Ordinary Maine

At the end of last summer I read Camden the section of the "Dangerous Book for Boys" that was meant to teach a boy about the game of marbles. The next day I set out to find a bag of marbles so we could play the game together. Unfortunately because the summer was winding down, none of the stores I visited had marbles. Camden was upset by that development.



Well last week at the office I noticed that we had some bags of marbles at the Scout Shop. It made my day because I finally got to teach Camden how to knuckle up. He really likes the idea of marbles, but I am going to wait a while to teach him the game. I also purchased a nice leather marble bag kit that Camden and I put together one night list week. That was fun.

Tony

Well, I had half a cabbage left over from a soup two weeks ago and I did not want it to go to waste, so I took out our 3.5 quart crock pot and started to add stuff. I started with cabbage, carrots, celery, potato and ham. I filled the pot with water and added some veggie and chicken bullion cubes.

After about five hours on the "high" setting it came out all right. It made for a good dinner on a stormy night and I will put it by for lunch next week.

Tony

Recently I found a neat location to work on my night panoramas of the Portland skyline. Tonight while I was working on my technique I noticed what appeared to be a pile of marine related items. Upon closer inspection I discovered that this is a makeshift memorial to Calvin P. Wedge who I assume died on the beach I was taking pictures on.

This evening I just spent time in Westbrook taking pictures of a few of our industrial sites. Below are two pictures of Sappi Westbrook and one picture of CalPine. What made these shots fun was the effect that the wind gave photographs because of long exposures.

I hope you enjoy.

Tony

Saturday is soup day in the Bessey household from Late October until early May. Soups are a great way to enjoy healthy meals and save money. I make most of my soups in a 5 quart crock pot that was wedding gift from one of my sister's in law for our wedding in 2001. Filled to the brim it cooks enough for one family meal fresh and then allows me to freeze on average three lunches and two other family means to be enjoyed later.

One thing that is very important to me is involving both Camden and Madilyn in the soup making process. Camden currently is in charge of stirring the soups and adding soup broth and other liquids when needed. Madilyn at two years is in charge of looking at the soup two or three times for quality control. I do this so that Camden and Madilyn can be involved with their father while he is cooking. It is important to me that my children know that both men and women share important roles in a family.

The soup above is Beef and Sausage with carrots, peas, potato, celery, onions and broccoli bits. Most of the time I cut fresh vegetables for my soups, but lately I have started to use frozen peas, carrots and broccoli. I never use frozen onions, potato or celery in any recipe. My base for this soup was two cans of private label (store brand) beef stock and two cans of tomato soup. Water was added to fill out the difference. The entire soup was seasoned with salt, pepper and some garlic salt.

I have a few rules about soups, which I will share with you. The first is that I never follow a recipe. Even when given one, I take and leave what I am interested in. That is a lesson I have learned from years of observing my grandmother cook. It always works out for me. The second rule is rather simple and important. Never cook a milk based soup (chowder) with garlic or garlic salt, as it will curdle the milk. Believe me that is not a cheap lesson to learn on a Haddock Chowder.

I hope to share more soups with you in the coming months. I will even share a bean recipe by the time spring arrives. Feel free to share a tip, leave some wisdom or just chat about soup in the comments section.

Soup for you!

Tony

So, I got some time this evening to go out and take some night pictures in the City of Portland. Please notice that I also updated my header photo. I took that panorama from South Portland and it is a four shot picture. I will take that again on a wind free evening for better clarity.

After I got the shots needed for the header photo I traveled to the Portland's Old Port where this Cab Stand really caught my eye.


Then it was off to Portland's City hall for a picture of the recently refurbished bell tower.

All of these shots were taken with my S5 IS with a tripod. It was cold and windy so I cut my night short so I could pick up supplies for the Bessey Family weekend soup.

When words cannot express your thoughts or feelings. Silence!

we taken on November 7th, 2004. At the time I had owned a Digital Rebel (300D) DSLR for less than 24 hours. The photo below is from that first night out. This photograph is now four years old. I have learned quite a bit since then, but there is still more to learn. I just wanted to post this first.


The subject is the Maine Medical Center parking garage. It with this subject that I began to learn about aperture, shutter speed and ISO performance. Three things I continue to work with today.

Great Shooting!

Tony

Back in College while studying biochemistry, I had the pleasure of learning about Buckminster Fuller the American architect. At the time I was in school the first real big advances in the study of Carbon 60s was really taking off and of course one of Fuller's greatest theories was coming true. Fuller made a career out of geodesic domes and was convinced that Carbon molecules had the ability to bond in nature into geodesic domes. Of course many scientists disagreed with him, until two years after his death in 1985 when his theory was proven right.

As a Student at the University of Maine I was a big fan of the Pizza Dome in Orono and spent many a dollar on their pizza. The business still exists today, but the geodesic dome that housed the business has been gone for quite some time. I remember lamenting the loss once and being reminded of perspective when an undergrad once informed me that the Pizza Dome was still in Orono.

Students and teachers at Lincoln Middle School, in Portland, Maine recently built a geodesic dome as part of their school year. Here is a link to the Portland Public Schools press archive on the story. Geodesic domes have great acoustic, heating and strength properties. They also allow the user to gain maximum space for the surface are they cover. Below is a picture of the Lincoln Middle School dome.