Monday, August 18, 2008

Into every life a little rain must fall

We have finally had a few nice, sunny days. From the end of July through most of August it has rained. Very hard for all the tourists who have driven all the way to Maine to spend their vacation, only to be rained on for some part of every day, and to have most days overcast. Also hard on businesses that depend on the walk-in tourist trade, since people are less wont to stroll down the street, going in and out of shops, when it’s raining.

I myself haven’t really minded, because it has also been cooler. Heat is my enemy, if you’ll recall. My un-air-conditioned library can get extremely unpleasant, when it is very hot and humid, and the sun is shining.

The annual Lobster Festival in Rockland occurred right in the middle of all the rain. I felt bad for all those people trudging around to the various exhibits and entertainments – the seafood cook-off, the art exhibit, the musical performances, never mind the parade, the carnival rides, and the 10k road race – in the rain. I felt especially bad for all the people who had worked so hard to bring the festival off. Maine is a land of volunteerism, and a huge number of volunteers work on the L.F. every year. And after all their effort, the weather had to have reduced the number of people who showed up.

I had considered going because, as I’ve mentioned, I love lobster, and I was very much wanting to do something out of the ordinary. However, I didn’t have anyone to go with. This is another of the reasons I rarely do things for pleasure. While years of traveling abroad on my own have more or less inured me to eating alone (for lunch – too damn many couples at dinner), and while certain activities can be enjoyed perfectly well alone, such as looking at pictures in an art gallery, other activities simply demand to be shared. A family-oriented lobster festival is one of those activities. Everyone would be with someone. The two people I suppose I can call my friends here in Maine both have some trouble walking, and a lot of trouble going up and down stairs. I would want to cover a lot of ground – I always want to see as much as possible whenever I go to something like this – and that would have been difficult for my friends. Also, one of the things I very much wanted to do was visit the naval ship USS Whidbey Island, that would be available for guided tours. I’m fascinated by ships (actually, it occurs to me that this person who loves to travel is fascinated by most forms of transportation -- ships, airplanes, trains, old automobiles, hot-air balloons. I'll admit to not being too interested in bicycles or skateboards...) – among other things, I love seeing how they fit all the necessities of life into the available space. However, the online information about the ship included warnings about its not being handicapped-accessible (of course), with not just steep stairs, but ladders, to be climbed. My friends would not be able to do that.

So in the end I didn’t go, and when the weather proved to be so bad I was just as glad. But I’m still pining to do something out of the ordinary.

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