Vacation in Maine

Once a friend and I came up with a new slogan for Maine, that could be put on a license plate. "Maine. It's not bad. It's just cold." Usually I use this slogan in January and February. However.

This is August. I've been on vacation from work for a week and a half. The temperature has yet to hit 80 degrees during the entire time I've been off work. And it has rained EVERY day. Not all day, every day. But some part of every day. There are times when I think God has happy hour, sitting up there in the big chair, drinking beer and peanuts while he watches my life unfold. I know He's up there laughing at me now, watching me stare at the Weather Channel, NECN, and Channel 6, one after the other, trying to find a forecast that I like. This actually is another activity I do frequently in Jan/Feb. It's something that I EXPECT to do during the winter. Not in August.

I know I shouldn't complain. If I were a farmer, or my livelihood were dependent on tourism, I would be in big trouble. It's just that summer is my favorite season. I love to be too hot. I live to go to the ocean. The brief Memorial Day to Labor Day summer of Maine is all too brief, in my opinion. And most of this summer has NOT been summerlike. I haven't even bothered to take the down comforter off my bed. All summer.

So anyway, what does one do in Maine when one can NOT go to the ocean? Today my four year old daughter (aka Jupiter) decided she was going to go visit her grandmother so I could go shopping. I needed a haircut, so I went along with that. Once in a while it's nice to be able to go to stores and look at something that is not labled High School Musical, so I thought it was an okay plan.

When the ocean is closed, the Mall is open. In this case, the Maine Mall. On a rainy August day, I heard more French than English. The Quebequois are taking advantage of shopping here. As a Francophile, it was almost like being back in Montreal. I love Montreal. There was also a lot of French being spoken at Target. I started thinking to myself in French, even. Then I came home and discovered Jupiter at the playground, face covered in pink chalk. The sun had tried to come out for a couple hours, which just kicked up the clouds and caused my rain by 4:30. Jupiter is exceedingly active. When she doesn't get her activity requirements, she does things like drag all the blankets and pillows in the house out to the living room, make a big pile of them on the floor, and launch herself off the couch onto the pillows and blankets repeatedly. People think I'm nuts, but I know our lives will be much less stressful if I let her do that when she needs too. Fortunately we have lots of pillows and blankets.

Tomorrow, the forecast is for showers. I think on all the channels. We're going to Aquaboggan Water Park. I don't think I will be hot, so I'm hoping for tolerable. But Jupiter will love it.