pocket full of [cozy]

 im not sure if it's after i moved to new england or if i'm just getting older, but the pursuit of trying to be as cozy as possible is high on my priority list. whether it's a char, or a seat on a bus, or my bed, or a restaurant....dammit i like to be cozy.  i don't have time to waste not being cozy.  it's no surprise that part of being cozy in the winter time is a fireplace and i find myself drawn to restaurants that have fireplaces.  if no fireplaces is available, a wood fired pizza oven is a great alternative.

[covid] hit the fan

 well... covid finally hit our house.

after almost three years of avoiding it, it hit our house hard. our daughter was the first one to show symptoms and test positive.  shortly there after my wife and i did as well.  the real annoying part was that our daughter basically recovered from it in 24 hours, right around the time we got it.  it wasn't painful, but i can't lie, it was miserable.  i'm glad we were all vaccinated and handled it relatively well, but it did suck.

as i'm writing this a few weeks after the fact i will include our daughter brought home just about everything including a nasty stomach bug, keeping us all on the sick list the months of february and march...explaining the lack of photos the first part of the year. maybe we'll all be better when the weather is nice here...sometime in july.

opening[day]

a sign that winter is coming to and end in maine when [the portland lobster company] opens their patio. coats may still on, but summer is on it's way.

thats one big pile of [snow]

 winter is fun here...right up until the first big snow.

together like [chili] and [cinnamon rolls]

this pandemic is really starting to get to me. it's now been well over a year since i've seen my family back home.  that along with the winter weather has me needing some warm comfort food, a combo of foods only a mid-westerner would love and even understand. chili and cinnamon rolls.

i made this combo tonight and the spicy mixed with the sweet took me back to my midwest childhood sitting in the school cafeteria.  you see, chili and cinnamon roll day was the one day no one brought a lunch.  everyone loved CCR day!

and it wasn't just at school, this combo was mad at home as well.  large community chili dinners would take place in my hometown before home football games.

this combo isn't for everyone, but for a guy missing his family, this mid-west meal, made kansas seem just a little bit closer.

[light] up my snow

yes.  this is me wearing a stocking cap with a light on it.  

yes. i made fun of it.

now, because it gets dark at 3:30, i love it.

snow [bowl]

as i’ve written about before, to get through a maine winter one must find themselves a hobby or three.  one that i’ve taken up is bowling.  it’s on an architecture, engineering, construction bowling league but it's a bowling league nonetheless.  the season goes from january  through march which takes a nice, healthy bite out of the winter months.  it’s not so much about bowling as it is about networking, making friends and doing something, anything, to get out of hibernating in your house for a few precious hours. 

i joined a team that had recently taken last-place in the league.   however this year we had a few new people join the team who seemed to be pretty good.  as the season went on we find ourselves getting more and more competitive. by some miracle, we snuck into the semi finals by a half a game.  by  yet another miracle we beat the dominant number one team to make it to the finals.  during the final game we kept her cool against a construction team who had won before.  at the end the night we came out the winners. 

i’m no athlete. in my life there have been very few teams i’ve been on let alone on teams who have won a championships.  we did get a trophy recognizing our teams accomplishment this season, but all in all the best prize was making new friends and strengthening those relationships with friends i already had. 

...that and having something to do during this long, dark, bitter cold and miserable season we call winter here in maine.

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stop the world and [smelt] with you

there's a very thin line between ice fishing and just sitting outside in a tiny shack with four other dudes, freezing your butts off.

as i've written about several times, the best way to get through the maine winters is too embrace it and develop some cold weather hobbies.  one that i've embraced is smelt fishing.  last year i spent about 60 bucks and bought what you might call the beginners smelt fishing package.  a couple poles, some line, some hooks, some weights and a bucket.  now i've never been one of those guys who buys all the top of the line equipment before getting into the hobby, i usually like to start out a hobby with crappy gear from garage sales or second hand stores and see if i like it first.  however since i had been out fishing a few times before and used other peoples equipment, i felt $60 was a alright price to pay for this seasonal hobby.

me and three other guys decided to head out one cold saturday night last month and drove to a new spot we had never been before.  upon arriving i saw the absolute tiniest ice shack i've ever seen, honestly i didn't know how four grown men were going to fit in it.  alas we did, though much of our equipment stayed outside and any time one of us had to go outside to relieve ourselves, all four people had to basically get out of the shack.  however we seemed to make it work. our lines went down in to the frozen water and we waited..

and waited...

and waited...

and waited...

finally, i got a bite and reeled up the first smelt of the night.  i placed him in the bucket and lowered my line again, almost instantly getting another bite.  i reeled up the second smelt of the night!

(side note, guys are simple creatures.  the fact that i was the guy who had hardly been smelt fishing and had brand new equipment, my pride was beaming after bringing up the first two tiny fish.)

then we waited ...

and waited....


after five hours of being in a small shack looking at frozen water we had a total of four fish that only two of us had caught.  at the end of the tide, we threw the four lucky fish back into the water and packed up our equipment.

although the night was in essence a bust, it was still a good time.  not only because i was the rookie who caught half the fish, but more so because it gave me five hours to catch up with friends and chat about life, work, marriage and fishing.  each one of us telling stories and getting advice on all those topics.

ice therapy

      

[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.

winter [sports]?

pyeongchang wasn't the only place to see incredible athletes compete at the top of their game this past month.  little known fact i discovered recently, the town of camden, maine hosts the annul us national toboggan championships!  upon discovering this, i knew this event needed to be seen.

a broken clutch saturday morning meant my wife and i would have to check out the second day of the toboggan championships.  although we missed all the "fun" on saturday which i heard is filled with costumes and parades, sunday was the actual competitions, which was still entertaining.  driving up to camden we discovered a wonderfully quaint little town right on the coast, with the ski mountain just a few miles away. being from kansas, as well as "relatively" new to maine, venturing to a snow covered ski slope still has an awe inspiring feel to it. walking past the ski lodge and seeing the low hanging clouds hiding the top of the mountains only added to the feeling.  we found the crowd next to the chute and enjoyed several hours of toboggan racing.  i'm not sure i learned much about this sport, other than the fact that to go faster, the riders basically lie down on the sled.  this may help reduce wind drag, but it basically meant that all i saw was an odd kama-sutra-esque mass of arms, legs and stocking caps flying by; but isn't it that sense of togetherness and closeness of a team that brings home the gold.

it may not be the "exact" same thing as watching bobsleds race by during the olympics, but for two people trying to make the most of the winter months of maine, it was a wonderful way to enjoy a winter-y weekend.

in pursuit of [hygge]

come on portland...light my fireplace....

this winter, i've been enjoying a book called "the little book of hygge- danish secrets to happy living." you may be unfamiliar with the word [hygge] but i know you've felt it.  it's that feeling of curling up in a blanket with a cup of coffee as you sit by the fire; it's that feeling you get when you enjoy the company of good friends while eating a warm dinner as the snow falls outside.  basically think sweaters, scarves, sweets, hot drinks, candles and fireplaces and you have a good start on this concept of [hygge].  my wife got me the book as a christmas present to help me get through these new england winters i now find myself in, and in a small way, it's working. whether it's getting more light from candles lit around the house, spending more quality time with friends, or drinking hot toddy's every night, this winter has been more pleasant than last year.

on my quest to achieve total [hygee-ness] this winter, i've been searching out bars in portland, maine that have this [hygee] qaulity.  one main component i've been looking for are bars with fireplaces, which was surprisingly hard to do.  however, it's not just fireplaces, it can also be candle light, comfortable seating and a general cozy atmosphere.  below i've listed all the bars i've found that have fireplaces and a few that were able to achieve [hygge] without them.


bars with fireplaces

ri ra - irish bar with several fireplaces throughout the restaurant with an overall cozy feel

boones fish house - large stone fireplace in the dining area

bull feeny's - another irish bar with several fireplaces... though i'm not sure if they actually work

liquid riot - a tad open to be cozy but it does have a working gas fireplace in the back corner

eve's at the garden - it's as comfy as a hotel bar can be, but there are a couple fireplaces to enjoy



honorable mention - no fireplaces but still cozy

bramhall pub - dark but with enough candles to make you think there is a working fireplace

flatbread - a little open but with large pizza ovens that warm the place up

the grill room - a nice pizza oven you feel the heat from if you sit at the cheifs table

the armory - no fireplace but it really does feel like it should have one.

the bearded ladys jewel box - candle light for a great atmosphere and a cozy balcony space to sit

little tap house - overall cozy feel with candle light on the tables and great poutine

maps - "down in the basement" type coziness

lfk - intimate nooks with comfortable seating and amazing hot toddy's

brian boru - there must be something about irish bars

this is not a complete list; there are probably other bars and restaurants which are perfect for a cold night.  these are merely the places i've been to and had that feeling of [hygge], hopefully i'll find more.  i hope everyone out there, no matter where you live, can find a great place to get together with friends this winter and enjoy some quality [hygge].

candle light at the bearded lady's jewell box

the nooks at lfk

fireplace at liquid riot

candles in the fireplace at bull feeny's

pizza oven at the grill room 

 fireplace at the portland harbor hotel

[back] to that sugar shack

i've reached a very important milestone after moving to a new place.  being somewhere long enough that you start to repeat annual events.

maybe its the last major winter event or possibly a sign of spring, but as the snow finally started to disappear from the ground my fiancee and i headed out to "maple sunday" an event we had participated in last year.  this year however found us heading up into the woods with some new "couple friends" of ours.  not only was it a chance to try anything and everything "maple" but it gave us a chance to become better friends with this couple.

i'm not sure if maple sugar is entertained in a "mainers" dna or if everyone is just itching to get out of the house after a long winter, but people came out in droves!  we all waited in ridiculously long lines and waited a crazy amount of time to get a small sample of maple syrup! it was insane, but it's usually the crazy people and odd situations that give you the best stories.  

the day found all of us buying something maple flavored and we even met a local maine celebrity, a little girl who was best friends with a goose. we saw it, the goose had a diaper and was being wheeled around in a wagon.  seriously, she's been on tv!

crazy people = best stories

one year down.

the winter of my [disorient]

i think i survived my first [real] northeast snowstorm...but just barely.


mid february found maine hit with three back to back snowstorms, which meant that by the time the last snowflake fell, we were left with about 2 feet of snow on the ground.  i was in awe.  i had never had to deal with that much snowfall in my life!  i really wish i could have told you was able to get out of the house and enjoy it, but i can't.  i hated it actually. it was beyond annoying.  for the first time in my life i had to shovel the snow off my car. not scrape, not dust off, but legit SHOVEL it off, and not just once either!  i didn't want to leave the house either, because it sucked to walk in. plus i was tired from the car shoveling.  also, if you were lucky enough to get to a clear sidewalk, the 6 foot snow banks the plows left at the intersections kept you from going more than a block.  it sucked.

on a positive note however, the snow allowed me to partake in another new england winter tradition; walking to your neighborhood bar to ride out the weather with your neighbors.  making it to my local bar also let me witness, for the first time people skiing into a bar, that was not on a mountain.  i wish i could share more interesting photos with you, like people sledding down the eastern promenade, or historic buildings in a blanket of white, but that would have meant i would have had to go outside and trek across town, which wasn't going to happen.  nope, the only photos i have to share with you from the storm are the ones i took on the few block walk the bar, which was enough of a winter adventure for me.

[frozen]fish

sometimes to experience something new you have to jump in to the [frozen] end of the pool.


i did just that when i went ice fishing the other week.


since moving to maine, i had been wanting to go ice fishing.  an activity i had seen in movies but had never experienced  luckily, a couple of my friends knew this and invited me out one evening after work.  little did i know what i had just gotten myself into.

we drove north, which i've been told is where the [real] maine is, unlike the area i live in which is called northern massachusetts.  it was dark and got got darker as we left the lights of the city behind us and wound our way into the frozen woods.  after about an hour we stopped and unloaded the equipment.  the supplies consisted of buckets, beer, sabiki's and fishing poles that looked like the ones i had as a child.  we hauled the gear to a little hut where a guy who didn't say much took our money, unlocked a small closet door, put the money in, grabbed a can of worms and promptly locked the door again.  this had me curious for a couple reasons. one, either ice fishing is more lucrative than i originally thought or these are some wicked aggressive worms he's giving us.

we received our hut number and headed out across the frozen water.  as it was an outgoing tide our hut was on the far side of the river.  as i heard the deep and scary sound of ice cracking in the distance, it occurred to me i've never walked on a completely frozen river.  that fear quickly subsided as i gazed upon the fishing huts.  dozens of windowless shacks that looked like some sort of punishment box in an isolation camp.  it felt like i had stepped into the middle of a doomsday prep-er convention; like ted kaczynski had designed a cul-de-sac.  inside however was a different story, i opened the door to find a toasty warm cast iron stove with plenty of wood.

the rest of the night was spent learning how to smelt fish, which, as it turns out are tiny fish attracted to the nastiest worms i've ever had to use as bait. i now understood the locked door.  we chatted, we drank, we listened to billy joel....we caught tiny fish.  i had a really good time, which was exactly what i needed to help me get through my first new england winter.  one of the more interesting aspects of the night was meeting the other people fishing in the huts next to us, who would occasionally knock on our door to see how the fishing was going in our camp. they were an interesting group.  imagine if you will the type of guys that would sit on a frozen river, in the middle of the night, away from society, in a tiny windowless hut, to catch, fry and eat tiny fish.  if you can picture that, you're getting close.

the funny thing is, for one night, i was one of those guys, and i really enjoyed it.

i felt just a little more [mainer] on the drive home that night.

winter [light]

wanting to capture the portland headlight during a snow storm led me to my first time photographing a subject in really nasty weather.  i was not well prepared.  lessons learned; bring warmer clothes, bring a thermos of coffee, double check and make sure your tripod is working, bring a cover for your camera, bring lens cleaner and lastly....wear shoes meant for walking on the ice.  falling and busting your knee two steps out of your car makes for an awful time.  all that being said, i was happy with the final pics.  hopefully i'll have another chance to capture this icon again this winter season.

[lounge]christmas

to all my digital, blogging and social media-esque friends and family who still read this blog, i hope you're having a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

deep [city] diving

i love living and working in old town, but every once in a while you gotta get out of your neighborhood.

a few months ago, my friends and i decided to check out some [dive] bars we had heard about but had never visited.  it ended up being a total success; so much so, we decided to do it again., with more friends wanting to join in the adventure.

we decided to hit up several [dives] on the south side of town.  we ventured into bars with names like "whisky dicks" "mick's" "the stop" and "snug harbor."  we found the bartenders to be friendly, the drinks to be cheaper, and the patrons to be talkative. not only was it a good night out with friends both old and new, but we discovered there's a sense of community a group forms when venturing into places unknown. we discovered new sights, new sounds, new drink specials, all of which were documented and noted on instagram.  we were like the millennial version of the lewis and clark expedition, reporting back to our friends in civilization as to what's outside the territory.

i'm not sure how many of the bars we'll find ourselves "trekking" back out to again, but much like our predecessors who told stories of the native people, animals and events they discovered in the vast unknown, our south side stories have already filled the walls of the bars we consider home.

i'll be [lounge] for christmas

to anyone i'm lucky enough to call a friend, whether digitally or in person, i want to thank you for reading this blog. i hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and looking forward to a happy new year!

love that [frozen] water

three things fuel my sightseeing adventures when i travel:

-architecture

-pop culture

-food and drink

a perfectly sane list if you ask me, however when you visit a city with an incredible amount in each categories, it can be a little overwhelming. 

the past week was spent visiting my girlfriend in her hometown of boston, a city i've always wanted to visit.  not only was it great to spend time with her, but it was also a little bit of a test on our relationship to see if she could handle traveling with me.  thankfully she, and her wonderful parents, were incredibly nice and accommodating when it came to my tourist list.  we visited random buildings in the freezing cold so i could walk around them in awe and take pictures.  we stopped by local tourist spots made famous by tv and movies, and they discovered my rule about eating and or drinking in a restaurant or bar in order for it to "count" that i visited it.

boston is an amazing town and with their help, i do believe, i got a good feel for all this amazing city has to offer. hope you enjoy the pics...all taken in about 48 hours.