Where does the time go?
July 4th weekend my parents stopped to visit us here in Charlottesville. I had a band concert that Thursday night and another on the morning of the Fourth of July at Monticello. It’s always moving to see the naturalization ceremony conducted. Last year the guest speaker was the president (which one? not important. ;)) and security was tight. The helicopters flew right over our house to land at Monticello and the band had to be there hours and hours early. This year was much more calm. My parents and I actually drove ourselves and parked at the visitor center.
By the end of that concert a lot of us were quite burned out on marches. Especially Sousa! But the audiences were very appreciative.
It wasn’t very hot here that weekend, but we decided to spend and afternoon hiking around Sugar Hollow reservoir which features several good swimming holes. I ended up not swimming. The water was cold! But the hike was lovely and the crowd of people swinging on the rope into the water was entertaining
More music happen that Monday! CASE played a gig at a local assisted living center.
After my parents left I only had 3 days of work before my “long weekend” trip to Maine with Don to visit his family.
His family lives in the area known as Down East Maine. We had an easy and short flight from Charlottesville (CHO) through Philadelphia to Bangor. All together it was only 3.5 hours from take off to getting the rental car. Amazing. I’m used to trips taking at least 6 hours and usually more. Once we arrived in Bangor we still had 2 hours of driving to get to where Don’s family lives, but that is a fun part of the trip.
It was about lunch time so we stopped for… lobster rolls! Of course! There’s a road side ice cream stand snack shop that looks just like the ones you’d find anywhere else, except they have the Maine specialty. So good.
We also stopped at a grocery store and stocked up on wine.
Don’s family own a camp on a small lake that is about half an hour from their house. The camp is fully equipped, just isn’t insulated enough to be used except when it’s warm outside. I love coming up here because it is just so beautiful and peaceful. The sun rises at 5:00 am and the camp has a clear view straight North which means this time of year you get sunlight most of the day. Early to bed and early to rise is the motto when we’re there and sleeping in means staying in bed past 7! I was also asleep by 10 every night.
We visited the beach, watched lots of sunsets, swatted mosquitoes, and of course, ate more lobster.
On a hearing related note, everyone up there seemed to be talking very loud all of the time. If I wasn’t 2 months post activation with my cochlear implant I don’t think I would have been able to cope. As it was, taking off my CI and hearing aid to go swimming did not bother me At All.
Nieces and Nephew – Aren’t they cute? 🙂
Don’s dad is planning on getting hearing aids soon. Apparently he has been turning the TV up louder and louder and was told he should have his hearing checked. I’m curious to see how he does with them. I won’t be surprised if he enjoys slipping back into silence quite often.
So we swam in the lake every day in Maine. I took my shorty wetsuit and the kids picked on me about looking like I was going diving. But hey, I stayed much warmer than in previous years. When it’s barely 70 degrees out and the water is about that temperature it’s nice to have some extra warmth.
Now we are back home and I have just three weeks until my next fun adventure. In the mean time I’m waiting to see how many trips I can be sent on for work in that time. One, Two, or hopefully None.
