Yesterday Robin and I watched the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race at Six Mile Falls; we arrived at the point where all of the paddlers were just coming over the falls. The water this year was not as high as last which is why not many people flipped, I would say probably 20 out of 200 people that we saw come over the falls actually flipped as opposed to last year 90% flipped. There are a few attractions to the race, three of which are the flamboyant paddlers who either stand up while paddling or have funny items on their boats, the flips and seeing people you know.

After the race we installed my new Thule rack system that I got for Christmas last year and loaded the Kayaks on, it’s very sturdy and very easy to hook and unhook the kayaks.

On Sunday evening we headed to Brewer lake about an hour before the sun was to set and paddled up a stream with shore shrouded in Pussy Willows. These bushes/trees were covered with Red Winged Blackbirds that are very outspoken and curious. Along the way we witnessed for the first time in person two adult Bald Eagles diving for fish as well as two Osprey; Osprey dive differently than an Eagle, they actually dive completely in the water and come back up with their prey- it was very interesting to watch.

After a few days of putting my new TV to work I am very pleased with its overall performance, I am looking forward to my impending purchase on a Blu-Ray player in the next month or so to really work it out. David and I had a difficult time lifting the mammoth out of my apartment and down what seemed to be a very long flight of stairs. Here’s a photo of the TV.

Robin and I drove Route 9 from Brewer to Ellsworth and then to Prospect Harbor to visit her parents. On the way we spotted many large groupings of Robins; we stopped alongside a field snapping photographs while listening to them sing (see flickr posting of this set). I never really paid attention to how much Robins actually run until now since my Robin is a runner. During our visit we drove through the Scoodic Loop so I can see what the coast’s shoreline looked like during spring. With the tide out it revealed many jagged lava formed rocks and ledge with a mixture of smooth water worn slide-like caves where the waves crash and restreat over and over. Summer and fall are the coasts best seasonal vistas however the it’s still beautiful during the Spring.

The primary colors are blue and green; blue being my favorite color and green matches well with blue. I kept the essential dictionary / notepad look and layout as it re-enforces the focal point of the site which is blogging and writing about Christianity. One of my goals was the give the site a Web 2.0 look and I believe that I succeeded as far as what Ogden2k.net offers for content and interaction. I have Robin to thank for picking out the logo from many that I created. If you’re using Internet Explorer 6 or less I suggest upgrading to Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox due to some of the CSS and PNG graphics utilized.

Here’s a quick overview of the changes since version 3.1.3:

• New theme that has a fresh clean look with consistent colors
• Inactive navigation tabs are transparent until hovered or select
• Selected and or hovered navigation tab shows the relevant “dictionary like page information” explanation
• Most images now use “lightbox” when selected
• Random content is pulled and loaded by AJAX / PHP in the Christianity section
• Updated WordPress (blogging software) to the latest version
  • Guests can now post without registering although anyone can register locally or log in with OpenID so please feel free to comment, I love to hear from my readers

The majority of the images and coding here were designed by me with the following exceptions:

• Most of the little icon graphics were designed by famfamfam
• Lightbox script and the effect that changes the “page information” when the mouse hovers over a tab was found at Dynamic Drive

Microsoft has recently been working on a new product called Office Live, it allows you to upload, share and manage documents online, there’s even a plugin that allows you to access and save documents within Office which makes syncing much easier.

Synchronization is not where I’d like it to be, but the technology is progressing and in a few years I see the ability to sync everything such as web browser settings, bookmarks, profiles, documents, etc and have access to them wherever you go.

When I arrived home Robin was there waiting, thankfully she did not have any problems getting to my apartment. We decided to go outside and make snowmen during the storm since it is something we both have not done in a long time. I unpacked my snowsuit for Robin and found a pair of old insulated wind pants for me. We were able to create a James snowman and a Robin snowwoman in under an hour. We had a good time outside in the snow, it’s peaceful and reminds me of my childhood when my brother and I would be in our field making forts and large snowmen. Bangor received a little over 15” throughout Saturday.

1. Having the ability to properly grow and nurture plants
2. Having the knowledge to affectively improve the environment by utilizing any “green” means to reduce the consumption of energy, harmful chemicals and reduce the output of CO2.

Don’t look at me at as a tree-hugging, hemp-wearing hippie, Global Warming is the end of the Earth type of person as that’s not who I am. I humbly believe that the amount of energy, CO2 emissions, etc are not causing the Earth’s warming period; it’s exactly that, a warming period. During the medieval period Europe experienced a rise in temperature that actually allowed England to cultivate certain foods such as Grapes which was then made into wine that they previously were not able to due to the cool weather. Shortly after the warming period the temperatures dropped drastically which is referred to as the “Mini ice age”. When my parents were growing up in Maine they experienced snow storms that I have never seen myself, snow levels that literally would reach the top of a house and telephone poles. I know that from what has been proven by scientists, history and the Bible that what we are experiencing is just that, a heightened warming period. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that the Earth is going to be vanquished of its natural resources expect during the Tribulation where God destroys much of the Earth’s resources by natural and supernatural means.

With all of that said, I still think that it is wise to lessen the consumption of energy, CO2 emissions, use of harmful toxins, to recycle and to preserve as much of God’s Creation as possible. Being a technically minded person I am always trying to improve code and design it to be more efficient. Right now I live in an apartment but I am considering purchasing a house in the near future for multiple reasons which has got me thinking how I can better the environment and save myself money by conserving. Some of the steps I have taken to reduce and conserve are:

• Replaced all incandescent lights with CFL bulbs
  • reduced CO2 emissions
  • conserve energy by using less electricity at the same time outputting the same or more lumes (in my small apartment I save anywhere from $5-$10 a month)
• Use non-toxin cleaners such as baking soda, vinegar, water, tea tree oil
• Recycle
• Unplug un-used appliances such as chargers, blenders, etc
• Replaced my work water bottle with a SIGG aluminum bottle that does not release any toxins into it’s contents (thank you Robin)

Some of the things that I have planned for the house are very simple and are cost effective to implement:

• Replacing and or purchasing green linens and bed sheets
• Purchase GE Energy Star and Energy Efficient appliances that reduce the consumption of power and water
• Replace water facets (sink and shower) with LoFlow heads and motion-sensor detection
• Install bamboo wood flooring instead of wood along with using recycled underlayment
• Time controlled thermostat
• More insulation in the attic (recycled)

This weekend we are supposed to get more snow which I’m hoping is true as I will have a chance to get out and photograph snow-covered conifers which I have only had one other opportunity to which was on New Years day with Robin. I have not had many opportunities to use my newly purchased Canon 40d digital SLR camera.

Robin and I exchanged gifts with each other at her apartment and then headed to my apartment to meet with mom and Jack to exchange a few more gifts.

The weather for Thanksgiving day was fairly cool, in the 40’s with clear skies. Robin said that my families Thanksgiving dinner had a lot of people; I’ve never thought of that before as I’ve always had large family gatherings and that’s what’s generally depicted on TV. After eating dinner we headed back to my apartment and then shortly after left for Prospect Harbor to visit with Robin’s parents.

On Saturday Robin and I went in to the hospital to paint our window that she had picked for the annual Christmas window painting contest; we spent a couple of hours painting it and I think ours is the best out of all of them- at least message-wise.