The Bridge

As most of the world knows, the bridge over 35W collapsed last night. My neighbor, Craig, told me when he stopped by on the way to go out to dinner, and we spent the night in front of the television at a local restaurant, calling friends and relatives to make sure none of them were involved.

One friend crossed the bridge a few minutes before the accident, and another was on his bicycle a few blocks away, but that's it so far. I'm thankful for that.

So far, the loss of life appears to be surprisingly low for such a major catastrophe, and the reports from the scene indicate people stayed relatively calm, resilient and helpful. Their efforts are admirable, and my heart goes out to those who lost friends and loved ones in this tragedy.

The Traveling Life

Just returned from a working vacation in Maine. I profiled an ATV club in Central Maine, photographed an old farm tractor, and spent a couple days camping in Acadia National Park with my 11-year-old niece, Hannah. Hannah and I have been going camping each year since she was five, and she came with this year to help out on the assignments and see a new part of the world. She’s a great kid, and a good little traveler.

One of the best experiences came at Hannaford, a little grocery store chain out there. We had a nice time chatting with the woman at the deli counter, who told us about her grandkids and sailing and how much she loved Bar Harbor. I was trying to get Hannah to touch one of the live lobsters in the store, and she said, “I’m not touching that!” A woman walked by, smiled, and said, “I'm with her—I wouldn’t touch them, either!” At the meat counter, I was buying some salmon to cook over the fire, and another woman walked up to pick up some pork shoulder. She saw Hannah eyeing the lobsters, and took one out for her to touch. Bar Harbor, at least, is a friendly place.

A little coffee shop in Bar Harbor was also a nice little home-away-from-home. They had wireless, so I went there to work for a few hours and Hannah shopped the block. I had her come back every ten minutes, and she’d come in with a bag of stuff and show me her treasures. She bought a sweatshirt for her dad, a bracelet for Amy, a stuffed lobster for Heather, and a bright green stuffed moose for Allie. She also bought a snow globe for Mom (grandma), but that broke while it was in her backpack.

The tidepools were a nice experience, and rummaging through them is a great thing to do with a kid. We found a little tiny crab, shells, a sea anomene, and tons of snails on Wonderland. We also hung out at Seal Beach a couple of nights, and Hannah found lots of shells there and a little stream to play in.

During the trip, Hannah asked me how much fun I had over the past few years, and I said I have so much fun doing what I do that it ought to be illegal. That stuck with me, and I was thinking about it last night. Right now, nearly everything I do in my life, I enjoy. I’m lucky and proud of what I’ve done during the past six months of trying to make this business work. I focus so much on where I want to be that I sometimes forget to appreciate where I’m at.