IMG_3795.CR2, Originally uploaded by evancparker.
Emily the Cat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unclevanya/sets/…5060/
second consecutive day on the water … this time on a “blow boat” with friends of the family (who are also my 59th cousins 326 times removed). we went out to the Isle of Shoals, a group of nine small islands about 7 miles off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Kittery, Maine.
During the 1700’s, there was a town on the islands, Gosport, which was fairly prosperous up until about 1778, when the Islanders were evacuated to Rye, New Hampshire due to the Revolutionary War. The islands were then largely abandoned until the middle of the 19th century, when a popular summer hotel opened on Appledore Island. Currently, the only inhabitants are a Unitarian church retreat, and scientific research camp.
Having never been on a sailboat, it was quite an experience covering those 7 miles and back again. We were on such a beautiful 30-foot sailboat that I am shocked I didn’t get a single picture of the boat itself.
spent the day with my godparents, out on their boat!
Portsmouth’s harbor is on the Piscataqua River, the third fastest-flowing navigable river in the world. the harbor, arguably the finest in New England, is dominated by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, located across the river on Seavey’s Island in Kittery, Maine.
we went up river (against that aforementioned 3rd fastest current in the world) and had some steller sandwiches under the “middle” bridge. giving up the fight, we went back downstream to a big muckity-muck yacht club by the old Wentworth resort and picked out our own personal “post-lottery winnings” yacht.
It was a wonderful day!
went up to new england to visit family, flying out of BWI. quite a hike, but good fares… and a gorgeous sunset to boot.
The other day I realized it had been about a decade since I saw the Kennedy brothers at Arlington National Cemetery, located just across the Potomac from DC. Spent a sunny sunday afternoon wandering around the Cemetery, the Netherlands Carillon and Iwo Jima.
last day in portland, oregon. it’s a gorgeous place… i will miss it wildly. which got me thinking…
i’ve been trying to move to get out of DC pretty steadily since 1998. i tried very hard to move to Oregon early in my failed marriage (she would have none of it) when I worked for a company out of Eugene. closer to the end of my tenure there, i was a week away from relocating when it turned out that a position I was jonesing for — in Eugene — wasn’t actually available.
not that oregon has a monopoly on my desires to get out of DC. i almost pulled the trigger twice on Vermont, once while working for Bernie Sanders — Vermont’s Representative in the U.S. Congress — and once shortly after my divorce.
being on vacation outside of the political, type-“A” rat-race that is DC has reminded me how much i still want to get out of here before I start firebombing politicians.
Picking up from the last thread … some days are just to perfect for film (or digital media, I should say). The sky was absolutely blue, and nary a cloud in the sky.
While that sounds good on paper, I have a real problem with it photographically… because there is absolutely no white for the camera to “white balance” on. As a result, all the colors just look kinda odd. I’m sure that a real photographer has the skills to compensate, but I’m not there yet.
These pictures were taken from Coldwater Ridge, a visitor center off Mount St. Helens. The wildflowers just went on and on.
![[Pearl Street Playground, Essex Junction, Vermont]](https://theparkerfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/200652451_8c6e03a185.jpg)
Pearl Street Playground, Essex Junction, Vermont