[be] aggressive

being fed up with all the slipping and sliding i do on my walk to work on the snow and ice covered sidewalks, i decided to do something about it.  last saturaday i went to the shoe section of the sporting goods store and explained to the salesman how much i hated the winter and how bad my morning commute was on the icy deathtraps they call sidewalks.

the salesman looked at me and said, "it sounds like you need a more aggressive sole."

i couldn't agree more.

year in pictures [2018]

year fourteen for the [year in pictures] post.


every year i’ve done this post, i’ve been able to come up with a theme that seems to encompasses the entire year.  sometimes it’s very apparent, other years it takes a while to discover.  this year was the latter.  i’ve stared at these ten pictures the last four weeks trying to figure out what binds them together; what’s the common thread weaving itself around each one? 

i think i might have figured it out with just a couple of days in january to spare….

in this social media world we live in, where you scroll through pages and pages of pictures of people showing you what they’re up to, it's easy to fall into a “grass is greener on other side” mentality.  even when you post a picture yourself it can give you anxiety wondering, “how many people will think what i’m doing is cool?”  as cliche as it sounds, the grass isn't greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.  

that’s what 2018 was for me; realizing that putting time and effort into your situation and the relationships around you are really what’s most rewarding; basically [watering your lawn]. now i understand the irony of saying all this on a blog post where i’m basically showing you pictures of what i was up to last year, but believe me…. this is just me looking back and appreciating what i've [watered.]

after moving away from my friends and family three years ago, to a city i had never been to before, nearly all my relationships were new.  with the perspective of time, i’m able to look back and see how those early interactions have grown into true friendships.  as a newly married man, i can also see how that rings true with my relationship with my wife.  if marriage has taught me one thing, it’s that i’m no lawn care professional.  hell, sometimes i wonder how was even lucky enough to acquire a lawn.  although there’s a lot to learn, i feel i do know one thing, and that is, even a little bit of water makes the grass greener.  also....don’t shit on the lawn…that’s a big one too.  i also know how important it is to take care of relationships with friends and family [back home] and how i need to keep those lawns [watered] with phone calls, texts and face time chats.


like i said before, this post and the following photos are just a look back at my life and appreciating the time and effort i’ve put into the last three years living in maine and enjoying the product.  i know all of you out there have your own wonderful lawns you’re taking care of as well.  this neighborhood called life we all find ourselves living in really is better when we can all sit back with a beer and enjoy a nicely maintained and watered lawn…and trying not to get too terribly mad when you find shit in it.

that being said…. here is my [watered lawns] of 2018

 ice_friends_1.20.18

 i've made a lot of good friends here in maine and they're all very active people that do maine things.  you meet someone, you hang out with them a few times, you become acquaintances, then you become friends and pretty soon your freezing your ass off with them in the middle of a frozen lake.
[frozen lawn]

 

 snowy_steps_3.8.18

 i hate the winter. 

let me rephrase that; i hate the winter when it lasts into april, which is what it does here in the northeast.  as awful as it is and as tiring as it can be to deal with it, one day you walk to work and look up and admire how the snow is falling on a historic building, and it almost makes it all worth it. 

[snowy lawn]

bowling_team_3.28.18

three years ago i joined an architecture board. during that time i got to know several of the people on it.  in january of last year, a few of them asked me to join a bowling league they were on.  not only did this help make the winter months a little more bearable, but it also turned acquaintances into true friends. 

[lawn league]

hunting_5.18.18

my wife and i spent most of 2018 looking for a house.  weekends were filled with going to open houses and setting up showings with our realtor. it's been a long, boring and sometimes stressful process.  it's also created many high energy discussions between my wife and i, but in the end,  there's no one else i'd rather go through all that with. hopefully we'll find a home in 2019.

[my own lawn]

under_the_falls_5.31.18

my wife and i took our honeymoon to jamacia almost a year after we got married.  one of the many activities we tried was climbing up dunns river falls.  between, the water, the rocks, the climbing, me helping her and her helping me, it almost felt like marriage counseling.  we were there for each other and had a blast doing it.  it was one of my favorite memories of the trip.  with all the stress we had with the house shopping, spending a couple hours climbing up a waterfall, with our only goal being not to slip and fall, was as priceless as it was enjoyable.

[waterfall lawn]

 time_to_sketch_6.5.18

sometimes you have to take a little time for yourself too.  while on our honeymoon i found time to draw in my sketch book, which is one of my favorite things to do.  although it's not a picture, this sketch sums up how relaxed i was during our trip.
[lawn relaxation]

 casco_sunset_7.21.18

sometimes i still can believe i live here.  this statement has a different tone when said in the summer.  witnessing a summer sunset from peaks island was one of my favorite moments of the summer.
[lawn sunset]

glass_house_8.24.18

sometimes i forget i'm in the northeast.  several places i studied in school that were thousands of miles away when i first read about them, are only a few hours away from me now.  with the glass house only being four hours away, there was no way i wasn't going to visit it.  also, introducing my in-laws to mid century modernism was a memorable and fun experience.

[minimalist lawn]

 boothbay_with_the_fam_9.7.18

i miss my parents...a lot.  it meant the world to me they drove from kansas to maine to spend seven wonderful days with my wife and i.  i was also able to show them my favorite spot in maine, boothbay harbor.  if absence makes the heart grow fonder, my heart is full of "fond" for these two...
[family lawn]

date_night_11.16.18

the last few months of the year, my wife and i went on a mission to find the best ice cold dirty martini in the city of portland.  every friday night, we'd hit up a different bar looking for the elusive cocktail.  the goal was to find the best martini, but what i really enjoyed was quality time with my best friend.  this picture was taken one night as we waited on our martini's.  not as exotic or exciting as a honeymoon, but little adventures like this seem to help create a healthy relationship.
[date night lawn]