Day 22
Good evening on Day 22! This morning I woke up a bit earlier, because it was thursday, and on thursdays the museum has special programming! Today's happened to be in the morning, so I walked up the hill early to help out with set up. The event was Nature Journaling with Karen Zimmerman, who is a Maine Master Naturalist. Essentially, she's certified as someone who knows lots about the natural world, especially those species that live in Maine. I was hoping to just sit in on the workshop, but it turns out that someone registered twice, so I was able to fill the empty seat!
We spent the morning learning about what nature journaling is -- and I'll tell you. In short, it's noticing the living things around them and doing your best to accurately document them. Karen told us the ways to do this are with 3 things: words, drawings, and numbers. Now, this wasn't a drawing class, because the goal was not to become a master botanical illustrator (although I'd love to), the goal was to become a master observer.
We studied some specimens, then went for a quick walk in the woods, and I feel that I gained so much knowledge on how to observe and record, as well as so much confidence in my abilities to do so. A really neat class, and I'm planning to do some more nature journaling over the weekend. Here's a lesser purple fringed orchid we found (Platanthera psycodes):
After that, I helped clean up and then did some more work in the office. Nobody was interested in a Wildlands Walk today -- oh well. I did some classic laminating, then headed down the hill. It was an early end to the day, but it was kind of nice, I'll confess. I walked to the wharf to post up a new poster and found some of the Yew folks pulling in in the truck as I got there to meet the Hardy Boat. Alex had two guests' luggage to collect, and we were meeting Jess' friend Emma. I put up two more posters in town then went back to the Yew. I chilled in my room for a bit before heading to Fish Beach with Jess, Amelia, and Emma. By the time we got there, it had become quite cloudy, and I was no longer in the mood to swim or sunbathe, so I went back to the Yew.
I took a shower, then chatted with Jorgie and we decided to head to the concert happening at the Barnacle, the cafe on the wharf. It was so pretty, and the wind started picking up, taking the humidity with it. The flowers down there were swaying oh-so-perfectly in the breeze, it was divine. Halfway through, we headed back to the Yew to get dinner -- pasta with red sauce, which really hit the spot.
After dinner, we hung around the porch and chatted. Shortly, it was decided that we would attend the "Laser Fog Party" happening tonight at the ball field. So, we donned our outfits (pretty general outfits, as the theme was hard to dress for) and headed up the hill. Jorgie brought her hula hoop, which by the way, LIGHTS UP! It was incredible and was definitely the center of the party. Jorgie knows some pretty awesome tricks, and the show she put on was like something you'd see in the circus (maybe because she was in the circus). I tried my hand at it, and wowed the crowd with my around-the-neck trick.
We headed home after listening to some hot 70s dance hits, and practiced our model walks on the road back to the Yew. Once we got back, some stargazing ensued, which was made even better by a steady, firm breeze from the southeast. We saw both dippers, and I discovered a new constellation never known before in the shape of one of those squeezy ketchup/mustard bottles you'd find at a diner. Like these:
Hmmm, maybe a lighted hula hoop for your Birthday!
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