Nicolai shows off scars from two of the three holes in his belly put there since his mother gave him the first. 16 years ago to the day, I watched Nico come into the world, not quite able to comprehend the absence of his right leg. As I cut his umbilical cord I struggled to imagine what his life and our lives would be like from that day forward. Looking back now, I feel blessed for the precious gift we received on that day. Happy birthday Nicolai.
Catching up at work after a week of vacation is never an easy thing. Twelve hours in the office left little time for photography but I did manage to catch a nice sunset.
As a pilot, my brother Mark’s family enjoys free air travel. The only downside is that they are never guaranteed a particular flight and today they were unable to get seats. On the bright side we got to enjoy an extra day of their company and I took advantage of the opportunity to photograph my nieces, Sophia and Rose.
Checking the mailbox today after a week away we found a front page article in the Concord Journal about Nico’s Challenge (the film documenting our Kilimanjaro adventure). Despite a few factual errors, it is a nice piece, the full copy of which can be found by clicking on this link.
Despite our delayed start we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Maine. Everyone missed Marie dearly but kept her in our thoughts always. We send all our love to Sinead in Ireland with these pictures of her nieces and nephews. The drive back took the better part of the day and no one was in the mood to get in the car again for fireworks. Instead we enjoyed them in the home theater.
Our final stop in the park was the Jordon Pond House. Famed for their popovers this restaurant has long been one Jeanine wished to visit and we were not disappointed. Most of us enjoyed popovers a la mode which is easily the most yummy dessert I have ever had. This was the perfect way to end our time at Acadia National Park, a destination we will surely revisit as we barely scratched the surface of activities to enjoy here.
The waters in Maine at this time of year run abut 57F. Each child brave enough to venture into the chilly waves demonstrated their own technique for minimizing the shock from contact with the ice cold water at Sand Beach.
Next we returned to Cadillac Mountain, this time with the boys. Despite high winds, the kids spent over an hour scurrying over the rocks and helping to locate the geodetic marker identifying the top of the mountain.
After breakfast we watched Germany destroy Argentina in World Cup soccer. Immediately after the game another epic soccer battle was contested resulting in an equally humiliating loss. The competition was a test of first touch accuracy. The ball was served from a distance of 10 yards and the receiver tried to direct it into a recycling bin (mini goal) with their first touch. To their utter disbelief and consternation I soundly spanked all 4 teenage males in this test of skill. Demands for a rematch could be heard across the bay and I will happily beat them again next year after they have had sufficient time to hone their technique.
With this mornings kayak run we succeeded in getting everyone on the water. Maya was able to handle the 18 footer with no problems and was also good enough to get a photo of me in the kayak I built. Rose and Sophia were alternately chauffeured be their dad and would have been happy to stay on the water all day.
Later in the morning Jeanine and I made a 12.5 mile bike tour of the Schoodic Peninsula, a non-contiguous portion of Acadia National Park. The coastal views were stunning as were many of the interior scenes. In our excitement to commence the ride, neither Jeanine or I thought to bring water or our wallets with us. Fortunately the sun was kind to us and Jeanine located a drinking fountain at the end of our loop.
Each night, two of us are assigned dinner preparation. Mark and Nico prepared a wonderful scallops and linguini dish, Rory and I did rigatoni in a marinara meat sauce and this evening we were treated by Kyle and Maya to corn fritters (a family favorite) and fire roasted brats and S’MOREs.
With all the activity I have found little time for artistic photography but managed to find a few minutes this evening to experiment.
While Jeanine took the kids to an ocean beach, Mark and I made a one-hour drive to visit the School of Wooden Boat Building located in Brooklin. Mark has often considered attending a week-long kayak building class with his sons, and this was a great opportunity to check out the facility and talk to one of the instructors.
This morning Kyle, Nico and Mario joined me for a kayak run. Rather than heading out into the ocean, we ventured up the estuary which empties into Sullivan Harbor. Here we discovered something I have never seen before, reversing tidal falls. Near the bottom of the falling tide, water travels through this constricted section of the estuary with such speed that is forms a white water rapid over the rocks. When the tide begins rising the same thing happens but the rapids are running in the opposite direction. The site of many shipwrecks, the unpredictable currents are treacherous to navigate. We paddled upstream near the shoreline where the eddies helped us and then peeled off one at a time to shoot the rapids. No one capsized but everyone agreed it was better not to tempt fate with a second run.
When we arrived at the outermost Porcupine Island our captain donned a wet suit and Scuba gear and with a very nice video camera dove to the ocean floor. We watched video aboard the boat as he searched for and interacted with a vast array of sea creatures, many of which he returned to the surface with. He had a 3 inch tall miniature diving buddy on a string named Little Ed who fearlessly investigated and was frequently attacked by the claw bearing bottom dwellers. The whole thing was quite hysterical and the kids really enjoyed the experience.
While cruising to our dive location we encountered a seal, harbor porpoise (not pictured), natural sea arch, and an immature loon.
When everyone was awake and dressed we drove to Bar Harbor where we had a quick breakfast before making our way aboard the Starfish Enterprise. Our 3 hour Park Ranger led tour was fantastic. When the ship’s captain (and diver) enlisted one of his two Newfoundland dogs to demonstrate proper use of a life vest it was obvious we were in for a great adventure.
An early morning departure was needed to catch the tide on our first kayak outing. I was joined by Jeanine in her single and Rory and Maya in a rented tandem. We made a four-mile round trip to the nearest major island. It took the two youngsters some time to synchronize their paddling, but they eventually mastered the skill.
While dinner was being prepared, Jeanine put on some music, and the girls danced with abandon.
Our next destination was Sand Beach where the girls were careful to keep their clothes dry while racing the waves. Although the water temperature was a chilly 57F it was our lack of towels (and an adult willing to follow them) that kept the girls from taking the plunge.
Here is the reverse view from the top of Cadillac Mountain looking back on Sullivan Harbor. We enjoyed lunch here with Sophia and Rose while the boys and Maya elected to remain at the house enjoying croquet and tennis. Funny as I think about it, but with a high enough resolution camera you could find all 7 kids in this frame.
This morning, I was up at 5 am to catch the sunrise and do a little early morning photography. From our backyard, Sullivan Harbor opens up onto Frenchman’s Bay and this view of Cadillac Mountain in the heart of Acadia National Park.
I was rather thirsty after the long drive and decided to see if there was anything interesting in the refrigerator. A couple of live lobsters were not what I was expecting to find. Apparently these were all that remained of the seven purchased by Mark this morning directly from a lobster boat working off of the dock adjacent to ours. You need to know my brother to understand why fresh caught lobster for breakfast is a perfectly reasonable meal?
We are renting an oceanfront home on Sullivan Bay with a stunning view of the mountains of Acadia National Park. With my brother’s family, we number 10 (my sister-in-law, Marie, is in Ireland visiting with her sister, who is battling cancer and could not join us). The place is enormous, and everyone has plenty of room to spread out.
Within an hour of Nico’s liberation from the hospital we were on our way to Maine to join up with the rest of our clan. We made several pit stops along the way and completed the journey in six hours. I took this photo while driving which explains the bow of a kayak in the frame. The sky started out unusually beautiful but eventually turned dark and we spent the last hour driving through a torrential rain storm which ended as quickly as it started when we reached our destination.
This morning Nico was cleared to eat solid food and promptly orders and devours a pathetic excuse for French Toast. It disappeared in record time as did we when he was subsequently released from the hospital. Although he received excellent care while at Emerson his stay felt more akin to a prison sentence and our departure had the feeling of an escape. We were in the car headed for home less than 15 minutes after they removed his IV catheter and we were looking over our shoulders the entire time.
I spent last night at the hospital with Nicolai and had little time today for new photos so I am posting a picture of my niece, Rose, taken in the backyard over the weekend. Nico is recovering nicely and there have been no complications from his surgery thus far. He was visited by all his cousins and siblings today before they departed for Maine with my brother. Jeanine has spent the bulk of the day with him and we are hoping he will be released tomorrow. He is positively starving but his doctor still wants to delay introducing solid foods until the morning. Jeanine prepared a special broth to which I added a few noodles and he was thrilled when this was smuggled into him. He pleaded for more noodles and threatened to walk home from the hospital to get them. We see this as a good sign.
Nicolai was feeling well enough to receive visitors this evening and was joined by Maya, Kyle, and cousins Mario and Rory. My brother Mark is holding down the home front and either Jeanine or I will spend the evening at the hospital with Nico.
Nicolai emerged from surgery a little groggy but was fairly coherent about an hour later. It has now been 24 hours since he last ate or drank and he is VERY hungry (a good sign). Regrettably he will not be allowed to eat until tomorrow sometime depending on how quickly his system recovers. With some luck he will be able to make the trip to Maine on Tuesday or Wednesday. Unfortunately he will not be able to attend his summer wrestling camp which is scheduled to start in two weeks. Full recovery will take from 3-5 weeks according to his surgeon.
It would be safe to say that today did not go as planned. Had it, our family would be enjoying the view of Sullivan Bay (just outside Acadia National Park in Maine) with my brother and his kids. Instead it was spent at Emerson Hospital where Nicolai had an emergency appendectomy. Last night he went to bed complaining of abdominal pain. This morning Kyle checked in on him and thought his symptoms sounded like appendicitis and encouraged him to check on the Internet. We decided it would be best to take him to the hospital before starting the 5 hour drive. After an ultrasound and a cat scan his condition was confirmed and he was in the operating room an hour later. The surgery was successful and there were no complications.