Store of Delights

There is no reason to schlep all the goodies of life in your car trunk when you cross by ferry from Rockland to Vinalhaven. Sure, there is not the splendor of variety here on this island compared to the mainland.
But who would expect to find a variety of exquisite cheeses, local and from all over the world, fine olives, fresh backed and tasty bread, Portuguese air dried sausages ... you name it, in a small space of the Tidewater Motel.
Small is an overstatement. The store resembles the acquisition of a converted left over closet space but is bright and tidy. The wine selection is diverse and well thought through. Speciality beers of different microbreweries are also available.
So if you come to visit me, don't worry. There will be some essential delights of life readily available. All I got to do now, is get a small boat afloat, then we are ready. We will sail along the shores and enjoy a fine picnic amongst small islands, seagulls, blue water and blue skies ...
When will you visit?

Homeland Security

Where is the radar, the scanning devices, airport security? Where do you take your shoes off, where is the nice guy who pats you down? No metal detectors, no explosive sniffing dogs, no bar code pasted on your passport (if you happen to have one) ... and you can bring toothpaste, the family sized version, sneak in a bottle of beer or whiskey, behave like a normal human and chat with the pilot. The thing you have not, is a stewardess running down the isle with peanuts. (Oh shit I forgot, they discontinued that as well on major carriers because all the allergies people have these days).
Anyhow, welcome to the airport of Vinalhaven, where twin prop birds are the max you can fly and land. Usually only a single engine, a Cesna, comes over from the mainland a few times a week delivering mail and transport other stuff. People take the plain once in a while if they have an urgent appointment. But usually they take the ferry. But our airport is a great asset. If you get a severe heart attack or something else is wrong with you, they come over here and fly you to a sophisticated medical center in Portland within the hour. Not that we don't have health care here on the island as well, but it is comforting to know that there is a gateway to high tech care with a low tech flight.
I titled this post "Homeland Security", and already I have lost my train of thought. Darn, I'm getting old and senile. But wait, isn't it usually up to the president, not me, to explain the "state of the union"? Isn't it for that I pay him my meager tax money? Ah well, lost cause ... and a lost war. But in response, the administration is choosing to copy and save every email originating from the US. No, I am not bullshiting you, a Verizon (data and communication) handler presented it on ABC.
I don't believe the terrorists are frightened. In the mean time, the wildest dreams of Ossama have come true: Total oppression of the American (US) people by their own government. Hallelujah!
Oh, I forgot to say - Verizon still lets you make a call to a friend to pick you up after landing (see picture above). A good thing, because wireless networks are useless on this island.

broken dreams

Gogol Bordello - start wearing purple

oh yeah

... not a crime!

Happy 4th anniversary Iraq!

3000 US soldiers - and 60,000 civilians have died, payed by 409 billion Dollars. Those are the facts after four years of engagement. Not a very sexy compilation.
Despite my stubbornness to accept Islam as a valid religion for this day and age, I still feel sorry for the Iraqis. They have no security today, no law, no normal life. Saddam was a saint compared to what the US invasion has brought to them. Bush is not only an amateur, but a "Hitler" without charisma. They should have shot Saddam in the face when he was creeping out that hiding hole. But no, the empire decided to hang him instead. Bad mistake. The crunching sounds of the upper neck barely dissipated while amateurs in the military and the administration clapped and cheered. How stupid can you be.
The hanged an other man today, formerly held in US custody until hours before his death. I am no pussy, but this makes me sick.

I will bore you to death

So yeah, these are pics 30 seconds from where I live at sunset today. You must get sick of these pictures by now - but I can't help it. Yes, soon I will be bitching about our political system again, do not worry. In the mean time get bored to death with images taken today ...

The landing here is called Pierces Point in the Old Harbor. The sloppily covered boat which you saw in the previous post belongs there. It will depend on the energy and persistence of the owner (my friend David who I am housesitting for) to make her happy and afloat again. But I have my doubts. "Don Juan", that is the sailboats name, has been sitting there for the last five years or so...
As a result, I am contemplating to get my own vessel, a smaller day-sailer with an outboard perhaps. What do you think? So yeah, I wouldn't be able to cross the ocean and the seven seas, but I still could cruise down the coastline of the Americas without any problems, explore islands, evade troublesome "mainland-issues".

It is important, that we as humans maintain dreams. Without them we become mere teeth in the mechanism of our greedy society. It doesn't even matter if we are able to manifest and materialize every ounce of our visions. What counts is the intention.

the perfect storm

They didn't know, they never do.The weatherforcast for this weekend earlier on was supposed to be a little bit of this and that. Wouldn't it be nice to have a job as a meteorologist? You can be wrong more than half of the time and still get payed big bucks.
Anyhow, it is close to midnight and the mess only just started - hopefully the last winter storm. After all it is the middle of March. Even in my vicinities the crocuses are supposed to bloom by now, despite of snow ...
And if you ever were curious what I am driving and how old I am, the riddle can be deciphered from the image of this newspaper I found the other day stuck on some old rotten barn boards.











Below same picture as above taken next morning through the storm door. Daylight ... but what a mess!

sunrise at jobsite

Snow is fading these days, the temperature reaching above freezing degrees.
I get up at 5AM and come home at 5PM - quite a change compared to my previous lifestyle. But all is good. Island life in Vinalhaven is significantly different from the "mainland-brew". A bond of shared solitude ...

what's left ...

I was going to tell you about my landlord who got into a fist fight with a tenant and smashed his eye so it turned black, blue and red. But that is old news so I will not linger on that.
Life on the island is just different from what we are used to on the mainland.






There is this boat "What's left"- it is dedicated to an ex wife who robbed almost all there is to get from an ex-husband. People are sue-happy here, it seems do be their pastime.
On an other note, I played some music last weekend - no, not on the island - and it turned out to be a glamourous kick, it was fun. We called ourselves the "Green Zippers" - god only knows how we came up with that name ...
Last picture is "my office" here on the island, cluttered with instruments and recording devices, a virtual and also real sound studio.

I wish I had something intelligent to say about Bush's 28% approval rating, about former Cheney's right hand Libby - or rant about Iran, suck in and spew out again the news about global warming, test my European friends about their stiff righteousness ... and so on. But allas, I just don't feel like it! Haven't I complained enough anyway - many a times before? Did it do any difference? Did it enlighten some uncertain lost soul?
Nah - it's all bullshit. The empire has to bleed to death before anything else can be resurrected. All talk before that is pretty much idle and leads to nowhere (unless you count mental masturbation that "somewhere").
So what's left?
The cliche would dictate: Sex, drugs and Rock'n Roll. Well, most of us succumb to that recipe. I still refuse. That avenue has outlived itself and leads to nowhere. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing bad about good sex, rock and expresso in the morning - but that is not the vision humanity will find salvation in; indeed it is not very creative at all.
Perhaps the arts, and not the sciences in their present materialistic incarnation, are the only statement that separates humans from animals.

I am actually human - you see. It takes a bit to be so ... as you well know. The "Gabe" person described things adequately, though his opinions are tarnished with constant mischief - at least so it seems.
Besides construction we also do deconstruction on this little island. I will tell you more about that one tomorrow.