The Autumn of My Discontent

For your reading pleasure, I am re-posting my one and only attempt at fiction on this blog (so far.)

Once again, fall is upon us and no one is safe!

Maid's Day Off

The interrogation room is cold. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that they do that on purpose – anything to make you feel uncomfortable. The temperature, the buzzing florescent lights, and the hard metal chair are all doing their jobs and filling me with unease and a sense of impending doom.

I’ve been sitting here for what seems like hours (another time-honored technique, I’m sure) and have had time to reflect about the last 48 hours. Jeff told me I had to be careful. He had tried to talk me out of it. “Can’t you just go along to get along?” he asked.

“I’ve had it!” I had answered. “I can’t just sit back and watch while the powers-that-be do this to innocent people.

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Ice Ice Baby

In response the The Daily Post prompt: Shiver.

It’s always hard to remember the feeling of summer heat and humidity while it’s cold outside. Likewise, when it’s 90 degrees outside, you can never accurately imagine what it’s like to shiver from the frigid winds of winter.

I took the following photos in February, 2011 after an ice storm that knocked out the power and covered everything with a 1/4 inch of slickness. Seeing them almost makes me shiver in my shorts and t-shirt.

Watch your step!

 

 

Each blade of grass was individually coated with ice.

The earth was covered in a crunchy shell. Daisy didn’t like walking on it at all.

Snowflakes that stay on her nose and eyelashes.

“Ok Mom, that’s enough. I’m cold! Let’s go inside!”

 

The Maid Goes to Maine: Part 9 – See Ya Later Seaside

Welcome to the ninth and final installment of the Maid Goes to Maine. If you’ve been keeping track, you are no doubt thinking “it’s about damn time!” Other obligations have forced me to draw out this saga way longer than I intended. We could have walked to Maine and back in the time it has taken me to tell you about it. Anyway, we are at last at the end of the journey.

Before leaving Bar Harbor, we took some time

The Maid Goes to Maine: Part 8 – The Battle of The Bubbles

Bubble Rock, Acadia National Park

You’d think that after 50-some years on this planet, I’d have learned to go with the flow. Sometimes a detour, a mistake, or a miscalculation can result in something much better than what was originally planned. The universe tried to teach me that lesson again during our vacation in Maine.

We had planned to do some hiking at Acadia National Park after enjoying the views from Cadillac Mountain, but had to cancel when a storm came through. So, the next day, Mr. Maid and I were going to devote most of our day to hiking a few of the trails in the park.

A few years ago we started buying “Best Easy Day Hikes” books from Falcon Guides for our destinations. We’re a bit more advanced than the term “Easy” would imply, but by no means are we experts. Our daily life and our local terrain don’t give us much opportunity to get in tip-top hiking shape. Day hikes of no more than five or ten miles at a time are sufficient for this pair of old geezers with our creaky knees and aching feet. The most strenuous hikes in the “Easy” guides are usually, to steal a line from Goldilocks, “just right.”

The Maid Goes to Maine: Part 7 – Lobsters, Cadillacs, and Walking on Water

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Acadia National Park is located just outside Bar Harbor, Maine. This makes it very easy to spend a fun filled day doing something both in town and in the park.

When we decided to go to Maine, Mr. Maid half-jokingly said he wanted to go out on a lobster boat. While researching things to do on our vacation I came across the website for Lulu Lobster Boat. Mr. Maid may have been imagining exciting scenes from The Deadliest Catch or The Perfect Storm. What we got instead was a very enjoyable and educational trip and neither of us had to risk our lives.

See the boat tucked in under the walkway?

The Maid Goes to Maine: Part 6 – Getting Loopy at Acadia NP

Once again I feel I must begin with an apology. A few of my fellow bloggers have chastised me for not getting any photos of the incredible breakfasts offered by The Manor House Inn for my last post. In my attempts to spend my vacation somewhat “unplugged,” I was not thinking about blogging opportunities throughout my journey. I will assume that this is just one more reason why I will need to return to Maine in the near future.

I hope that I will appease the critics with some pictures of the delectable scenery instead. I’ve traveled to several National Parks around the United States, and Acadia National Park does not disappoint. You can visit the official website here.

One thing I love about this park is its proximity to Bar Harbor. Our B&B was right downtown, but it was less than three miles to the park’s main entrance and Visitors Center. If you’ve ever visited any

The Maid Goes to Maine: Part 5 – B&B Newbies

The Manor House Inn, Bar Harbor, Maine

I was going to start this post by apologizing for the delay since my last post, but I’m sure no one has even noticed. It’s not like I left you at a cliffhanger… Will the Maid make it to Bar Harbor? Will Mr. Maid singlehandedly deplete Maine’s lobster and IPA resources? If you have noticed the delay, I’m humbled… but honestly, you need to find a hobby.

Anyway, my saga left off just as we finished our trek up the coast of Maine and arrived in Bar Harbor. As I explained in Part 4, our trip occurred during the off-season, so there were some good prices on lodging. We ended up booking a suite at The Manor House Inn. The house was built in 1887

The Maid Goes to Maine – Part 4: Going Up (Coast) to Get Down (East)

Pemaquid Point Light House

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny as we said goodbye to Portland. Our visit was short, but we had a good sampling of what this nice little city had to offer. The next leg of our Maine journey would take us to Bar Harbor, where we would spend the majority of our week. This part of Maine is known as “Down East,” something that sounds a bit funny, as it is so much further north, or “up” from the rest of the country.  The 175 mile drive

The Maid Goes to Maine – Part 3: A Day in Portland

 

On Sunday we woke up to our first full day of vacation. Our plan was to get an early start and see some sights. After sampling some local beers the night before, I was ready for a big breakfast. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the words hungry and hungover both start with the first four letters.

I love using yelp.com to discover places that we might not normally find, especially in an unfamiliar city. We found two breakfast restaurants within walking distance with good reviews and set out to the one that was

The Maid Goes to Maine – Part 2: Not that Portland, the other Portland

After finally escaping our annoying airplane neighbors described in Part 1, Mr. Maid and I landed in Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine. That’s right. Not an airport, a “jetport”. Not sure why they call it that, but it made me feel a bit like Jane Jetson.

Fancy name aside, it is a really nice, small airport only a few miles from downtown Portland. In no time we had collected our bags, picked up our rental car and hit the road for our hotel in the Old Port district of the largest city in Maine.