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Last of the Maine travelogue
Aug. 7th, 2005 08:14 pmLet's see...I left off with the Tuesday/dining report, I think. (Then there's Sunday and Monday.) Wednesday the meeting began in the Maine USGS office, then at lunch we adjourned for grocery shopping and to travel to Lee's house on East Pond. Lee retired from USGS a couple of years ago, but his last position was (among other things) being the liason from the database programming staff to the ground-water users group--that's the committee that was meeting last week. Several of us know Lee well, and most of the rest had at least had email contact with him over the years.
We reassembled on the deck that runs the length of the deck side of Lee's house, facing the buffer of trees that separates the house from the lake. It was a great place to have a meeting--the bugs were kept off by a nice breeze, various birds could be heard or seen in the trees, and the temperature was wonderful. We really did have a productive afternoon, and then we took a group picture beside the house and a few souls went for their bathing suits. Lynn, a serious swimmer, took off to swim across the lake and back (a mile each way, I think), and a couple of others swam around near Lee's dock. Lee put his boat in the water and took a group off for a tour of the lake, then came back for another group--I joined the second tour. We managed to get quite close to a group of loons out on the lake, took a look at an osprey nest and the bird that was roosting in the same tree--not an osprey, something smaller in the raptor line, I think. Saw a few cormorants, went by the two camps that are on the lake, and went by Lee's brother's house. Like me and my brother, his brother lives next door, it's just that "next door" is considerably further away in the Maine woods than in suburban Atlanta.
When we got back, the others had fired up the grill and the cooking was underway. We'd also brought various sides and desserts, and everyone ate perhaps beyond "full" and we still had lots of leftovers. (Which ended up back in the office the next day, as Lee was going to his family's camp near Camden.) After cleaning up, we all piled into cars and headed back to Augusta.
Thursday was the usual rush, as we realize that the agenda was too ambitious and start prioritizing to get to the most critical items/decisions. Lunch was brought in from Woofy's--I had fried scallops, which were lovely and tender if a little heavy on the breading. We worked until 3, when I and another person from Atlanta had to leave to catch our flight.
I forgot to mention my fortunate escape on the flight out. Those who took the flight I had planned to on Monday evening (one person connecting from Baton Rouge, and one coming from Atlanta) ended up getting in in the wee small hours Tuesday evening after the flight was cancelled. I'm so glad I decided to come out early!
We reassembled on the deck that runs the length of the deck side of Lee's house, facing the buffer of trees that separates the house from the lake. It was a great place to have a meeting--the bugs were kept off by a nice breeze, various birds could be heard or seen in the trees, and the temperature was wonderful. We really did have a productive afternoon, and then we took a group picture beside the house and a few souls went for their bathing suits. Lynn, a serious swimmer, took off to swim across the lake and back (a mile each way, I think), and a couple of others swam around near Lee's dock. Lee put his boat in the water and took a group off for a tour of the lake, then came back for another group--I joined the second tour. We managed to get quite close to a group of loons out on the lake, took a look at an osprey nest and the bird that was roosting in the same tree--not an osprey, something smaller in the raptor line, I think. Saw a few cormorants, went by the two camps that are on the lake, and went by Lee's brother's house. Like me and my brother, his brother lives next door, it's just that "next door" is considerably further away in the Maine woods than in suburban Atlanta.
When we got back, the others had fired up the grill and the cooking was underway. We'd also brought various sides and desserts, and everyone ate perhaps beyond "full" and we still had lots of leftovers. (Which ended up back in the office the next day, as Lee was going to his family's camp near Camden.) After cleaning up, we all piled into cars and headed back to Augusta.
Thursday was the usual rush, as we realize that the agenda was too ambitious and start prioritizing to get to the most critical items/decisions. Lunch was brought in from Woofy's--I had fried scallops, which were lovely and tender if a little heavy on the breading. We worked until 3, when I and another person from Atlanta had to leave to catch our flight.
I forgot to mention my fortunate escape on the flight out. Those who took the flight I had planned to on Monday evening (one person connecting from Baton Rouge, and one coming from Atlanta) ended up getting in in the wee small hours Tuesday evening after the flight was cancelled. I'm so glad I decided to come out early!