Saturday, August 9, 2008

Where everybody knows your naaaaaame...






We have arrived in Flood's Cove, Friendship ME. It was raining yesterday when we got here, but today dawned bright and sunny. So we took advantage of it and went off to the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway, a 2 foot narrow gadge railway being restored to its original glory. They are painstakingly restoring both the line and the engines and cars. The men (surprise, there are no women who work on it)working on this are mostly volunteers, read TRAIN NUTS. Our friend, John, is also a train nut. They are a harmless sort of nut, building models in their basements usually. But these guys are committed to restoring this line. You can ride the train out 2.2 miles and back, being driven by an original steam engine and riding in an original car from 1894. So we did. This was Cooper's first experience with a real live train. He LOVED it. He is already obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. This was even better.

But I need to back up. When we first got here, my friends were not home, so I got to introduce Cooper to the Barnstable, the house we stay in. It was dark and rainy and spooooooky. Cooper would not let me put him down. He just kept saying "nonononono". Eventually I got my computer out and loaded up the Bob the Builder DVD I so brilliantly brought along, and that went a long way toward easing his discomfort. See the picture of him hugging his Bob and Elmo dolls. Then my friends, John and Virginia, arrived. John has a "benevolent neglect" approach to kids. He will exist in the same space with them, but generally waits for them to express a need before interacting. Cooper loves him. He did manage to raise three kids and they are all contributing members of society, none of them are axe murderers that I am aware of, so I trust him with my offspring. To say that the train expidition has cemented the bond is putting it mildly. John rides this train as often as possible while visiting in Maine. He may be supporting the renovation solely on his patronage.

The other events of the day were taking many walks, wading at low tide into the ocean, falling down in the ocean, crying and then completing not caring about being wet. We also met a dozen dogs. Everyone who is here has at least one dog, except my friends who are cat people. I will try to document the dogs, they are a funny pack.

So that was our first and second day here. Tomorrow the son and daughter in law of my friends show up with their two children, and the parents of the DIL are coming too. We will have a FULL house. But I love being here, and Cooper seems to be loving it, so the more the merrier. We have made the rounds to meet the old friends and look forward to making some new ones. We will let you know how it goes!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

How come I never get to ride the train when I go up with you guys?

Audubon Ron said...

Use to ride a train that looked like that. For some reason they called it the skunk train.

N said...

Is Cooper sitting on the couch in the spooky house in the top picture? It sort of looks like he's thinking, "Back of ghosties. I got my toys, my milk, and my movie. You can't scare me!"

We took Axel on the mini train and he loooooooved it, so I can only imagine the joy that a real train will inspire. What is it with boys (and grown men) and trains?

mkosboth said...

Oz - yes, that is the spooky house and that is exactly what Cooper is saying. He has warmed up to the place.

Guido - we miss you!

Ron - did it smell?