silver piles of smiles may all your days be gold

i wish i had written last night because i do so much and think so much in one day its hard to remember and keep track of everything.

yesterday i woke up around 8ish. we had morning yoga at 830. then had breakfast..homemade granola and yogurt with raspberries. and homemade bread with cheese. mmmm. we all got ready for a day at the lake. steve claud and myself followed kent and sally to the docks and we went in the first boat trip to the cabin.

**edit** on our way to the cabin WE SAW A MOOSE!!! i dont know how i forgot to write about it but i did hahahaha. anyways..it was a young boy moose and he was pulling lilly pads out of the water and eating them. we got to about 20-30 feet close. then he started to walk away towards some other bushes to eat. then we got closer and he walked off into the forest. we watched him for a good half hour and he was so peaceful just eating and looking up when some ducks floated by. it doesnt even feel like it was a real moose and i think thats why i completely forgot about it.

the cabin is old and starting to be taken over by nature. there are bats living in the second floor. but it is a nice place to hang out at. there is a family of mice living in one of the cupboards. they have a little fuzzy nest.
daniel, debbie and donna came in the second trip of people. i traipsed around in the forest for a bit. found the most perfect walking stick..the end of it was chewed by a beaver. climbed up on holey rock where claud was laying and then she accidentally dropped her bottled water in the lake..it floated away and we figured we would get it later on with the rubber raft.

went back to the cabin and we all had lunch..bean and veggie wraps. then me and claud and steve took the raft out to get the bottled water which had now floated into the middle of the lake. me and claud jumped out of the boat and swam around for a while then headed back to the cabin. i ended up going back out on the rubber raft and swimming more with donna kent and sally. then we all headed to loon ledge which is basically a long flat rock sticking out of the water. we did yoga on the rock and had a healing circle. it was nice. then me claud daniel kent and donna headed back to the dock on the first trip.

we got back to the house and showered and i think we helped kent a bit then hung out until everyone else got back. we had dinner pretty late. and then me claud and steve did the dishes then sleeeeeep.

this morning i woke up early and we did yoga again. then breakfast. then me and claud and steve headed to a little amish village. we looked at some furniture. then went to an amish store where i bought stuff to sand and polish my walking stick. we had to pick up some veggies for the sewall house so we ended up in an amish basement buying peas and whatnot.

i stayed outside petting the dog and building little rock formations and thinking. i dont feel bad for some of the amish people like claudia does. but i was just thinking about it…its a completely different world that they live in. i felt like i was in a movie or something. like one of those themed places where everyone dresses up like they are from oldtimes but they still read the regular newspaper on their lunch breaks. to these people its not pretend..its their life everyday and they dont go home to a computer and cable tv. people go to the amish store and think ‘oh this is neat. look at the cool cash register that isnt even electric.’ i wonder what they think of tourists. of people like me.

after the amish we headed to houlton to hang out…went in a couple stores. i got some more mint shampoo and conditioner. also some postcards. then we walked over to this awesome bridge. then headed to get gas and dunkin donuts. on our way back i pulled over to take photos of a corn field. we got back to the house and it was time for steves massage. claud and i took a walk by the falls and to this country store where she bought fudge. then we went to the market. on the way there this kid rode up on his bike from the bar asking us for a dollar. it was kind of creepy. we saw norm at the market and i asked him if esther had went away..she was going to california to see her grand daughter..and he said yes. i noticed he had beer and i asked if he was going to have a party hahah. on the way back from the market we walked by the bar and the guys were telling the boy to yell and ask us for a dollar again. i bet they think they we are rich people from new york staying in the sewall house suite.

back at the house claud had her massage. i sat on the porch for an hour plucking peas from their pod into a white bowl. i took many photos and it was wonderful. i was just thinking about where the peas had been and where they were going. they were planted and picked by the amish…probably the same girl that sold us the vegetables. with the long green dress and white bonnet. the one claudia told not to work too hard. work is their life. a couple of the peas escaped..rolled right off the porch into the flower bed.

after the peas i went into the library room and took photos of everything for a couple hours. most of the stuff in there is worth something. i found boxes with buttons and pennies and newspapers. campaign buttons. old glasses that magnified my eyes when i tried them on. shavers that had never been used. a bottle of 190 proof grain alcohol. eventually steve came up and we went outside to cut my hiking stick shorter. then it was dinner time.

debbie was getting a massage during diner and serena…the massage girl..came out of the yoga room looking flustered. apparently while she was massaging a bat dive bombed her a couple times hahah. imagine getting a massage and the woman says to you ‘i think there is a giant moth in the room. im going to go out and talk to donna and kent about it.’ lolll.

so then we had desert and i did dishes again.

then i showed donna and kent some of the photos. they liked the pea ones a lot. once daniel was done with his massage we had meditation. i had to cough but i didnt want to be loud so my eyes watered a lot. it was horrible.

tomorrow we are supposed to go to baxter state park. i am moving down to claud and steves room because someone else is coming to take my room. i dont mind though.

-jess