and decided it was too rough to be carrying my Canon 40D with me but decided to keep going. As we approached Ram Island, two other islands came into view towards the North West, Dollar and Hardwood; I thought that this would be an interesting back drop for sunset photos so we paddled around Ram for awhile when I spotted two adult loons in the distance. I put my big lens on and paddled within 10-15′ which is something Loons normally do not allow; despite the rough waves I was able to capture two clear shots and one OK shot of a loon stretching it’s leg as well as the pair going in for a “kiss”. Robin and I followed the Loons around for awhile until the sun set, the sky was incredibly beautiful- almost tropical with its vibrant color array of yellows, oranges, pinks, purples, grays all mixed into an art piece that only God can paint. Unfortunately the wind did not die down which did not allow me to capture very clear shots however I did capture one OK shot of the setting sun.

After arriving home I decided I wanted to get up early (4AM) and watch the sunrise over Pushaw as I did last year and took two of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve seen. My cell phone alarm was set for 4AM and I woke surprisingly spry to birds chirping and headed to Pushaw. The skies were cloudless and the water calm, I personally prefer clouds in the sky for good sunrises / sunsets so my photos came out bland which did the beautiful vibrant orange sunrise no justice, I decided to look for something to make it a little more interesting by shooting the area where Robin and I put in the night before. While sitting on a boulder that between water and land I spotted two Loons which could have been the two I photographed last night leisurely swimming into the sunrise gradient hue that painted the water. While I was heading to the car I saw the sunrise through pine needles and leaves I thought that it would make an interesting set of photos, one being my favorite. I had a very good time watching the sun come up; this is something I don’t do much as it’s a special occasion to me. I’d like to note that all of my photos have not been over-saturated in color; these photos have captured what I have seen.

Saturday had very comfortable weather temperatures hovering at around 75 degrees without a lot of humidity; I decided to take a chance and drive to Cherryfield, ME with Robin in hopes to spot Bald Eagles feeding on migratory Alewives in the Narraguagus River. The Alewives are an alternative prey for Loons, Bald Eagles, Heron’s, Osprey and other fish eating birds as well as triped bass, bluefish, tuna, cod, haddock, halibut, American eel, brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, lake trout, landlocked salmon, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pickerel, pike, white and yellow perch, gulls, terns, cormorants, seals, whales, otter, mink, fox, raccoon, skunk, weasel, fisher, and turtles. Alewives are plentiful which is why so many feed on them; other fish species benefit from this as well as some of food chain is spread out.

We made one detour in Gouldsboro to stop at her uncle’s that lives right on the coast, we wanted to look for Starfish and other shells for decorations in our future bathroom. The tide was starting to revela the coastal floor which provided us room to walk over ledge and found sea urchin’s, spike shells, spider shells and crab shells.

Next stop was Cherryfield, which ironically is the Blueberry capitol of Maine. We found the Narraguagus River, and a road that follows it; we stopped and hiked around on various trails but unfortunately did not spot any Eagles- I think if we had brought the kayaks we would have found a feeding ground eventually.

Robin’s parent’s live in Prospect Harbor, their house is about a mile from a sandy beach we we found razor clams; we headed to the Prospect Harbor Lighthouse in search of live crabs for decoration (boiled red and then dipped in acrylic). While I was taking photos of the lighthouse Robin was looking for crabs and shells; the tide had receded enough to reveal the hardened molten rock in which many clams, snails and other sea life clung to. Robin found a young crab hiding in between two boulders in a pool of water, we were able to capture it without pinches. I looked over admiringly at Robin bent over picking something up and slipped right into a pool of stinky, muddy, ses water- my legs, arm and chest splashed and covered a disgusting stomach turning smell. Fortunately we were not far from her parent’s house, we headed there quickly to clean up.

After cleaning up we headed to the Schoodic Byway which is 10 minutes from her parents. The gleaming sun was setting fast over the Atlantic. We arrived just in time at our favorite spot on Schoodic, an area that David had shown me last year and the very same area that Robin’s Brother Aaron had shown her as a child. We sat on the fringe of ledge 60′ above the waves crashing into the walls, watching the glowing radiant sun sink towards the horizon while listening to gulls crying below and lobster boats bringing in the day’s catch in the distance, our seats the meeting place of ledge and loose solid held together by roots of pine trees grasping on for life. The air was brisk; even for us, we sat arms around each other with a blanket over our legs until the sun had sunk to the west.

This past weekend had very warm weather; Saturday (7th) was in the 70’s with low humidity and Sunday (8th) was in the lower 80’s with high humidity.

Every night when the Ocean tide goes out it lowers in the Penobscot River’s water causing Class I/II rapids over ledge and a broken down dam right outside of my office; I have always wanted to kayak over the waves as I periodically see other kayakers out on the water at this time. On Saturday evening we loaded up our kayaks on my Thule rack and drove to the company parking lot, crossed the railroad tracks and carefully carried our kayaks down a steep hill onto the river bank. The sun was starting to set illuminating the sky with a golden hew and casting a beautiful warm accent on the water, trees and shore; the Moon started to call the river’s water East to the Atlantic creating a Class I/II rapids. As we were kayaking around the current along the shore Robin started to become hesitant but I was able to talk her into following me; we got to a point where we could idle in the water before the drop in the river bed and prayed and instructed her how to handle the situation (paddle sharply in the opposite direction where you want to go, etc). As we embarked into the current I could hear Robin screaming and yelling from behind, I will admit that I was a little worried as I was wrenched closer to the ominous 3 - 4 foot waves that thundered and roared as if in agony. I was carried by one wave and covered by the next- thankfully I had my kayak skirt on, Robin did not however but since the distance of waves was short her kayak did not fill too high. There were a mother and child on the shore fishing in the distance, I noticed in the corner of my eye that she stood on a rock peering out at us due to Robin’s screams or could it have been in hopes to whiteness action? I treated Robin and myself to Gifford’s Ice Cream afterwards, I ordered caramel cookie dough and she ordered cookie dough.

Sunday after Church at Bangor Baptist we drove to Sand Beach in Bar Harbor to due to the sticky weather. There were more people than I expected, roughly 70 people. We sat our cooler (filled full of picnic goodies) down right above the line where the sand was wet and relaxed. Robin started to make our sandwiches whilst I dug a hole in the sand for our Sigg bottles to stay cool. After eating we tossed the frisbee around for a bit than I “dared” Robin to jump in the icy cold Atlantic; after several attempts and “threats” she ran in and came out red…. I wish I hadn’t forgotten my camera as that would have been a good photo. We want our  forthcoming master bedroom to have a sea theme; one of my ideas was to find a lobster claw and crab shell and paint it with some sort of acrylic and hang it on the wall. I found a whole crab partially gutted that I kept and will let the ants and insects clean it out before I harden it. We drove to downtown Bar Harbor and browsed a few stores before heading back to Bangor.

About a week before Robin and I headed to Virginia I purchased a mountain bike (Next Mountain Ridge) as well as a Thule trunk bike rack; Robin has a bike and now we can bike together. The bike has shocks on both wheels which really helps on some of the Bangor Trails which is where we spend most of our time biking. There are many different areas in Bangor that the Bangor Trails cover, our favorite area near the Orono Board Walk which spans over 10 miles of smooth man-made trails and another 5 miles of rough bike-trodden trails that consist of large deciduous and coniferous tree roots along with tips of ledge, partially biodegraded pine cones, branches, etc. Last Friday we biked from my apartment to a wild life preserve where we are planning on living that is roughly 5 miles outside of Bangor. We biked up a logging trail that will soon be a road for the second phase of the development to look see if the new lots have been cleared; on our way back from the trail as we were crossing a portion of the trail that had large round boulders I spotted a Black Bear 50′ a head, I quietly told Robin to stop since she was a head of me as well. We were able to watch it sniff the ground for about 30 seconds until it heard Robin make a noise (err!) and it ran off into the woods- I have not had my heart jump with fear/excitement like that in a long time (actually, the last time was when I asked Robin to marry me). One of my goals this summer is to photograph a wild Black Bear; of course I didn’t bring my camera- a mistake I will not make again. Not to far a head two rabbits hopped in front of us and ate clover while we observed their little cheeks jostle back and forth. We both said to each other that this area is definitely to our liking.

Last week Robin and I went to GM Pollack & Sons to choose our wedding bands; we both wanted simple yellow gold bands verses some of the flashy bands. After trying on a few different styles we both picked out our bands and sizes, to my satisfaction GM had a retirement sale (the owner is retiring and his sons are taking over) which saved me $200. I have been looking for a watch for some time now and found one that I really like, it’s a Swiss Army two-tone watch (Gold and Silver) with a white face and red Swiss cross. It’s perfect due to the Swiss red cross (a symbol that I really like- I have it on multiple things) and that it matches my “to be” wedding band. I’m going to wait awhile before purchasing this though; maybe after the wedding- I made sure that Robin knows that I like this watch.

This weekend consisted of heavy rain & lightening with sporadic 1-2 hour breaks to allow for the sun to come out; while I hoped we could have kayaked or climbed a mountain, Maine needed the rain due to very dry hazardous conditions. Yesterday we registered our wedding at Bed Bath and Beyond (feel free to purchase one of our items- search for James Ogden and Robin Billings), I didn’t realize how helpful the staff were with the process of picking out items as well as helping wedding guests purchase items. We spent 2 and half hours picking out items that we will need for the apartment and future house.