I was excited to move to Maine because I have lived in Kansas for about eight years. After living here I discovered many reasons why I like Maine.
I like to go camping. It gives me the opportunity to make new friends. Once I made two new friends named Amber and Faith. We went fishing together. We all got big sticks and buoy string and tied them together. We used marsh mellows for the bait. I also like camping because you get to sleep in tents and roast marsh mellows and hot dogs on sticks.
Another thing I like about Maine is the weather. In the winter there is a lot of snow to build snowmen and go sledding. It is also not too cold. In the Summer it’s not too hot and it’s fun to play outside. I also like to play at the beach. I especially enjoy digging holes and riding my boogie board. I also like autumn because you can jump in piles of leaves and the temperature is just right. Not too hot and not too cold
Something else I like about Maine is the climate. In Kansas there was nothing as glamorous as anything in Maine. In Maine we have beautiful sights such as; mountains, beaches, oceans, forts, and lighthouses.
Mike, Kim, Kirsten and I visited Maine Distilleries in Freeport on Tuesday to learn how they make their premium potato vodka, Cold River Vodka. We had a private tour with a stillmaster who showed us the facilities, described the process, and answered all our many questions. It was one of the best factory tours I’ve ever experienced. The vodka tasting at the end was nice, too. The blueberry vodka is my favorite. The blueberry flavoring is made from fresh blueberries and added to the vodka before bottling. Flavoring increases the volume so the alcohol added to this spirit is of a higher proof.
Cold River Vodka is made with potatoes grown in Fryeburg, Maine. The potatoes are ground and mixed with water from the Cold River Aquifer to create a mash. This mash is cooked with yeast to create a liquid alcohol byproduct. The mash is then distilled in a tall cylindrical copper distiller to evaporate and capture the alcohol. This alcohol is cut with water to get the desired proof.
Many distillers from these countries prefer to use very accurate distillation but minimal filtering, thus preserving the unique flavours and characteristics of their products.
Maine Distilleries use very minimum filtering to preserve the unique flavors of the potatoes. They can do this because they use copper distillers instead of stainless steel. The entire column of the distiller has cleaning nozzles and port holes so it can be cleaned before each batch.
While the whisky is generally only distilled down to its final alcohol content, vodka is distilled until it is almost totally pure alcohol and then cut with water to give it its final alcohol content and unique flavour, depending on the source of the water.
This morning, before meeting Kirsten for lunch at the hospital, we went to the Children’s Museum of Maine. We arrived thirty minutes before opening so we killed time drinking hot chocolate at Starbucks.
This morning the girls and I met Jason for breakfast at the Palace Diner in Biddeford. It was excellent, as usual! After Jason left I met a couple guys my age and enjoyed a conversation about iPhones and education (they both had iPhones and one was a local elementary school principal).
Today was a snow day, so I went out in the snow. The girls and I met Jason Gendron at Cape Neddick Light. The precipitation was coming down very hard and was a wintry mix of snow and rain. Horrible stuff. Turning to face the lighthouse was nearly impossible without getting the lens all wet.
I love watching these plows work together to clear the roads
I LOVE winter. In winter the air is crisp and the driving fun. One reason I love winter is because I love snow. It’s great. It’s cold and beautiful.
I grew up in Alaska so these Maine winters don’t really bother me. As I said, I actually like them which makes most other Mainers scratch their heads and give me quizzical looks. Kirsten and I agree that the winters here are far more agreeable than those we experienced in Kansas.
I think it’s important to have balance in our lives. Winter balances summer nicely. People in Maine are adventurous and active partly because most activities are seasonal. The anticipation heightens the experience.
I don’t like snow because it’s cold. If snow weren’t cold I would like it and play in it more.
Sometimes I go out because I can trust that I can ignore the cold. I go in when I’m too tired or if I can’t ignore the cold anymore.
I think snow is beautiful.
I can’t make snow forts because the snow is too soft. In Kansas, where we used to live, the snow was hard and we made a humongous snow fort. It was fun.
When I grow older I’ll probably get used to it. I never make snow angels or snow balls. That means I never have snow ball fights.
Last Thursday and Friday we had an ice storm. I believe these events are colloquially and legally referred to as “acts of god”. I’ll save my diatribe about why the monster capable of these acts isn’t deserving of worship for another post on another blog.
Kirsten and I were up most of the night. The girls, of course, never heard a thing. At one point our bedroom was filled with light when a nearby power line was ripped from its pole. A bit later I was wakened when a large branch smashed into the house just feet from where I lay sleeping. All night we hard trees crashing like popcorn popping.
In the early morning, when it was still dark outside, our landlady came up to inform us of the large hole in the back of Kirsten’s car. :(
Turnout for the meetup was excellent. I met some really great people and reconnected with old friends. Some people took pictures but I mostly talked, which is fine with me. The weather was perfect for the occasion. The snow flakes were large and coming down quite steadily. The girls had fun playing in the snow and throwing snowballs at me.
Jenna’s backpack has holes in the bottom through which even the largest object can apparently disappear. It was time for a new one. Kirsten and I drove to Freeport soon after the bus picked up the girls. It was a fun morning at one of our favorite stores. We purchased the new backpack at a significant discount at the Outlet Store. A kind woman, Gina, was nice enough to break with policy and cut out the old monogram. Otherwise, Jenna would have had to be known simply as “Kristi”. The hour we were told it would take to pick out the old monogram and stitch in “Jenna” only lasted fifteen minutes. Kirsten and I talked while we roamed around the L. L. Bean campus and played with the oh-so-innovative snowball makers.
Jenna loves her new backpack. She gave us huge hugs and thanked us profusely.
Jenna’s new backpack
In the vestibule of the main store there was a large “replica” of Portland Head Light made out of gingerbread and other delicious-looking candies and sweets. They also had a backdrop for photography they do on Saturdays and Sundays. I had Kirsten pose in front of the winter scene. When the girls got home I showed them the image in the camera and told them we drove a long way to be in the snow. They were quite suprised. The looks on their faces were priceless. Skye was sure I had Photoshopped in the background until I reminded her the pictures were still in the camera. :)
