Another Day of Hiking, and More Thoughts on Blogging

This weekend was, in a word, lovely. 

On Saturday I co-shot a same-sex wedding in Portland, and can I just say that the gay weddings I have been to have been some of the best?  The ceremonies are all so heartfelt, so emotional, so genuine.  I think that anyone who is against gay marriage should attend a gay wedding. I think it would be impossible to not be moved.

I got home late on Saturday so Rob and I slept in pretty late the next day.  One of his coworkers from the summer had to fetch some data from a pond on Tumbledown Mountain so Rob and I decided to go up with her, her boyfriend, and both of our lovely beasties.  The hike is short, about 1.2 miles, but it involves a lot of climbing on rocks and all in all is pretty rigorous. This is why I don't have many ascending pictures below, since I was too busy huffing and puffing the whole time.  Once we got to the top I remembered why I love my home state, at least from May-October.

After we went hiking I was thinking about this post where I talked about the benefits of social networking.  I've heard a lot of bloggers say that they have to disconnect from their blogs/Twitter accounts in order to appreciate the moment, but in a weird way I have found the opposite to be true.  When I'm in the moment, or planning some type of adventure, I find that photographing it and coming up with just the right words to explain its significance amplifies my appreciation of that moment. In other words, I think that blogging has, in a way, actually helped me to become more aware of what is going on around me and allow myself to be truly present in that moment.  Does anyone else find this to be true?

I don't believe I'm explaining this very coherently, and for that, I apologize.  I'm writing this on Sunday night after about 5 hours of hiking and it is long past my bedtime.  Perhaps I'll write a more in-depth post on this topic at some future date.

I hope you all had a great weekend and thank you for all of your comments on my last few posts!

Labor Day Camping (Heavy with Picture)

This weekend Rob, Megan, and I went camping with Rob's summer coworkers.  I hadn't gone camping since I was 13 and we went to Virginia and DC with my family, so I was pretty excited.  Rob and I even drove all the way to Augusta to get ourselves a tent (only $42 at Dick's!) and also ordered two brand-new sleeping bags from L.L. Bean.
 

I'll spare you all the details because pictures are generally better, but I'll share some of my verbal highlights:

//Hearing Amie read aloud from "The Guide to Getting it On" (best sex book ever, by the way) and all of us laughing like 12-year-olds.

//Driving to the lake and seeing beautiful sunny sky!

//Watching Sara and Tim's beast, Ollie, running around like a mad man and playing tug-of-war with a leash tied to a tree.

//Hanging out for a few hours at the campsite only to be drenched in rain and finding ourselves hiding in our tents.  And getting to spend a few quality alone moments with my darling husband in our little tent shelter.

//Playing Never Have I Ever in the tent hiding from the rain with Amie, Megan and Robbie.

//Having maybe 20 minutes with a beautiful fire before the rain/thunder/lightning started up again.

//Eating a cheese-filled Oscar Meyer hot dog and singing the "Cheesy Blasters" theme song with Megan and Rob over and over and over.

//Hearing insanely loud thunder and intense rain all night long.  Hearing an extremely loud (and close) thunderclap and instictively grabbing my husband's hand in fear.  Felt good to know he was there :)

//Waking up to more rain and delicious breakfast sandwiches made by Amie!

//Taking my husband out on a date to celebrate how awesome he is...and because neither of us felt like cooking.

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Blinding Me with Science (A Hiking Post)

So as some of you know, Rob got a job this summer as a research assistant for the Mountain Pond Project (you can view their blog here...it hasn't been updated this summer yet but plenty of stuff from last year).  Essentially his advisor's research centers around testing and monitoring high-altitude ponds in Maine.  Rob works with three other college students, Amie, Sara, and Sarah, monitoring pond temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, and other science-y things. They also create depth maps for some of the ponds that haven't yet been mapped.  I'm probably leaving something out about what they do, but it's all over my head anyway so just go read the blog.

This is the reason that he goes on all those camping trips grumble grumble.  I'd be lying if I said it didn't bum me out a little when he leaves because he's even though he's working, he's also camping and having fun with people who aren't me, and that kind of sucks for me since I'm sitting alone in my house working by meself not really having that much fun at all with anyone.  Cypress's idea of fun, i.e. rolling in dead animals, doesn't really count.

On Wednesday Rob invited me to go on one of their hikes (he's begged me to go on the camping trips as well, but my job depends on cell reception and internet access) and I agreed.  His advisor has been wanting me to take some pictures of the work they're doing for use in the blog and other promotional materials, and I was happy to oblige.

We got up early, met with the girls and set off for Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley, Maine.  We walked together for awhile but then separated (Sara, Amie and I went to one pond, Rob and Sarah went to another) and met up later.  The hike really wasn't too strenuous and it was fun getting to see what my husband does on these trips.

I thought you all might enjoy some of the pictures from the day, so here they are. My one regret is that I didn't get any pictures of Robbie and I together, but maybe next time.

  (from left, Sarah, Sara, Amie, and Robbie)

What fun have you had this week?