Day 10.284: Saco Pumpkin Festival

After a fairly slow start to the day, we got down to some jobs around the house, but took a pause in the middle of the day to go down to Main Street for the Pumpkin Festival. Exile #3 and the rest of her dance company were premiering one of this year's dances - a high energy hip-hop dance to an edit of Beyoncé's Run the World (Girls):

We also checked out the rest of the festival - costumes, a game from a new Krispy Kreme that just opened in town involving speed-eating donuts hanging from strings, our last Elementary School pumpkin (from E5N1's class) and the surprising sight of a tortoise walking through the crowds:

We fortified ourselves midway with a drink and a slice of cake at The Rugged Spruce (Exile #2's favourite of the recently opened cafes) and then headed home to get another job done (more on that another time!)

Day 10.283: Home from the trade show

This morning I said goodbye to Chicago:

It's safe to say that this was a trade show experience unlike any other I've had. In part this was due to my role at the booth, but there were other things too. CeeLo Green was there as were the Monster Energy Girls, the Energizer Bunny and the M&Ms. As I sat at the booth waiting for the show to open, the Budweiser Clydesdales were walked through the show between the working car washes and hot-dog roller grills.

Anyway it was a fun and somewhat bewildering experience, but I'm very happy to be home.

Day 10.282: Lakefront morning run

Some pictures from yesterday's morning run along the bank of Lake Michigan.

Day 10.281: Automatic blog post

I'm traveling, so I made this in advance in case I needed it. Another picture from our walk on the beach on Sunday.

Day 10.280: Lake Michigan

I'm back on the shore of Lake Michigan...

Day 10.279: Bar Harbor mist

For the last of my catch-up posts from our trip last weekend to Bar Harbor, a little recap of our final morning before we drove home through the rains of post-Tropical Storm Nate.

Once again, we got going as early as we could, knowing that rain was expected. In the end, the weather app on my phone kept counting down to the rain being 5 minutes away and then suddenly jumping up to 2 hours away again. We managed to not rush our walk and stay dry.

The mist in the harbor was quite thick when we arrived - the moored boats, the cruise ship and the tenders bringing in its passengers came in and out of sight according to the mist's whims.

We still managed to see quite a few birds, a chipmunk and a harbor seal as we walked.

and I liked the views along the coastline as the mist created interesting contrasts.

My parents have made it safely home - where they are presumably experiencing some effects from Nate's little sister Ophelia - although far from the main path of it in eastern England.

Day 10.278: Exile #2's Sunday Column #176

Exile #2 writes...

We have gradually been settling back into the humdrum of daily life after the visit of Exile #1’s parents. It being mid-October, the neighborhood has transformed into a wonderland of pumpkins, chrysanthemums, and Halloween decorations. It’s been slightly difficult to accept, given that much of the week has felt like summer, but the trees seem to know what’s coming and have been dropping leaves and acorns all over the place. Exile #1 picked a load up with the mower yesterday, but you’d never know it today.

E5N1 and Exile #3 had a fairly long dance rehearsal this afternoon, so Exile #1 and I went for a beach walk (Exile #4 opted out this time).

Various families were enjoying the ocean, and although I may not have wanted to join in, it was probably warmer than many of the times I splashed around in the sea on holiday in the UK. Many seem to be predicting a tough winter, so we’ll enjoy it while it lasts! Hopefully it will last until the end of the month, however, as someone round these parts is planning to spend Halloween in little more than a pillowcase. More on that soon...