i went to see john hiatt and michael logen here, at the shalin liu performance center. the performance center (backside view from the beach at cape ann above) is now the most special of places that i have ever enjoyed live music. as if being in an old sea captain's home, the center only seats about 300 people total so every seat is like being in a living room with a live performer. stunning. the entire backdrop behind the performer, the WHOLE WALL is glass with views of rockport harbor and fishing boats and seagulls and geese. again...stunning. and during the intermission michael logen hung out in the lobby areas talking to anyone who wanted to say hello. so we said hello. and he signed a cd for my son ethan. very cool. at the end of the concert, john hiatt was visibly moved by this event. he said so. his body language suggested he didn't want to leave the stage. that if we kept clapping he would have played into the night.
we then drove north, to camden maine. i like staying at this one particular resort. it's a little dated (though they are about to undertake a multi-million dollar renovation) but what you are there for is the panoramic views of penobscot bay. not. even. funny. beautiful. the week began with sunrises and sunsets, with lobster boats heading out to check their traps, before the predicted nor'easter was to arrive.
from the harbor area, looking up at mt. battie, i thought yuuuuuuup, going to go and climb that thing! ah, i got three quarters of the way up no problemo. then i made the mistake of turning around, and looking, and like, on SHEER ROCK. it felt like i was dangling on the side of the largest mountain in the world. with zero gear. i tried pretending that i didn't have a fear of heights. i now realize that i have A FEAR OF HEIGHTS! so i backed down the mountain, at the rate of like one foot per every 10 minutes. IT WAS CRAZY. finally i got back to my car, which was tucked in the woods and drove to the top. oh and disclaimer, when i first visited the park (yes they have a normal park area where you can begin your adventure of enjoying this mountain but i was like noooooooooo, i can't be like everyone else, i need to begin somewhere raw and it needs to be hard, like it was for the american indians back in the day, blah blah blah), i spoke to a park ranger who suggested i just keep driving, up mt. battie, to enjoy the view. should have listened. finally did. i drove to the top, like everyone else. and not like an american indian, but the view was the reward. it was like being in some sort of heaven peering down.
later in the week the storm came, as it was predicted to. the lobster boats stayed in, the bay was raging with wind and sideways rain. we slept with the glass slider to our little deck facing the ocean, open, every night. i woke up alot, heard the wind which should have scared me but it didn't, it calmed me actually. i immediately went right back to sleep. every time. breathing in salt air and the storm.
(images: mine)normally we walk to this lighthouse, but obviously this time you wouldn't. we'd have been swept out to sea. but it was beautiful to watch the force of the storm, the power of it. you develop a particular reverence for the ocean living on the east coast.
i'm not sure what i believe as far as if we were all living some other life before this one kind of stuff. but if i did, it was here. every time i am in maine i am the most comfortable i can be. the most relaxed and in a place that i'm supposed to be. there is just something about it for me. it's where i go to be. do you have a place or places like that? i'd love to hear. enjoy your weekend friends!