Mom and Jack came up from Virginia last Friday to move his mother’s belongings from her apartment to storage as she is now in a nursing home. I took Friday off to help them move her things out; it took the majority of the day to pack everything. At the end of the day I went home and got ready of the weekly Campus Crusade for Christ meeting, this week the local band, Modern Day Jeremiah came and sang. They are a contemporary praise and worship band, I had never heard of them until that night but I think they sang very well.

Saturday morning I drove to Pittsfield to pickup mom, from there we headed towards Belfast via a route that I have only driven once. The drive consisted of mostly well paved roads that spanned over rolling hills twisting left and right with sprawling trees on either side and at times the forest would open up into fields and spiraling streams. Most of the foliage had started to brown but there were intermittent areas that were at peak. When we had arrived at Belfast, the weather temperature had dropped considerably due to the coast. We walked along a very small beach while looking for crabs- the search proved to be fruitless. On the way back to Bangor we came across a small waterfall in Monroe. The land is privately owned and the owners live on the land in a camper during the summer, they said we can look around if we’d like. I took a few pictures of the waterfall and mom took a few of me as well. Marsh Stream is probably Class II for about a mile from the falls, which will make an interesting trip in the Spring. After looking around for awhile we headed off towards Rt. 1 and stopped in Winterport where you could see the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge in the far distance. This is our first time seeing the bridge so we were unsure of what it was until we got home. Seeing all of the rivers and streams on our trip home gave me the feeling of regret for storing my kayak away for the winter yesterday.

On Sunday we went to Church and had dinner at “The Anglers” in Newport, afterwards I went home and relaxed for the rest of the day. Monday night mom and Jack spent the night; we had supper, home-made Apple crisp and hung out for the night.

In the morning we went to Denny’s for breakfast, I am still full as I’m typing this entry. They should be out of the State by now and well on their way to VA.

vYesterday was a nice “almost fall” day with a low breeze, sunshine, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 70’s. I left late in the morning with my kayak to dad’s camp to spend the day kayaking and riding around looking for wildlife. When I arrived we ate and relaxed for awhile; caught up on what has been going on in our lives.

An hour or so later we put our kayaks in the truck and headed for 1st West Roach pond which is west of Roach pond where the camp is. The pond is fairly small, quiet and out in the wilderness surrounded by a few small mountains, a perfect place for Moose to feed. As always, we were in the company of Moose, this time there were only a three. A couple of weeks ago I was able to take a photo of a young bull moose in the same area; you can read more about that in my “Kayaking in Kokadjo” entry. As you can see, a cow and calf are feeding near the shore. Unfortunately we did find the Bull Moose with full sized antlers that has been spotted in the vicinity that has drawn many of hunters’ attention. After taking a few photos we paddled around the rest of the pond enjoying the scenery, fresh air, calmness and the overall relaxation of being in the wilderness, God’s creation.
Later in the evening we sat around the camp fire where you can find me playing with fire, building it up, cutting wood, etc. I took a few photos of the fire, experimenting with different exposures. My uncle had a custom fire place made with the family name engraved into the side which makes an interesting effect at night.

I set off for the two hour journey home down Route 15 South an hour later, to my surprise I did not see one Moose attempting to cross the road.

Wednesday Mom and Jack came up from Virginia to visit for a week. They arrived at my apartment late evening due to Jack’s mother being in the hospital. We spent an hour or so talking until it was time to go to bed. I took Friday off to spend some time with mom. We went to a few stores to try to find the right accessories for my kayak, after looking around I decided to purchase an Old Town kayak spray skirt. Afterwards we headed to Pushaw Lake to kayak, although we only had one we took turns and photos. After an hour or so of that we headed back home and got ready for dinner at “Anglers”, a local restaurant in Newport with my grandparents. I had my normal dish, Chicken Tenders and fries with 2% milk.

On Saturday mom and I headed towards Ripley to visit with Frank (mom’s brother) and Anne-Marie, they have a house on Ripley Pond. It rained for about an hour which gave us time to talk, after the rain let up mom used Frank’s kayak and we went out on the pond. We headed out towards Sandy’s (her sister) house to see if she was home, she was and we talked for a few minutes. After, we decided to find our old camp that was owned by my grandparents. When we finally found it, we were surprised to see how much it had changed. The last time I saw the camp I was probably 9 years old, it was nostalgic to see the camp and reminisce with all the good times we had as a family during the summers. After a couple of hours of kayaking we headed back home.

Today, we went to Church and than I kayaked on Wassakeag Lake in Dexter for a couple of hours. Grammy and Grandpa hosted a family cook-out later in the afternoon. The whole Wintle family did not show, but there were still 15 or so people there. I once again did not bring my camera with me; fortunately my grandmother loves to take family photos so I’ll have some copies once they’re out.

The weather has felt like fall weather- breezy and cool (low 70’s), this weather is almost perfect to me but not to someone who is used to high 80’s 8 months out of the year.

Yesterday after Church I drove 180 miles north to Kokadjo, it’s roughly 20 miles past Greenville, Maine. The weather was hovering around 86 with a hazy sky (not from smog). When I arrived we ate cheeseburgers that I had prepared earlier. We had planned on hiking but Dad did not bring the right shoes so instead we went 4-wheeling. The air is freshly filled with the scent of water, pine trees and pure air, it’s rejuvenating. We stopped at Penobscot pond which is 18 miles from Roach pond, where Dad’s camp is located. Penobscot pond had some very large tadpoles, it appears that these tadpoles will turn into large frogs if a Snapper does not decide to have a snack.

Later in the day I went swimming with my cousin Hunter. The water was 60 degrees, which was cold until your body adjusted. After swimming we decided to hunt for Crayfish, which look like mini-Lobsters. We found three hiding under a few large rocks near the shore. Dad boiled them and we all ate one to see if they taste like Lobster, to my surprise they do!

On the way home I snapped a few photos of the sunset over Lilly bay. I did not see one Moose on the ride home which was very unusual.

Here are some of the photos I took: Dad & I, Live Crayfish, Live Crayfish, Cooked Crayfish, Eaten Crayfish, baby Ducks, sunset and the sunset few minutes later.

It’s intriguing how certain things will trigger certain memories from your past; scents, certain phrases, music, settings, etc. This morning I went through some of my things and found a CD I had purchased at least 11 years ago, Ace of Base. I decided to play it and when the player played one of the songs I remembered a certain day in my life that I had experienced with my brother. We were listening to this song on our mother’s stereo while playing Donkey Kong Country for Super Nintendo; I can even remember the level we were playing. I miss him so much, I always wonder what my life would be like if he were still alive. I’m sure so many things would be different, he always said that wherever I moved he would live right beside me… at the time I hated that idea, now I think that we would be room-mates.

I do find that it’s very comforting that he is saved and in Heaven, so at least one day I will see him again.