Ice is slippery

Headed out for my noontime walk today and as I stepped off a curb to cross the street stepped on some old street blackened ice and BAM, landed flat on my back. An older gentleman walking by with his wife held out a helping hand to get me up with asking if I was hurt. I wasn't, more stunned then anything else. That's the second time I've taken a fall on ice this winter, last time was about a month and a half ago while snowblowing the driveway. Pulling the snowblower backwards I stepped on some ice and my feet went out under pulling the snowblower down with me I landed hard on my ass – I think I gave myself a butt concussion. I can't remember the last time I took a fall on ice now I've done it twice in one winter. About a year ago a friend of mine stepped out of his house to retrieve the morning newspaper, hit some black ice on the walkway extended both arms behind to catch himself and broke both arms and elbows. He's quite recovered now but it was a long process of surgery and physical therapy, still doing PT. I count myself fortunate.

Tomorrow, who knows?

Mrs Packrat54 has left the region for the weekend with her sisters to visit their mum in the northern part of the state leaving me with the task of cleaning out the refrigerated leftovers, and a fine task it is. Beef stew and a bottle of red wine last night – a bowl of chili chased with a glass of almond silk tonight. Saving the stout for later during tonight's movie. Spent part of today visiting my mother. Winter temperatures have been swinging up and down over the the last week with a decided turn for the colder this evening aided by a strong steady wind. Looking forward to putting together some sort of coherent blog tomorrow.

Get "Bankruptcy for Dummies" at Borders

Cruel but appropriate. Borders has been one of my favorite stores to visit since it opened at the Maine Mall in South Portland and in spite of filing for bankruptcy that store and three others in Maine are expected to remain open. Obviously I love browsing at bookstores both ones that sell new books and those that sell used books and Borders is no exception. They just flat out have more going on than the others I visit. But the stores aren't their only problem – their online presence and ebook stuff apparently isn't competitive enough. I buy books online from them, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and recently from The Book Depository in Great Britain so it's not like I'm super loyal to anyone place but Borders is my "comfort" bookstore. I hope they get their act together and come on strong, there's plenty of business for everyone.

Maine State of ________ (fill in the blank)

Maine is a great place to live - we've got our four seasons well covered, particularly now with the snow all around us. We've got terrain of all types - mountains and hills, rivers, streams, lakes, seacoast. Interesting animals - moose, deer, eagles, black bears and black flys. Vocations in business, engineering and architecture, agriculture, livestock, fishing, medical, etc. I could go on but you get the idea. We also have some issues that need to be addressed - balance the state budget, tax reduction, keeping our youth from moving out of state, road and bridge repair, health care and retirement saving, that lists is ever growing but now our state government has something more important to deal with - designating a Maine State "Treat". The candidate is... The Whoopie Pie?!?

Let's see, so far we have the following:

• Maine State berry: Wild Blueberry
• Maine State bird: Black-capped Chickadee
• Maine State cat: Maine Coon
• Maine State fish: Land-locked salmon
• Maine State flower: White Pinecone and Tassel
• Maine State fossil: Pertica Quadrifaria
• Maine State gemstone: Tourmaline
• Maine State herb: Wintergreen
• Maine State insect: European honey bee
• Maine State mammal: Moose
• Maine State beverage: Moxie
• Maine State soil: Chesuncook soil series
• Maine State song: State of Maine Song
• Maine State tree: Eastern White Pine
• Maine State vessel: Arctic exploration schooner Bowdoin
• Maine State motto: Dirigo ("I lead")

I was a little taken aback to find out we had a State soil, would that also qualify as the State mud. Some would claim that's one of our four seasons. This really can open up some possibilities...

• Maine State Comedian: Bob Marley (ours doesn't sing, and is still alive for that matter).
• Maine State Pothole: this would be a revolving honor as some get repaired and new ones develop. My candidate is presently on Route 122 in Poland, I hit it last Saturday doing 55 mph. I think I need the front end of my PT Cruiser realigned but I digress.
• Maine State joke: "you can't get there from here", spoken with the local accent. Not really intended as a joke since there's some truth to it, see next item.
• Maine State east-west highway - oh, I forgot, we haven't got one, dang we should do something about that.
• Maine State liquor: Allen's Coffee Brandy (low hanging fruit).
• Maine State casino: Hollywood Slots, well, its the only one we have but not for long.
• Maine State invasive species: I'd think that would be milfoil though a lot of folks would claim its tourists.

and my favorite - Maine State trait: a great sense of humor.

Just finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama" (1972, Hugo and Nebula Awards)". Terrific storyline though I found the characters and action rather sterile compared to my recent favorite authors. Clarke is one of the Grandmasters of the science fiction genre. It's been around 35 years (!?!) since I last read one of his books, "Imperial Earth". I think I have that copy up in the garage attic, I'll have to reread it as I don't remember any of it. I've seen the movie made from another of his novels, "2001: a Space Odyssey" as any SF nut has and the followup "2010: Odyssey Two". I bought Rendezvous with Rama at a used book store as well as 2 followup novels "Rama II" and "The Garden of Rama". I just recently found that there's a fourth novel, "Rama Revealed". Curiosity will impel me to continue the series, I didn't 'dislike' the book, just needed more to sink my teeth into. Perhaps the sequels will satisfy me.

We are the Champions!

Trying to get caught up a little on my blogging - one thing happening is that I'm still basking in the glow of the Green Bay Packers' victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at last Sunday's NFL Superbowl. A nerve wracking game that went down to the wire. This team is full of young players and had a large number of players on the injured list so it's reasonable to expect them to be in contention for several years to come. GO PACK!

Ian returns from Aconcagua

A week ago today I drove down to Logan Airport in Boston to pick up Ian who was returning from his trip to Argentina where he summited Aconcagua. For about two and a half weeks he traveled, prepared, camped, climbed the Mountain and also spent a few days enjoying his stay in Mendoza. His description of his time was dazzling and his mother and I are thrilled for him. As I had hoped it was not just about climbing a mountain – it was about everything else as well. Quite the experience. Bonus, he took some great pictures!