What More Could I Want?

July 21 2010
Bar Harbor, ME

As we left Portland last night, the sun came out, and there was a beautiful sunset. So it was obvious that today would be perfectly lovely.

When I went out on the veranda this morning, my first thought was "Alaska" but the air, while cool, was not as sweet as the Inside Passage's air was in 1994. Who knows if it's still as sweet. But it was nice to see Maine from the water. Even the tender ride was fun, and I got some nice photos. I love sweep panorama.

The Acadia National Park is, I'm sure a wonderful park to explore, but the bus trip was very rushed. The stops, only 2 of them, were limited to 15 minutes. Time to grab a few pictures of today's hazy view, pee, and buy a bottle of water. I'd like to come back to Bar Harbor some time with more time to explore.

I saw a man coasting down the steep access road on his bike and was envious. I envied him not only his exciting descent, but what I knew was his hard work climbing to the summit. Basically, it was simple bike envy...I know I'm not in the kind of shape to make that sort of ascent. Maybe some day?

What would a vacation day be without shopping? So we browsed the Main Street of Bar Harbor and found what we were looking for...even a Nipper for John.

Lunch at Rupununui...Brazilian/Maine cuisine. We looked around some more and realized that as beautiful as Bar Harbor is, it's just another tourist town. I suppose the truth is that there is nothing that I really want except 24/7/365(6) high speed Internet so that I can post my thoughts and pictures. How very solipsistic of me.

As I sit back on the boat detached from that umbilical Internet cord, I realize that the slap of the water on the still anchored ship is blissful and the cool shady air is a delight for a New Yorker who is used to hot, sticky,humid July afternoons. There's a small rocky outcrop covered in evergreens off to my right. Small boats pass by. Ferries hum along. What do I really need at this moment? Certainly not a high speed Internet connection, or a cell phone, or email or Facebook or a blog. I don't need anything except the peace I have at this moment.