This is a pity. I just moved in a new house. Awesome! Incredible views, lots to explain, but there is very few coverage and no wi-fi. Which means that I can only use my phone with limited reception, and not really make any fancy stuff: no hot spot to feed my iPad or my computer, not much either to do on my phone because it takes ages to upload pictures… In short, I am reduced to posting only easy texts with 1 or 2 pictures max, from my phone.
No worries, I am drafting and will post as soon as I can, from the coffee shop this weekend maybe … meanwhile, here an “aperçu” of the first sun rise (as usual, no cropping or enhancement … just as it was from the cold outside balcony !):
I arrived at home, the new home, the one where I should feel home again after these few months in transit. The home I wish my loved ones will feel home too. A second home, but somewhere where we like to be.
Sleeping for the first time here. It is empty, it smells strange, but everything is cleaned, heat goes up, electricity is already mine, and the sun is getting down slowly on this year full of surprises and changes.
We met in Spain for Christmas… that’s the reason why I was off for few days. Bonding with my loved ones was not just great, there is actually no word for that… I was so happy to see them again, to feel them, touch them and kiss them!!
I am not sure whether we were lucky, or whether I am now more successful in taking the very best of every minute of this life, trying to get the maximum of what we can enjoy, feeling the warmth of the sunlight and the right wave lengths from the sky. I felt that the weather was exceptional, sunsets awesome, mornings fresh and just good for superb runs with incredible sunrises, birds in the mood to sing songs, and the food just toooo good! I refilled really my energy for the next weeks to go!
The ocean was thundering: the water was agitated, the waves splashing on the rocks, and the wind, trying to find its way between the nude branches of the trees, was displacing the brown leaves on my path.
But the sky was intense blue, white clouds moving fast and spreading around, and the sun, not warming much at this time of the year, was present and immersed its bright light surrounding.
Little mountains were present in the background, and we could ask if this cold wind came from that far…
… but the seagulls were sun bathing on this little rock, and I was waiting for them to be splashed…
I got an airplane ticket for Bar Harbor Airport. Finally! So excited!
My colleagues told me: “First time? They will ask for your weight! Don’t be afraid, their safety history is extremely good! Hopefully the weather is good when you’ll fly! In the winter? Oups, that’s risky…”
I arrived about 1h30 before my flight, a bit nervous because I didn’t want to be late. I parked at the “long term” side of the parking and took out my luggage. The doors at the airport were closed, just one room with light, where obviously a man was cleaning. Nothing else.
4:41 am. Well, I have still some time. I went back to my car, realized that the “short term” parking was in fact for a 14 days stay, so I decided to move the car closer. Parked in the new spot I shut down the radio I was listening on my way to the airport (the morning programme of the BBC, about Brexit and the potential limited power of the UK in the future, vast question for my morning!), and waited until the airport became alive.
At 4:56, finally one car came, and somebody entered the building. Yeah! At 4:58 suddenly lights turned on. I waited some minutes more before moving.
The check-in was fast and easy, I was the only one passenger at the desk. Yes, they asked my body weight, opened my luggage to check de visu the inside, and thank me a thousand times to be so early – “and if everybody would do the same!, etc”. When I was done I had a freshly brewed American coffee and relaxed a bit more.
No other passenger showed up. I passed the X-rays, waited in the gate area until the person who did the check-in picked me up to show me the way to the plane. Guess what? This was the nice Capeair agent trying to reach this person who could have an earlier flight! (See previous post “This was not an exception!”). My flight was ready. I entered the 8-places propeller aircraft, the 2 pilots turned the motor on, explained to me some basic safety measures, tested few things, and suddenly stopped the engines: the second passenger just arrived at the airport, we would wait for her!!!!
Well, I couldn’t get my private flight this time, but almost. The weather was great, sun rising on my left, flying just on top of white wool, the clouds drawing a perfect line of horizon. My phone was in my backpack, which they took and stored in one of the aisle before departure, so I had all my eyes to enjoy these 50 min flight. The arrival in Boston was perfect too. A great experience!
Arrival at Boston airport
I had to catch still 2 airplanes before arriving in Spain, where I am spending the Christmas holidays… I am so excited! And for sure I’ll spend lots of time with them, so I’ll probably do a break in my writing for a while. Fins aviat!*
It was really cold this morning. -12 degrees Celcius. It was snowing during the night, and we could see the wind blowing in the trees and triggering local mini storm around the branches. Windy… It was my running day, so theoretically I should go out and run few miles. But I was sick last week, I am going on holidays tomorrow, so I didn’t want to get cold. Glass of water with squeezed lemon juice, a cup of coffee. One message to Fidel…
And then the sun rose. And the sky turned blue. And it was late. But nevermind, I had no meeting scheduled this morning. So I went. And it was sooooo good!
I know it is boring to read me, always the same pictures, blue sky, bright light, no people, no buildings, often the ocean…. This morning I couldn’t take the trail because the snow was slightly too heigh, so I took the road. You will thus have the same run from another view.
It felt so pure, so refreshing, so empowering! Of course I took few pictures… But you know, to take pictures I have to remove the gloves, and the fingers get cold. But this morning, both the hand with glove and the one without were frozen when I came home, no matter if I removed it to take a picture or not…. Ahrrrrr! And I had double gloves, double layers!!! One day I’ll show you a picture of me running in the winter, anyway, I am so covered that nobody can recognize me!
Schoodic peninsula is a bit more wild than the Mount Desert Island side of the Acadia Natural Park. It was some weeks ago, one of these very sunny days where you could count the clouds on the fingers of one hand. I wish you were there with me….
When I arrived in Maine mid September I moved into a cosy 2-bedroom half house on 2 levels (they call it condo here). It has a wooden terrace where I can check the outside temperature in the mornings and the stars in the night – you have seen this terrace many times in my pictures, see “Thanksgiving (part 2)” in particular – . It is convenient, furnished with basic things and close to work…. but I can stay a maximum of 6 months – and I wouldn’t stay here anyway, it’s great only for a start.
Finding a year round house to rent is hard here. Most of the people have houses that they rent per week because the summer season is extremely productive! – That reminds me little Ile-de-Ré (see the post “Histoire d’Iles”), where even the inhabitants couldn’t afford anymore to live on the Island, back in 1993…. Anyways, I am patient, I am ok to drive a bit to work and to school, ok to be a bit isolated, ok to have an unfurnished house, I am also with a stable situation, working for a recognized company, and have a nice smile that inspires confidence (hopefully! – which I may also use to decrease the rental fees…). In short, I was hopeful.
And I was right! Today I signed my contract!
I will move in on the 1rst January, so today I begun to re-make the moving boxes…. This is an unfurnished house and I am decided to scroll the local “barter and swap” community to buy second hand furniture as much as possible. Minimalism maybe as well…. The house has a gorgeous view, so I don’t think I will need much stuffs: a comfortable cushion to contemplate and meditate, a small table to put my glass of wine, and it has also 2 rooms with wooden floor, ideal dance floor… that’s class!
Few days ago I came across a post of somebody selling freshly cut nice red-pine beams and boards cut on the island (he told me the exact road!); so I got 4 big ones today. The red pines on the island have a nasty disease impossible to treat. It is actually a very sad story: these trees will eventually all get cut as they are infested by the red pine scale or Matsucoccus matsumarae (Kuwana). I plan to make some nice shelves with them. Just need a bunch of bricks, and I will be transported in my student years… and make the tree live longer! Om!
I am spending quite a lot of time outdoor: running, hiking, walking to work, walking to school, walking around… but I realise that it is very difficult to see and pictured an animal. When we meet up suddenly with a wild creature, either we are scared that it will fight, or scared that it might run away… and we are not fast enough to make a picture, or the light is bad, or they are eventually too far, or you are wearing gloves and can’t turn on your phone, or, or, or…
The house where I currently live is located in the woods, and deers and squirrels are coming relatively close: they are not afraid because hunting is forbidden on the island. But still, I hear them when it is dark – and they run away – but I can’t barely catch them.
Luckily, last morning I could make a small picture…. they were 3 of them, so I got the last in the queue! I was talking to them, introducing myself, but they eventually vanished….
One day I had a very serious discussion with an encounter. It was in Singapore, a morning as I went to work, on this long and steep staircase where I rarely came across anybody. We spent a relatively long time together, the hornbill and myself… there was no doubt it had a lot to explain before flying off, changing position, probably thinking a bit, and looking at me while squealing and squeaking some birds-words. This was really a magic moment.
I know there are mooses in Maine, one say that they sometimes cross the bridge and visit the island, but no moose live on the island. I hope I’ll be lucky to meet one of them one day!
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