Acadia National Park

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Fog in Maine.

When we went to Maine in October 2005, we had fog almost every single day. At first, I was rather pleased about it — fog is one kind of weather we hardly ever get here in Arizona. But after four or five days of it, even I started getting a bit sick of it.

But it didn’t stop us from getting out and around.

One day, we went with John and Lorna to Acadia National Park. Mike and I had been there years before — maybe as long ago as 20 years? — and didn’t remember it very well. It didn’t matter anyway. It was foggy and we couldn’t see much of it.

Otter Cove, AcadiaWhat we could see, however, were haunting images of the coastline veiled with fog. Like this one, which I snapped at Otter Cove. I like this photo so much it’s currently the desktop picture on my laptop.

We did have a few clear moments. We stopped at Jordan Pond House in the park for baked apples [actually, they were popovers according to Lorna] and it cleared out for a while as we sat outside in the sun. We climbed Cadillac Mountain (in the truck, of course) and passed through the clouds. Up top, on the rocky surface, the wind was blowing hard and clouds flew by overhead and below us. At one point, the clouds cleared just enough to give us a breathtaking view of Bar Harbor, with a cruise ship waiting off the coast. The the clouds moved in again and we were back in our isolated world above the world.

Anyone can visit Acadia on a nice day. How often do you get to visit when the clouds are doing their magic?

A Town on the Coast of Maine

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But which one?

I put off writing about this photo because I wasn’t sure exactly where I snapped it. I know it’s in Maine and I know I took in in October, when Mike and I went to spend a week with John and Lorna at their place in Winterport. I wrote about the trip in my old blog, but it hasn’t made it to this blog yet. (I still have about 60 entries to import; I did about 12 yesterday.)

The Coast of MaineThere’s no place in the world that looks as much like New England as some of these New England coastal towns. It’s the harbors, I think, filled with all kinds of boats, and the typical New England style architecture all around. And the colors, too.

I took this photo late in the afternoon from a park overlooking the harbor. We’d just spent a while walking around the town, browsing shops. It had been a foggy morning — every morning was foggy while we were there — and if you have really sharp eyes, you can see the fog bank way out to sea in this photo. (It may be easier to see in the larger header version of this image, which should eventually rotate to the top of this page if it isn’t already showing.)

I’m not sure what town this is. We did a lot of driving up and down the coast. It might be Searsport, Belfast (my vote), Camden, Rockport, or Rockland. (I admit that I’m looking at a map right now, trying to figure it out.) I’m hoping Lorna or Larry read this soon and use the comment link to tell us.

One more thing: there can’t be anyplace else in the country that’s more different from central Arizona than the coast of Maine. It was a great trip, refreshing to be back in a place where rain and fog were relatively common weather phenomena and where I could smell the salt air almost everywhere I went.

The Immigration Crisis

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Some thoughts on a topic I can’t seem to make a decision about.

I live in Arizona, where Mexican workers are common. They do landscaping work, house cleaning, and construction work. They work hard and they do jobs most Americans don’t want to do — for less pay than most Americans are willing to accept.

I used to think that letting in a lot of foreigners wasn’t a good thing because Americans were losing jobs. But I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I think foreigners are willing and able to do certain jobs better than their American counterparts. (The other jobs are just being sent out to India.)

Arizona has a terrible problem with illegal immigrants. It’s not just that they’re coming over the border all the time. It’s that there is a market for people to move them, people who don’t really care about their human cargo. They take the money and all to often, get these people hurt or even killed. Crossing the desert without enough water. Locked in the back of abandoned trucks. The Mexican people are so desperate to come to this country that they put their trust in people who don’t deserve it and a lot of them die.

Part of me says to shut down the borders, build walls or fences, and send back all the illegals. Another part of me feels bad for these people, who just want to make a better life for themselves and can’t afford the paperwork or legal fees to get it done on the fast track. But I don’t believe in amnesty; I believe in following the rules that exist.

Why do we have this problem? Why can’t we enforce our own rules?

And then again, I do have a sneaking suspicion that the only reason this “crisis” is taking up so much of the news these days is because the current administration is trying to get our minds off the bigger problem — Iraq. Smoke and mirrors.

What do you think? Use the comments link. I’d like some feedback to help clear my mind. immigration

Blogger or Writer? Not Both?

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An article and podcast from a former blogger.

I listened to the podcast first. It was in my iPod after updating yesterday, among the other Slate Magazine Podcasts. Its title sent a chill down my spine, “Stop Blogging, Start Writing.”

But the interview with the author left me with the sneaking suspicion that her “last entry” was just an attempt to get some publicity. She sounded like a giggly airhead. She admitted that she had trouble “following up” with potential assignments. Hell, she claims she’d been contacted by “several” New York publishers interested in books, yet she’d managed to come away without a single contract. Not much of a professional writer, if you ask me. Any unknown who sits around waiting for a publisher to play the ball for her doesn’t deserve to succeed as a writer.

Good things may come to those who wait, but book contracts don’t.

Still, the idea of blogging taking up too much creative juice, leaving nothing for other writing, remains with me. I looked up the article that led to the podcast interview:

“Why I shut down my blog” by Sarah Hepola. She seems to echo many of my sentiments, but spoils the piece with her last sentence:

Now, if I could just turn off the TV, I think I could finally get started.

Blogging and television? No wonder she doesn’t have any time to write! Or maybe that was some kind of joke? Ha-ha?

I don’t think that author will stay away from blogging for long. It’s rather addictive — at least I think so. Something interesting happens to you and you want to write it up in your blog, partially to remember it and partially to share it with others. You learn something new, something that could help others and you want to share it in your blog. You have a deep thought or a revelation of major importance and you want to shout it out in your blog pages to see if anyone else agrees or wants to argue with you about it.

But I do agree that blogging sucks something out of a person. That something isn’t lost, though. It’s just stored away for the future.