New England Forest Rally

Okay, imagine a bunch of (barely) street-legal cars (mostly all-wheel-drive Subarus) doing timed races on gravel logging roads. Now imagine that these cars reach speeds well in excess of 100 mph! As Brian said so eloquently, "WHOA!"

I heard a story on NH Public Radio about the race and thought it sounded pretty amazing. So, I visited the web site just to look around. That's when I discovered that one of the spectator viewing areas was only about 10 miles from the cabin. Why not?

This was very much a last-minute affair so, on a whim, I stopped to see if our neighbor, Don Corkran (Windswept) wanted to go with me. Don's a trooper. He said, "Sure." So, off we went.

What we didn't anticipate was the choking dust and the ROCKS that the cars throw up as they hurtle down the road! Don, at least, was prepared with a creative solution to the problem.

Here's a video clip of one of the lead cars going past. Don and I were sitting on the top of a rocky outcropping, maybe 10 feet high, but very close to the road. We estimate that the cars were going at least 60 mph as they made their way around the sweeping turn right at our feet. Amazing!



Here's another clip, this time of a local favorite from Maine. It's not one of the faster cars, but it's fun to hear all the cheers. Also note that the car is a grey VW Golf. Maybe it's Davey's old car, "Bob!"

Hummingbirds

Watching these little aerial daredevils come to our feeder is one of the great pleasures of being at the cabin.

Sunset/Moonset

Very nice sunsets again this weekend. But, once the sun set, we were able to see that the new moon was also sitting low on the horizon. A sunset followed by a moonset was an added treat!

Babies

We've had fun watching the sparrows at the cabin catch insects to take back to their nest. Mom and Dad are quite cautious--they will sit on the rocks or the ground for a l-o-n-g time before they eventually decide it's safe. The nest is on the ground, under the blueberry bushes and ground cover near the cliff. Are there two babies? Or three?

(No, the visit to take this picture didn't cause the parents to abandon the nest.)

Fishing at Sunset

I left work at noon on Friday and got to the cabin about 4:30 -- plenty of time to launch the boat for the summer, shuttle the truck/trailer, eat a quick dinner, and head out for a sunset fishing trip.

Couldn't have been better: a cigar; a little brandy; the lake was calm; and a beautiful sunset. Oh yes, I also caught two nice fish, a 13-14 inch trout and a slightly bigger salmon (both stayed in the lake to breed future generations).

What are you looking for Max?

Blue birds Daddy.

Light Show Extraordinaire

Living on the 8th floor of a building built on a hill we get a fantastic view of the weather as it moves through our area.  I shot this video as a thunderstorm whipped through.  There is a park below our building, you can see the trees at the bottom of the frame, during the storm at least six went down and probably a dozen branches blow off trees and ended up half a block away.  Needless to say it was the most powerful storm I have ever seen.  This is a short clip pulled from a much longer movie.  You can see how the lightning was striking all around us.  And probably struck our building as well.  We are the tallest building in the neighborhood.

Peonies

My father loved peonies (pee-o'-nies, as he pronounced it). The peony bushes in our garden were started with cuttings my parents brought to us from Missouri.

The original plants were in the yard of the house where I grew up, so they are at least 60 years old. And how long the plants had been in that yard is anyone's guess. Let's just suffice by saying they are old.

There weren't as many blooms this year as we've had in prior years, but the flowers are wonderful--and they are enormous! Sue floated one of the flowers in a bowl. Filled the whole bowl. Truly beautiful.

Cline Family - June 6, 2008

Rock Island Geese

We've often had Canada Geese use our little island as a nesting site. It's got lots of advantages--protected from the wind, gets lots of warming sun, fairly high so it's easy to see intruders, etc.

Sue took the canoe out on a beautiful sunny morning during the Memorial Day weekend and got some good close-up pictures of this year's nest. It's amazing how well camouflaged the mother is as she's lying on the nest with her head down. We won't be able to get back to the cabin until late June, so we'll probably miss hatching time.