...And then he pranced o'er the river to Portsmouth!

Well, as we mentioned yesterday, Santa had a busy social calendar this past Saturday, because 3 hours after the Kittery parade got underway, an even bigger celebration stepped off in downtown Portsmouth. We made our own "extra-yummy" hot chocolate and headed off in hot pursuit!

This parade highlighted, among other things, the breadth of our maritime heritage around here. At one end of the spectrum, the crew of the USS Virginia, our neighboring submarine...

...and at the other, Club Finz, the local Parrothead/Jimmy Buffet Fan Club.

It was a great parade, and made even cooler by all the commotion afterwards, which included sidewalk musicians, amateur astronomers, and even a gaggle of Ron Paul supporters. The conservative blimps (tehe) parted as we strolled over to the telescopes. Soon we were talking with some very friendly astronomy buffs, and taking in amazing views of Jupiter and the moon through their extremely fine telescopes!

By the way, you might be wondering what everyone besides Charlotte is looking at in the photo above? The beautiful Christmas tree across the street!

And finally, we'll end, like last night, with a unique picture of the Big Guy himself-enjoy!

Santa came to Kittery...

It was an exciting day for all of us in Kittery when we got word that of all the towns in the entire world, Santa Claus (and his elves) had chosen OURS to visit for a Saturday afternoon! Wow! Needless to say, Kittery pulled out all the stops!


While the mood was generally lighthearted, including when the adorable junior high marching band chugged past...


...we received a sober reminder to wear our bike helmets from this slightly terrifying Kiwanis Club float. Or at least we think that's what the float was about.


Anyway, the mood quickly shifted back to cheeriness as the floats rolled on.


Folks were busily preparing for the arrival of Santa, even cleaning the chimneys before he had to slide down them.


And it was a good thing, because not even two minutes later, look who showed up!


Pretty soon, it was time to head over to the annual tree lighting ceremony. It was adorable and delicious (free hot chocolate and cookies for everyone in the town!)! And, unlike in many towns, our Christmas tree photo was photo-bombed by a holiday lobster! You almost don't even notice that Santa is busily lighting the tree.


Anyway, Merry Christmas from Badger's Island-we'll see you over the bridge in Portsmouth for part II of this series!

'Tis the Season!

It looks like while Charlotte was decorating the inside of our apartment, other folks had the same idea! These photos are from Cape Neddick, just up the road.

Happy Advent!

Thanksgiving is over! We hope your holidays were filled with friends, family, and food! We returned to Badger's Island from New York just earlier this evening, and already Charlotte has been hard at work ushering the season in! Now we're just wondering why it's 60 degrees, in Maine, in late November!

The bah

Well, after weeks anxiously awaiting this moment, Charlotte and I woke up early today for what will certainly be the highlight of my professional time here on the Seacoast. That's right-we went to the Bagel Caboose in Kittery! Despite driving by countless times, we had never ventured in, and once we did, we were delighted by what we found! The food was outstanding, the decor was sensational, and the chef had a phenomenal French accent (and a model train that he would turn on when children entered). What a treat to live near this gem!


Oh yeah-I also got sworn in to the state and federal courts here in New Hampshire. Now I am officially a lawyer, and officially a member of the New Hampshire bar (or "bah," as they say up here).


Look how close we were to the Supreme Court justices! You may not recognize their names (Duggan, Dalianos, etc, rather than Scalia, Roberts, etc.), but they are every bit as smart-and wrinkly!


Here I am, swearing to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, or something like that.


And here I am, outside the hallowed chambers.

Our Friend, Raffi

In case you aren't able to make it to Kittery in person in the near future, here is a glimpse of our new friend Raffi. Sure, he doesn't sing cute and memorable kid songs, but he does hide under rocks and bashfully emerge once in a while, stealing your heart in the process!


Also, in case you're not able to make it here in person, have a look at our reorganized living room. It is now extra-cozy, thanks to a very welcome rug. Weird carpet stains? What weird carpet stains?

While we regroup!

Charlotte and I have been busy feeding our pet fish, watching our pet fish, and commenting on how adorable Raffi the Catfish is, so we hope you'll understand that this has cut into our blog posting time considerably. While we regroup and prepare to present a new slate of blog posts, we figured we'd share the amazing before & after transformation we experienced at her childhood home in Otisville, NY this past weekend!





With any luck, it'll be several months before we see this happen again! And with any luck, it won't be several months before you see a blog update again! Have a great week!

Say 'ello to our little friends!

We decided that we had enough space in our apartment (and our hearts) for a few more friends after being inspired by the aquariums we saw in Otisville this past weekend at Charlotte's childhood home.


Since we live on an island, we elected for some (tasteful) island-themed decor. Luckily, Petco sells authentic Tiki head sculptures!



Yes there are red mollies (2), and yes there are neon tetras (3), but perhaps most excitingly, there is a Striped Raphael catfish named Raffi! Please send along your name suggestions for the other fish-if you wish!

Pumpkin carving!

With Halloween quickly approaching, Charlotte and I decided to get our acts together! Here's what we have to show for ourselves so far.

The Flatlanders Head For the Hills

Well, Charlotte needed a break from her grading, and I wanted to come along, so early this AM we headed north to the White Mountains.

The aim was to get a final hike in while the fall weather held, but as you can see, we're cutting it close already!


Anyway, by the time the temps had climbed into the mid-40s (at the base of the mountains), we were in the absolutely amazing Crawford Notch, smack dab in the middle of the White Mountain National Forest.


We began our hike up some mountains, which wouldn't have taken too long except for the fact that you have to climb up the darned things!


Anyway, after about an hour and a half we reached the summit of Mount Avalon, the lowest of the three peaks we climbed today. There's that Crawford Notch I was telling you about!



And there's the parking lot with our car in it down there!


Soon it was off to our second peak of the day-Mt. Field-where it was even clearer that temps in the mid-40s at the ground do not lead to temps in the mid-40s at the summit!


This time, from about 1,000 feet higher up, you can spy the Mount Washington Hotel in the lower left.



We quickly adapted to the different environment. For example, by quickly hiking up a tall mountain, I could comfortably prolong t-shirt season (for a few minutes, anyway). And by pretending to look pensive, I could get a few minutes to catch my breath!


Here is Charlotte looking smiley, adorable, and happy. And here is me, looking the same in an attempt to trick my legs into feeling the same way (all joking aside, they were very good sports, but we'll see how walking goes tomorrow)!


Along the way, we enjoyed the solitude-most of the time. However, we met lots of really friendly people along the way. And birds.



Anyway, it was a wonderful day, and we send you warm wishes for a great week from 4,051 feet at the top of Mount Tom!