Glass houses

Backyard Farms is building on - click to enlarge

  Our first stop on the trip was in Madison to view the greenhouses at Backyard Farms.  Huge is the word that best fits.
  Carefully grown tomato's for New England and more of the northeast, carefully tended in controlled conditions and picked ripe. Year round; in Maine?
  42 acres of glass buildings and building on, the three-story buildings had the "shades" down when we saw them, but it was still kind of dark.  Temperatures are kept at 75 degrees, water trickles and the "in house" bees keep busy (there are bee hives inside and in several areas).
  It was kind of a gloomy day outside, as you can see, but inside the "sun" was out.

This is supposed to be a different view, not so sure

The Rangeley area

Rangeley Lake from the Rangeley Town Park - click to enlarge

  It was a great trip even with the rain a patchy fog.  The photo above was taken from a pier in the Town Park and the color still shows pretty good given the conditions.
  We spent a few minutes looking around the shopping area - because we couldn't remember the name of the ski area - and then headed over to Oquossoc where Route 16 meets Route 17 (both Maine roads).  Route 17 between Oquossoc and Mexico (Maine) is signified to be a scenic route, and it is.
We looked over the "Rangeley Lake Height of Land" (see yesterdays post) and the "Mooselookmeguntic Lake Height of Land" overlook.  We continued down Route 17 until reaching Byron to visit Coos Canyon (tomorrow).
  What a great trip; and thanks to my friend Harry for putting up with me.

Lake Mooselookmeguntic seen from the Height of Land.
There are 3 large lakes in the area, and some little ones too.
Please click on the photo to enlarge.

Up to Rangeley, on a rainy day

Rangeley Lake State Park in the rain and fog, bummer

  Well, the forecast on TV and in the paper said "showers in the afternoon".  I'll tell them right now that 7AM is NOT in the afternoon.  It showered and rain and was foggy in the distance the entire day.  It started to rain/shower (let's call it rain) when we arrived at the huge greenhouses in Madison.
More on those greenhouses another day.
  On the way from Madison to Rangeley we did see two moose, on laying down and one walking away for us, lots and lots of turkeys and one grouse - all in the rain.
  We arrived at Rangeley and went to the Town Park, which has been cleaned of all the doggie droppings that used to seem to thrive there, so it was nice.  We went to Rangeley Lake State Park, and that's 7 miles of the road (Maine 17) and the bathrooms are now absent, but the woods work wonders on a full bladder :)
  On the way to the Height of Land overlooks I spotted an unusual "field of stones", ranging in size from half a VW Beetle to about bushel and peck size.  The stones are interspersed with some grown trees and there is a lot of moss (some brittle white), so water doesn't run through.  I thinks it just leftovers from when the glaciers went through eons ago.  Here's a peek:

Field of Stones - click to enlarge

The geezer hisself at the Rangeley Lake part of Height of Land
 

Continued tomorrow

Getting ready to drive

Medford Center, Maine
Photo by the geezer

  I am headed out this morning with a friend, Harry.  He has not seen the Height of Land or Coos Canyon for some reason so I'm going to show him.
  We will take a short side trip in Madison to view the very large greenhouses of Backyard Farms, Inc. the tomato growers.
  I'm sure we will enjoy the day and things will go okay.  I'll have photos the next couple of days so everyone can experience the sights.

Waste and want not

  Yes, it's usually waste not, want not; but, this is about waste and total disregard for peoples (tax payers) money.  Well, at least the tax payers of Ohio.
  E. Gordon Gee is the President of The Ohio State University and he likes to wear bow ties.  Further the State of Ohio likes him to wear bow ties, in fact they make sure he does.  Wait!
  Gee lives in a State supplied house, a mansion really.  He throws parties, it's a political thing you know.  He has guests so his home, err mansion has a $532 shower curtain, that's part of the $7.7 million spent by E. Gordon Gee.
  Let's get to the bow ties.  How about $64,000.00 for bow ties, for bow tie cookies, pins and whatever else.  Now let's guess that Gee works 5 day weeks, okay.  52 weeks in each of the 5 years it took to spend the $64,000.00 and you arrive at roughly $250.00 a week for bow ties!  Fifty bucks every work day for five years on freakin' bow ties!
  And I'm told educated people aren't stupid.  Prove it!

The Great Fire of 1947

US Route 1 Kennebunk/Biddeford
Portland Press Herald photo

  I was almost seven years old in October 1947, Bar Harbor/Mount Desert Island was already about half gone, and now York Country was burning too.  I lived in York County, and it was a scary time.
The Towns of Shapliegh and Waterboro were particularly badly hit, most of both towns was destroyed by the fire, 16 people died and 2500 homes were gone by the time the fire was over.
  Our house, in Lebanon, was about 12 miles from my Grandparents house in Shapliegh so my mother was worried about them.  We could stand outdoors and the ash was falling all day and night, kind of like snow flurries.  At night the whole sky was orange, the flames of an out of control forest fire are large.
  The fire was eventually put out by man and nature but the evidence was visible for years, as it takes time for the woods to grow back.  I can remember the papers printing large headlines announcing that the fires were out.
  That's the way it was in September/October 1947 - scary for a small boy.

Students from Bate College join in
fighting the fire; with brooms.

Sidewalks

The winter "sidewalk" to Spring Point Ledge Light

  Early in the morning, while it's dark, I start to walk.  Parking at the Airport Mall in Bangor I walk on Union Street, a mile and a half down and a mile and a half back; 3 miles, good stuff.  It's the sidewalks that drive me nuts, or nuttier than I already am.
  In Maine or other states with lots of lakes there are "chains of lakes" like the links on a chain.  Part of that sidewalk, after it rains, are the longest "chain of lakes" in Maine.  I described that section to a health care provider as "more puddles than a children's book about baby ducks".
  In from on one business, Nickys cruisin' diner, if I laid on the ground with a wide angle camera and took an ultra low snapshot it would look like the Maine section of the Appalachian Trail in miniature.
The are many places where the sidewalks have been opened (dug up) and repaved, the new and old don't meet even half way.  Those sidewalks have been opened more than a hypochondriac with seven willing surgeons, is what I say.
  But I know that sidewalk pretty well and dodge the bad spots pretty well...until the gas company open a foot wide section and didn't mark it.  It was a stumble, not a fall, but I gave them a lecture in my head.
  Well, off and walking.