Sandhills, Bison, Pelicans and History

I woke up at 6:00 AM with great intentions to do some writing. It had rained for the majority of the night, so the earth of the group campsite we were occupying was the consistency of lard. Sticky, greasy, nasty. I was looking for a place to set up and write, as the picnic bench was very unsuitable, when the guy from the next campground, John, walked over. He’s in between consulting gigs. He decided to take some time off between consultations. The last gig was a very successful consulting job, and he decided that he needed to take a look at the world before the next one. It was a great wandering conversation, filled with stories about each of our lives. Told with respect, illuminating, no braggadocio, snippets of achievements we were proud of in an effort to describe our individual lives. Suffice it to say, that after reaching an agreement, I would trust him with everything I own. A spiritual man, possibly religious, but nothing on his sleeve, everything in his actions. Continue reading

Iowa after Three Days and 1,100 miles.

I planned on having a couple of days to prepare for five weeks of travel with my two nieces, Shannon and Megan, my brother Brian’s girls, after I returned from a trip to Canada by myself.  There was a family party scheduled for the weekend between my arrival home and my departure, and more importantly, my daughter, Betsy, and my two grandchildren came up to see me and attend the party. Grandchildren are a powerful attractant for a grandfather. Everything seems to be dropped and put off. I did, and I’m not sorry. Both my grandkids are at a perfect age, and I hope that they will always be a perfect age. They change, as a state of being. I suppose I’ll have to change, so they remain the perfect age. I’m up for it. Continue reading

Blackwoods Campground – Acadia National Park

The last time I was to Blackwoods Campground, Louise and I camped there in 2015. We’d been there before, back in the ‘90’s and had a great time with the girls. The 2015 trip was in lieu of a cross country trip. It was complicated, but we were in Blackwoods because I love her. I had great difficulty last night looking across the table, and her not being there. This is the first National Park I’ve returned to without her. When you love someone so much the quote from the Bible “ . . and the two shall become one . .” becomes true, you develop a perception of normality, and when your normality becomes askew, you subconsciously look around to see why. You don’t think, you just am. Is she outside? Oh. No. Where is she? Oh. No. I’m going out to make a fire, want .  Oh. No. I really hope that with my nieces as my companions, and seeing the new in their experiences, revisiting some of the spectacular places Louise and I frequented, later this month, will help in that aspect. I hope. Continue reading

Back in the USA

The Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee) last night was great. There is incredible talent in the Maritimes, and I listened to some last night. The hall was packed, the primary singer Prendergast was great, his sin Sean Prendergast was even better, and there was a guest filler, 16 year old Cailyn MacAulay. There was an intermission where they served blueberry tea and oat cake cookies. The cookies were home made by the mom and grandmother of the Prendergast’s, and were a combination of Walkers short bread and a really good oatmeal cookie. The party ended at about 10:00PM. By the time I returned to the campsite and got settled it was 11PM. Sleep finally arrived sometime around midnight. There went the early start. Continue reading