View from the Deck
Where did April go?

by Rick Kinnaird

Oh my goodness, where did the last few weeks go? Here it is, the end of the month and we're just getting the April issue of Half Vaster done. We hope we won't be this late again.

We spent the end of March in Maine getting our house there ready for the rental season. It is in a beautiful spot on the last peninsula before you cross to Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. The deck of the house looks out on Cadillac Mountain and the panoply of lesser mountains. Granted Cadillac isn't much of a mountain, but it is the highest hill on the East coast and, at 1532 feet above sea level, it's a good day's climb or a 15 minute drive to get to the top.

When the sun shone, the house warmed up to over 80 degrees inside; when it clouded over, it got chilly in a hurry. I woke up early each day and sat in the corner of the living room where I watched the sunrise. Every one was unusual and magnificent in its own way. It was so warm one day that I got out two chairs so Shelby and I could have lunch on the deck. The next day a nor'easter rolled in and not only deposited rain, but snow and maybe hail, on the deck (see photo above). I was very glad I had gotten all of the outside work done the day before.

We go to Hatteras to watch sunsets off the deck of Sound Mind & Body; we go to the Bar Harbor View Cottage in Maine to watch sunrises over Cadillac Mountain. Life is good.