A Poem For The Rain

Heavy Summer Rain
Jane Kenyon

The grasses in the field have toppled,
and in places it seems that a large, now
absent, animal must have passed the night.
The hay will right itself if the day

turns dry. I miss you steadily, painfully.
None of your blustering entrances
or exits, doors swinging wildly
on their hinges, or your huge unconscious
sighs when you read something sad,
like Henry Adam's letters from Japan,
where he traveled after Clover died.

Everything blooming bows down in the rain:
white irises, red peonies; and the poppies
with their black and secret centers
lie shattered on the lawn.

It is torrentially raining up here at the lake and has been pouring since the wee hours of the morning. That steady soaking kind of rain filling up the lake and forming smaller, muddy ones on the other side of the house. I love the sound of the drops hitting the roof and am snug in front of a small fire with the dog dozing nearby. A lazy start to our week off from work. 

This poem is so many things. The parallel to the rain is obvious but the language the poet selected to describe the extent of the weather points subtly (or not so subtly) to the narrator's own pain in loss. The shattered poppies bring it all together showing the devastation of the day's rain and the devastating pain of grief.

The Portland Seadogs

What a fun treat last week! As part of Simon's extended birthday celebration, we drove up to Maine for a mid-week adventure that started with deliciousness at Empire, a Chinese restaurant in downtown Portland. Simon has his ear to the ground when it comes to food and he has heard lots of positive tidbits about this place. We shared the garlic green beans (no idea how something that simple could be that good), yummy pan fried pork bao, lobster dumplings (haha shared!), and kung pao chicken. Great flavors and quite reminiscent of the end-all-be-all Chinese food mecca of Hunan Delight in Brooklyn.

Then we wandered over to Hadlock Field for a stunning sunset. Oh and some people were playing baseball. The matchup featured the Portland Seadogs and the Binghamton Mets in a quaint ballpark with a great hometown crowd. Pretty sure the Seadogs lost (baseball doesn't necessarily keep my attention) but I was happy because our picture made it onto the jumbotron AND I got to meet the mascot, Slugger the Seadog. This concept of the seadog kept me occupied for 7 of the 9 innings and we finally determined that a seadog, at least in this case, is a mythical beast like a dog with fins. Win win on meeting the mascot and having it be some type of dog!

The Batcident

I awoke today at 2:30am to Simon shrieking, crawling out the bedroom door and yelling "COVER YOUR HEAD!" It was terrifying. In retrospect, this image is absolutely hysterical...every time I think about it, I giggle like a maniac.

Back to that moment between sleep and groggy awakeness. As I slowly came to, my mind caught up to the fact that there was a dark shape swooping overhead, dive bombing the bed. I cowered under the covers as Simon took action.

Eventually the BAT (the bat! a bat!) was persuaded from the bedroom and promptly disappeared. Oh, trust me, we hunted. We turned on every light, batted at the drapes, scanned any potential hang-able surface, poked a broomstick in every dark corner, and scoured all the nooks and crannies. No sightings or signs of Bat Boy. We sealed ourselves in the bedroom, slept for a few hours, then resumed the mission at a more respectable hour.

Still haven't found him. A guy from the building's management office stopped over to help, and suggested we release "the dog" so he could hunt it down. I explained that he clearly wasn't familiar with "the dog" who had been lounging around all day unaware that a mouse-with-wings had infiltrated his territory. Anyway the bat expert produced nothing and left secretly happy that he wasn't the one to remove the thing.

Now we wait. We wait for the sun to set and for the darkness of his nocturnal paradise to lure him out of his cozy hiding place. I have a plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong when I have a plan. 

Scenes From The Weekend - Adventure Sunday

I had to head down to work for a bit on Saturday so we didn't make the weekly trek to the lake this weekend. It has been a long time since we've been in Portsmouth on a weekend so we dubbed Sunday "date day" (cringe) and decided to make the most of the Seacoast.

We've been wanting to explore Mount Agamenticus, a former ski mountain about 25 minutes north of us in Maine. Simon hadn't been but had heard that the peek featured views of New Hampshire's White Mountains, the Atlantic Ocean, and little towns scattered throughout this coastal part of Maine. Sounded good to me and Merwin just goes wherever we take him.

We opted for the Ring Trail, a 2.2 mile loop around the mountain that included a few smaller jaunts that could take you to the summit. Really excellent trail with some rocks and climbing but not such a steep ascent that the ridiculously out of shape individuals among us (just me) had trouble. And the views from the top were as promised - stunning! We even came across some remnants of the ski lift in the woods.

We dropped the tuckered out dog at home and grabbed some delicious wings before hitting the links! Captain's Cove Adventure Golf in Hampton was a blast. Simon took an early lead and I was pretty sure I was done for, just as I generally am in every game I play with him. But I took the lead after the front 9. It may have had something to do with Simon putting his ball off the green, hahaha. But I ended the game with a hole in one and reigned victorious. This does not happen often, so we reveled in my victory at Lago's Ice Cream in Rye - yum!

Boring, but necessary grocery shopping followed, before we settled in for Mad Max Fury Road at the Portsmouth theater. I love anything post-apocalyptic and with a super strong female character leading the way, it did not disappoint. Actually, we both absolutely loved it. It was a great ending to a really great day. Simon would argue that watching the Cardinals take on the Dodgers was the actual great ending to the great day, but I'm still transitioning from hockey heartbreak to baseball. Anyhow super fun Sunday to kick off the week!