From Damariscotta, ME to Amherst, MA

My father dropped me off at my brother's in Damariscotta on the way to catch a flight to Texas (I had earlier blogged about staying at my other brother's house in Thomaston) We had a delicious lunch with fabulous views of the Damariscotta river. We shared fish and chips and nachos and had a lovely talk; mostly about nuns. (don't ask)

My mother met me at Joshua's and we had pizza and watched "Wonder Woman" and "The Mandalorian" before bedding down. The next day we got ice coffee and headed to her place in Portland. We did a lot of shopping for our trip the next day to Amherst to see my uncle and when we got to her apartment we were exhausted.

In the elevator was a sad reminder; so many in the building have been sick, died, or lost loved ones.

It was 8 hours before we finally left for Amherst. I won't say why but Monday was a hard day. The drive as well was long and the traffic was nauseating.

As we came down from Vermont into Western Mass the sky was dark and moody. I have always loved those spooky drives through Satan's Kingdom; the tall trees looming like forgotten gods.

After that long day I had to spend an hour blowing up an air mattress before I could finally rest; however I was rewarded the next day. We woke into a magical fairyland.

The Airbnb was in a beautiful location. I had a coffee outside and strolled around. It gave me a burst of creativity and I began to write a poem.

My mother was still sleeping so I went for a walk. This beautiful scene was less than ten minutes away from our BNB at Mt Pollux.

This lonely tree was once one of two named Castor and Pollux, based on the twin Greek Gods of Horses; one who sacrifices half his immortality for the other. Ironically, one of the trees was struck by lightning and had to be taken down.

The view up on the hill is so peaceful and beautiful. I sat down for an hour and did something embarrassingly creative that might not turn into anything but I had to. Someday maybe I will share.