By now, you've probably gotten the email I sent out... But here's a summary. Drove up to Kentucky (9 hours) on Friday. Got up there pretty late. That driving wasn't too exciting. Probably the most scenic part (Kentucky) was done in the dark. Oh well. The next day, we (Ford, Amanda, Zephyr and I) went down to London to do some work on their land. Ford has a friend at a horse farm that had some left over fencing supplies like gates, posts, boards, etc. So we picked up some of that. To make a long story short, dug a bunch of holes, put up some posts, tried to put up some boards, but had a problem. The board we'd used to figure the spacing was the longest one in the pile by about a foot! So instead of each board spanning three posts, they'll have to cut them down to go post to post. Oh well... Got two gates put up as well. Amanda painted them with this black creosote stuff which looks awesome, but sure was messy. Lots of good teamwork.
The next day, I'd planned on driving all the way to Massachusetts and staying with Kristen. Well, her plans changed a bit, and she was having an appointment at BIW (Bath Iron Works in Maine) so she wouldn't be there. So, I was going to take it easy and drive halfway to Maine or something. Don't know what happened, but I got motivated and drove the whole way. 19 hours straight. It would have been a bit shorter, but I got stuck in Pennsylvania covering 6 miles in an hour and a half. Anywho, I had enough No-Doze and Redbull (yuck) that I was still shaking the next day. Rolled in to Oakland, where Kristen's mom's house is, at 3:30 am.
Yesterday, after about 2 hours of sleep, I got up, went down to Belgrade to Kristen's dad's house, and did some work on her bike. She wanted to put drop bars on her hybrid, so I set up the shifters and wrapped the bars and all that. Seems like it'll be a bit stretched out, but we'll see how she likes it. I still owe her a real road bike. After that, got to see her briefly in Brunswick before she headed back to Worcester to talk to her advisor about the new plan. She's looking and doing great. It was extremely nice to see her after her rather abrupt departure last December. Her and Zephyr got reacquainted as well. Good times.
Then, drove on down to Boothbay to check things out. Turns out, and I should have known, that Travis (my boss) doesn't really have a place for me to live. So I've got to figure something out for that. Argh. So that's a bit frustrating. Fortunately, Kristen's mom is letting me stay here for a bit until I figure something out. I have to get the car worked on too, so I'm kind of stuck here for a bit, though I'm supposed to work this weekend. It'll get sorted out I guess.
In any case, it's sure nice to be in Maine. I do miss Mississippi, but oddly feel a bit more at home here. I guess it's partly the memories of everything that's happened. I've still got some work to do on realizing that memories are memories, and don't really come back or go back to the way they used to be or whatever. I guess the only thing that'll fix that is time. And maybe more heart ache...
I realized something as I was sitting in the car driving along (no radio to distract me). I don't feel like I've really accomplished anything. I did great in highschool, I hiked the AT, I did well in college, I just finished grad school... so what? Doesn't seem like anything. I almost feel like a failure. I kind of think it's because the things that have meant the most to me haven't worked out as I'd liked them to. And of course I'm talking about the girls in my life. I remember way back with Kara, she never liked the pressure I put on her because I relied on her for so much of my happiness. Maybe that's what I do wrong. Does that make me "co-dependent"? I don't know... I guess I'll have to learn or end up a lonely old hermit.
I should have just posted the pictures with a few captions like I originally planned instead of all this junk...
On to the pictures (a bit out of order):
Good ol' "Cow-Dog". This guy lived across the street on a farm, hence the name. He's a very sweet dog, despite the fact his owners seem to neglect him. Turns out (found out about 2 weeks before I left) that his real name is "Bob".
Zephyr and Cow-Dog licking noses.
Another shot of that tree from Southfarm. From my last time out there... I'm going to miss it.
Baby horse fly. The little f**kers bite as hard as the big ones.
Actually had some weather, made for a nice sunset.
Zephyr chasing a couple Canadian geese.
The car parked in front of the apartment. Sure was a lot nicer than the one we lived in our first year here. Guess I never took pictures of that old one. Huh...
The following are some of Zephyr's various sleeping poses in the car... This one is particularly amusing I think.
Ah, Mississippi, land of flatness...
At the first gate we put up on the new road to the property. Amanda's already got that creosote stuff all over her...
The 4 of use in the same spot.
This is a phenomenal roadcut! Check out that syncline! Not a bad photo for driving along at 65 in 4th gear while cars are trying to pass me on both sides either, I think. Somewhere in Maryland.
I stared at the back of this Hyundai for over an hour. Ugh.
Kristen's bike after the conversion. Her dad also got her a Brooks saddle, which she seems to think is awesome. Always wanted to try one of those. Maybe now I will...
I should also mention how wonderful and nice Kristen's family has been to me. They're willing to let me stay here until I find a place. Her dad and I took a walk last night and discussed things as well. I never got to know him too well, partly because there always seemed to be a bit of friction between Kristen and him, but we had a good talk and it helped to get me thinking about what comes next...
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