News from the Country Estate August 31

Greetings

Instead of flying, next time I'll just ship myself home in a big box. Now that would be a fun package to open on the porch!



Despite the so-called economic crisis, we've been keeping busy. Here are some pictures from a shed now dubbed the "studio". Note the custom plexi-glass gable windows.


I had the pleasure of trimming out a room for our friends over at Tandem Glass Studio and Gallery.
And the hens are finally laying eggs in earnest. A size comparison from biggest to average size egg.
I went out to find ELEVEN eggs in the coop this morning. I couldn't even hold them all, I had to put three in my pocket.

Well, we've got about 10 days of nice weather ahead, so if you need us, we'll be outside.

w

Flying while bearded.

A little belated grousing about flying and the attendant security rig-a-ma-role.

So I'm flying home from Milwaukee, with a couple of smallish oil lamps with no oil in them, just glass, in my carry on baggage. Of course I get my bag searched at the security check, I was expecting that....

Then I'm waiting to board the flight, still looking a little sleepy eyed (6:40am flight), and this TSA minion keeps eyeing me up, then, right when I stand up to join the boarding line, he comes over and asks to search my bag again. Since he has the power to summarily detain me with meaningless questions and make me miss my flight, I assent. I tell him this is the second time I've had my bag gone through. He gives me some speech about if I've had the propaganda, I mean, training that he's had I would understand the tactics of OUR enemies. All the while, he's not even searching my bag. He barely even opens it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have been profiled. Currently I wear a beard, some would call it an Amish style beard, that is no mustache, about three quarters of an inch long. Other than that, I'm wearing a plaid shirt and a hat that looks like a John Deere hat (it actually says John Moose and has a jumping moose). Other than the beard, I basically look like a farmer on holiday......

blah blah blah. people wonder why I don't like to fly. The total loss of the rights of personal privacy and free speech. And the right to wear a beard.

That is all.

W

Heartland

Greetings,

I find myself in the land of corn and beans and big trucks and flat land. I'm in the Land of Lincoln with my kin, some of them anyway. Seeing pictures I haven't seen or have forgotten, hearing old stories for the first time. Its good to be here.

A long day of travel brought me hence. Despite my continuing grudge against flying ( mostly due to the ridiculousness of the security measures and the ever present TSA (Thousands Standing Around)), my last two jaunts out to Milwaukee have been nothing but pleasant. Part of it is due to my willingness to splurge on creature comforts like the New York Times, hot coffee, hot breakfast, and a shoe-shine I think, but in both cases the flights have been genuinely pleasant and easy experiences. I still prefer to drive out in the Mercedes if I have the time, but who has the time? I've been crazy busy with work for the last six weeks or so! What recession?

Also, the feeling of still being on the boat is gone.

w

After two days.

After two days and sixty miles of sailing, I am getting seasick sitting here on land. Everytime I close my eyes, the room starts swaying back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth......

A friend and I cruised on up to Butter Island for lunch then down to Carver Cove on Vinalhaven to meet some friends at their cabin. A beautiful clear night spent rocking back and forth in the cove. Tasty breakfast and then a jaunt out to Isle au Haut and back to Carver Cove to drop off a passenger. A tight squeeze motoring through the Fox Island Thorofare and a gale coming out into Penobscot Bay. 3 to 5' seas. A calm ride back into Rockland Harbor. Home.

A day back home and off to Milwaukee.

W