April-July

April marked a change in our lives due to a terrible destructive force of nature hitting our house, something almost incomprehensible in the awesome, catastrophic path of annihilation left in it's wake.  We call it..

the pupnado.

Yes, we became the proud owners of two beagle-lab mix rescue dogs from Arkansas, three month old sisters.  They get in wrestling matches; it looks like a spinning whirl of darkness with two white tipped tails hanging out of it that knocks over anything in it's path, chairs, tables, people.  What doesn't get knocked over gets chewed on.  They have eaten parts of Dave's hearing aids.  Three times.

But let's start a little earlier.  Below, Dave gets his chainsaw as a result of the massive damage caused by another natural disaster, wet snow.  Kudos to Alison for deciding last summer we needed to clear out the trees overhanging the house and install an emergency generator (seen in the picture below, where Dave is preparing to win the Darwin Award with said chainsaw).  We lost power for two days, during which the generator provided enough electricity that you literally forgot there was even a problem; we even had internet.  Nothing is better than walking around and smugly offering your neighbors hot coffee while they are busy trying to keep their pipes from freezing.

Also below, Pax East, the large computer game convention held in the Boston Convention Center.  The cosplay was secondary, but included the women with glowing eyes pictured below... and yes, her eyes really did glow a bright, eerie green like she was possessed (and perhaps she was).

April 21st, we received the first of what would become two dogs, the adorable little Pamplemousse Spiffypaws, or Poppy for short.  Our one fear was how Poppy would get along with Dobie, but the cat was pleased to have another subject to worship him.  Poppy is a rescue dog from Dirt Road Rescues in Arkansas, one of a litter of six.  It was immediately obvious that it’s a well-run rescue; not only did the owner send us videos of Poppy playing with the other rescue dogs, giving us a sense of both the dog and the environment, but Poppy was an incredible sweet-natured animal.  We encourage people to donate to the rescue if you are looking for a worthwhile cause!

The dog rescue business in the south is apparently a serious operation, as we picked up Poppy in Connecticut off of a huge semi truck that had to be hauling at least a hundred puppies (from multiple rescues and to multiple points in the northeast). 

We picked Portland, ME as an anniversary trip destination, staying at the “Press,” an autograph collection hotel.  The Press didn’t look very interesting as we drove up, a very square, off white stone building with regularly spaced, standard windows, it looked more like an office building than a hotel.  Turned out that was because it was the home of the Portland Press Herald, Portland’s local newspaper, until 2010.  Inside, it was decorated accordingly, with all sorts of entertaining riffs on the printed word, from carpeting adorned with letters that could have come from an old typewriter using an ink ribbon, pithy quotes on furniture and walls, and books in every room. 

Portland itself turned out to be a quaint city that was clearly past its glory days as a shipping hub and settled in as a tourist destination.  The waterfront was all boutique shops, restaurants, and bars.  There was a bit of a thriving art community a few small museums, nice views of the ocean, and throngs of people weaving their way between each.

We visited the shops, took in the Portland Museum of Art, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum, and  the Vitoria Mansion, hiked around the Back Cove, and visited Fort Allan Park.