Adventures with David

The Politics of Today's Don't Ask Don't Tell Senate Vote

2010-09-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's the season for political football and roadkill.

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the US Senate today about the injustice of DADT and its need for repeal. And then she voted against the bill that included the repeal of DADT on the grounds of supposed procedural disagreement and party inequities. She is among the current pantheon of the worst kind of expedient political hypocrite.

But it is actually the Democrats that have now decided to use DADT as a political football to create a socially progressive wedge issue to help polarize the Republican ranks prior to the midterm elections. DADT will end up being repealed eventually, but it is the Democratic Party calculus that is pushing it at this particular moment in time. I do not believe it is because they want to see it passed as a social justice issue before they lose control of Congress in the fall. They are doing it to divide the rabid social conservatives from the more progressive elements in the already fractured Republican party.

In short, I never expected it to pass now in the Senate. And Lady GaGa, at her bizarre Prime Rib speech rally in Portland, Maine yesterday, is just promoting herself and realizes DADT is a great conduit to tweak the conservatives and polish her radical progressive image with the gays and the younger crowds. She's about showbiz, so I can't fault her.

Collins chose sides long ago. She's a weenie Republican who purports to have a social conscience when it suits her ambitions. She will ultimately die an ignoble political death and be written into the annals of having been on the shameful side of history. That's the bed she's made.

None of this surprises me. Except the Democrats are not much better and are just playing politics using the same Machiavellian play book as Karl Rove. And gays are the football, once again.

Shame on all of them.

Obama, by the way, whom I had pinned my hopes on once-upon-a-time, will be a one time failed president. That's just a political reality. If he had been a moral tour-de-force from the start and had upended all of the usual politics and maneuvering with a heavy paternal progressive hand, he would have been deemed the equivalent of a cross between Martin Luther King and Ronald Reagan. But he took a seemingly safe political route, so as not to appear uppity. Now he is being relegated to political roadkill.

The only thing that will come of this is that the Republican party will be rent by internal philosophical divides as the Tea Baggers polarize the party. Whomever can lay legitimate claim to the disaffected center from both parties, and also keep the social progressives, will emerge as the next dominant force in the political landscape. But a few of the loud far-right and far-left personalities will have to implode first. (McCain, for instance, will be one of the first to be quarantined to a safe satellite space, alive but ineffectual to all but his own local sphere, no longer a national political force.)

Interesting times...

.

Why the Target Boycott Matters

2010-08-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

Target took advantage of the new corporate campaign finance capabilities bestowed by last year's US Supreme Court to make a very large, $150,000 campaign donation.. The problem is that they made it to an organization supporting a vehemently anti-gay candidate closely associated with a Christian rock band that advocates death and violence to gay people.

While this may have been legal, the issue at stake is one of ethics, social consciousness, and civic responsibility.

The US Supreme Court decision allows a corporation to be treated under the campaign finance laws as if it was an individual voter, with the exception that it has virtually no limit to the size of a donation it can make to a candidate or cause. (A real person's campaign donations are quite limited under law, so as not to give wealthy people an unfair advantage in a democratic system.)

Whether you agree or disagree with the new corporate campaign finance limits is one thing. (Many people are wary that it now means that major corporations will essentially buy votes via huge campaign and media donations.)

Corporations, however, which are run by real, decision making, prioritizing people, need to be good corporate citizens, showing fairness, respect, and good judgment. You and I are held to those standards just by the assumptions that we will be civil, decent, caring human beings.

So when a corporation makes a decision to fund $150,000 to a far-right wing candidates and causes, particularly to an organization with ties to supporting violence and hatred against a whole group of people, it crosses a very dangerous line.

And that's exactly what Target did.

Can you imagine, for instance, Target making a $150,000 donation to a state candidate or political organization that supported white supremacist or Nazi values? Why is it any less appalling that Target would give $150,000 to an organization that allows the advocacy of violence, hatred and injustice against gay and lesbian citizens?

It was a calculated risk and Target made a very poor choice...and was caught doing it. Target has offered a verbal apology and has pointed to its track record of LGBT support in the past, for which they should be commended, but they need to make this right.

And they could do it easily by making a similar $150,000 donation (an amount that is probably less than they spend on trash bags at their stores in a given month) to an organization that can counter the harmful, hateful messages advocated by this MN group.

Again, how would you feel if the donation was made to a brutal anti-Semite who had a chance of winning a statewide election? What message does Target's action send to your children?

We have choices about where we can shop. In fact, I love shopping at Target.

But there are some things I care about even more. So I can choose, at least for now, to shop elsewhere.

Most of the voting population of this country is asleep or mostly apathetic. That's dangerous when hatred can take root and flourish, especially when people are scared during very challenging economic times.

Draw a line for yourself and your family. And then decide which side of justice and history you want to be on.

The cheaper Tide and chic bed linens may be on the other side of that line from where you will stand, but you will ultimately be cleaner and sleep better.

.

Solace & Perspective

2009-11-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

OK, so here's scant solace and a bit of adult sobering perspective, like it or not.

Our loss on the gay marriage equality issue was politics, pure and simple. The opponents (a.k.a., the church), knew this and kept Michael Heath at bay and hired a skillful PR agency that played as dirty as required to do the job. This was brute force politics on their side, nothing especially nuanced, a page out of the Karl Rove playbook.

We played skillfully, as well, albeit differently. Our strategy was a calculated risk; we could have gotten really clobbered. Still, we lost, by about 5% or approximately 30,000 votes. While that's not a razor thin margin, it is not a political mandate for bigotry either.

And our No On One supporters got it; they understood the basic humanity and the deep, abiding, achingly simple issue of fundamental equality. We didn't have to cloak the truth in some gussied-up, jingoistic, flag-waving, fire & brimstone pablum.

Fear and ignorance and blind religious moral superiority may have won the day, but not by a wide margin this time around. In most any other state, or even 10 years ago here, it wouldn't have even been this close. 47% of voting Mainers got the basic equality message. So we can't paint Maine or Mainers with broad black strokes either.

And it is too easy to now just say, "We lost." Life is always more complex than that. Whether we want to admit it or not, the empirical truth is that what we did was absolutely necessary to push the envelope as far as it would go for now. Maybe it wasn't ready to be stretched quite far enough, yet. Maybe next time it will be.

We still moved mountains and raised the individual and collective consciousness of more people than we will ever know. We did what we were supposed to do. We stood on the shoulders of others to get this far and others will stand on ours.

40 years ago, there were bands of white supremacists (KKK) and church leaders who "won" the day against black civil rights leaders. Now they are forever cast in the pall of shame and infamy. Racism is still alive and well, but now we also have a black president of this United States. Complex? Yes. Perfect? No. Progress? Absolutely.

So let's catch our breath, regroup and get back to work. We only have the luxury of feeling crushed for a short time. We still have a world to change and children to protect.

It will be my privilege to do this work, for its own sake, alongside all other Quixotic citizen activists.

The secret is, no matter what, we really can't lose. We will succeed in changing the world, one heart at a time.

Ultimately, truth will out.

. . .

Maine Marriage Inequality

2009-11-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

I am greatly disappointed after last night's outcome, but also enormously encouraged by all we accomplished in these last several months. Of course I wanted to win this referendum, but that is not the sole reason I joined this fight and gave freely and gladly of my time and resources.

Without trying to sound pathetically Pollyanna about this, while I wish the outcome was different, I have known from the start that there really was no way we could truly lose. We have changed the world and made it a bit more perfect, as painfully imperfect as it still is and will be.

And I met so many heroes in the process. I am humbled and astounded by all that I have witnessed first hand.

I do not mean to invoke grand names trivially, but I do believe that there is a bit of the Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. in all of us, particularly in our resilience. This was a heartbreaking defeat and many people are feeling deeply hurt and discouraged today, to have hate, fear and irrationality win the day. But imagine what it was like to have had guns and dogs and fists turned against you time and again. Imagine having to go on for another day and yet another day as people you love are being brutalized, physically and emotionally. The human spirit is extraordinary.

The question now becomes where do we go from here to capitalize on all we have accomplished, all we have created. The answer, in part for me, is not to turn away in disgust and anger, but to embrace even more fully all those whose hearts and minds still need to be changed.

This is the hardest part of all, I think, so I remember that we don’t have to change everyone’s heart or mind, just about, for instance, 30,000 more in the state of Maine. And I know we have done that in many multiples already both here and throughout the country and beyond.

What we have done is already rippling and resonating farther and wider than we can comprehend from our present vantage.

This has all been extraordinarily important and necessary work and it will continue to pay exponential dividends with time. It is all necessary effort in the grand scheme of social justice and civil rights. It is also all necessary just because it allows us to affirm our humanity and our community.

Also, I realize that the church and others will have their own fallout from their "success" as it is revealed in the full light of day. We can leave them to the natural flow of things and to their own conflicted and angry congregants. Hatred and corruption corrodes from within and causes irreparable damage.

I start today knowing that gay people and their families are as much respected and loved as ever in the eyes of the greater community, and probably even more so after these several months of marriage equality work.

We still have much work to do. I wish this marriage equality battle in Maine had been won so we could move on to the next frontier. In any event, I will catch my breath, pull my friends and compatriots close, and steel my resolve to continue this effort. And I will know there is no “losing” now or in the long run if we speak our truth.

We will continue to make progress.

Dr. King inspires me at moments like this and one of my favorite quotes that came to mind immediately last night when all seemed lost was this, his words from a 1967 speech which you may have heard before:

When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

I say this as much as a reminder to myself as to everyone in our community: Keep the faith.

We Haven't Hit Bottom Yet...

2009-06-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

My brother Gary sent me a copy of David Brooks' Op-Ed column from yesterday's NY Times titled The Great Unwinding. It got me thinking about where we are in this economic stage of things, which I have opined on before in early blog postings, from last year, with a modicum of prescience. So, I have awakened from my blogging slumber so I could think aloud about what Brooks wrote and where we are at the moment, economically speaking. And here's what I wrote back to Gary:

Interesting article. Got me thinking...

So, I'm no economist (obviously!), but there are a few flaws in Brooks' suppositions and there are also some interesting counter-arguments.

For instance, capital is at an historically low cost these days. That's why your savings account at the bank only pays about 1.0% interest, if that. The government has kept capital cheap to keep the meager flow going and to catalyze some assumed critical markets. The upshot is that people will not save as much because:

(1.) People can buy stuff and the cost is "subsidized" by cheap capital. That's how the housing market ballooned into a bubble in terms of pricing, borrowing, and expectations. We now all believe that a home will and should cost many, many multiples of our household incomes. A generation ago, this was not the case. Our mom and dad bought our childhood home in 1962 for about $20,000.

(2.) The "normal" prices for certain necessities, like housing and cars, are now set way outside the reach of the vast majority of cash buyers. Borrowing for these things with only 20% down is our expected norm. Households, therefore, will always have much higher debt to income ratios compared to 20 - 50 years ago.

(3.) Borrowing is not always a bad thing if the cost of the capital is reasonable, you can afford the debt service payments, and you have both a reasonably secure income stream to support the payments and a back-up plan (known as an "exit strategy") if things don't go well.

Also, there are some other things to consider, such as the fact that while it might be mind-blowingly expensive to overhaul the US healthcare system into something that is accessible, affordable and technologically advanced, the comparative cost of not doing so is probably about the same in terms of picking up the expense of taking care of the non and under-insureds, not to mention the lost opportunities and drag caused by people making life and job decisions based on their lack of healthcare insurance options. Or the actual physical pain we inflict on the under-treated and non-treated.

We'll spend close to $1 trillion bailing out the financial sector, $500+ billion on waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect our security, and $300+ billion to stabilize some of the automobile industry. What would $1 trillion buy us in terms of healthcare and the net effect on individuals' families, lives and long-term health?

Political expediency and an inherent misalignment between long-term needs and short-term practicalities is set in our electoral system. As long as our federal legislators, congressmen, senators, and president, are stuck in a 2, 4 & 6 year election cycle, they will only be able to do so much that might seem like it is going to cause near-term challenges and pain to their constituencies. The brief window of opportunity to do anything that trades near-term pain for long-term gain is only at the very front end of a politician's term.

This problem is intrinsic and institutionalized in a democratic process, but to paraphrase Churchill, Democracy is a terrible form of government, but it is still better than any of the other options. So it is easy to point out the problem, but the reality is that legislators, on the whole, are not going to change strategies or behaviors as long as they need to get elected or help a party-affiliated candidate get elected.

It will take an "exogenous shock" to the overall entrenched system to get people to sacrifice in the short term or change their entrenched consumer perspectives. So, a war, natural disaster, terrorist attack, true pandemic, prolonged recession, sustained spike in oil prices, etc. will be outside anyone's control and will force the issues and changes in behavior. The current recession is causing some of the ills and evils to be faced in the light of day, to the dismay of piggish banks, over-extended homeowners, and charlatans like Bernie Madoff. Good people are also hurt in the cleanout (middle-class employed workers in fragile sectors, kids, some home renters, sick folks, lower-income households, etc.).

My opinion is that, as a country, we have not experienced anywhere near the pain and structural upending that will come at the true day of reckoning for the binge that was advocated in the last decade or more.

And we live in a new information and consumer world that did not exist a decade ago (think internet news, Facebook, Amazon, iTunes, and app stores). The speed has been ratcheted up exponentially and the consumer decision-making has followed suit. This means that any economic news or shock or fear spreads globally as fast as it can be reported. We've built some huge momentum. So, trying to slow down this train before its hits a bad patch of rail may be futile.

On a personal level, however, you can prepare for what may come. It's the same simple advice that's become cliche: Don't live above your means. Keep some rainy day funds available. Live a healthy lifestyle in terms of sleep, eating and exercise.

And you may even be able to take advantage of some opportunities. There are some excellent investment and real estate opportunities out there, and if they fit in with your lifestyle and your financial means, you can take advantage of them. And remember that sometimes circumstances align to make debt not necessarily a bad thing, so you have leverage power for these opportunities, if you can afford it, especially while the cost of capital is so low.

So what's the bottom-line?

In my view, we haven't hit bottom yet and all of the extraordinary efforts by the Treasury Dept, and Obama Administration have just been pumping up the economy to soften the immediate blow. It is an economic experiment with a very uncertain outcome. And until the markets reset at sustainable price levels, and until there are some major systemic failures that cause us to bear the pain that will be needed to adjust our financial, personal and political expectations, the day or reckoning is still yet to come

Set your expectations accordingly.

. . .

Time of Hope

2009-01-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

As of noon EST yesterday, Barak Obama is President of the United States.

Wow.

A resurgence of hope has swept across and settled on the country, even around other parts of the world.

If this improbable thing can actually happen, what else is possible?

In the moment that Barak Obama became the 44th U.S. President, we were able to bear witness that there are times when hope, tolerance, decency and courage have prevailed.

And yes, we do still have so far to go on this journey, but our souls and hearts have been nourished. Maybe we can disrobe of some of the sticky cynicism that we have accumulated and believe again in the power of community and love and justice.

It's all around us.

...Don't ask how long the honeymoon will last. Rather, ask how you can continue to believe, pass it along, and pay it forward.

It is a long journey on a difficult road filled with much joy and many heartbreaks. So let's savor the crystalline moments and fortify ourselves and our commitment to sustaining our advance towards what is right and good in ourselves, in one another and in our world community.

Winter's Here!

2008-12-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Winter officially started yesterday and it arrived with a wallop! A real nor'easter hit us yesterday with blizzard conditions for most of the day and night. It was an impressive storm, even for folks who shrug off most snowstorms up in these parts. We got about 15-18 inches of snow in the Portland area, with drifts of several feet in some places!

I awoke this morning and, after the sun was up, assessed the collateral damage. ...Nothing too bad. Just LOTS of snow. The snowplows, which are very efficient, even on Peaks Island, had the roads plowed and passable even before sunrise, but they pushed a wall of snow five feet high onto my front walkway all the way up to my front stairs! And there was at least of foot of snow also on my front deck. It took me an hour just to shovel out my front walkway and front deck.

I'll have to tackle the back of my house tomorrow or later in the week. Whew!

Here's a quick photo slideshow of some of the photos I took with my iPhone this morning.

. . .

Peaks Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

An injured Tom Brady and his duo of private "naughty" nurses made it to Peaks Island last night for our Halloween celebration. After giving out lots of chocolate to the trick-or-treaters, Kristen, Sabrina and I got into our get-ups. We were joined by Kyra who sported her 70's-ABBA-Priscilla-Queen-Of-The-Desert drag costume. We made quite a "team," my buxomly bodacious nurses and me!

Kristen hand-painted my helmet, including the Patriots logo, and borrowed a walking cast for my "injured" leg/knee. The shoulder pads were key to the authenticity and the mini-football ("to make you look bigger," according to Kristen) added a nice extra touch. The naughty nurses wore go-go boots and huge platform shoes, plus carried stethoscopes.

After a few cocktails at Kristen's, we went to The Pub and joined others who were in the island Halloween spirit. We were a big hit from the moment we walked in and I even won a Shipyard Brewing long-sleeve Pumpkinhead Ale tee-shirt! Halloween Jell-o shots were served and we refrained from bobbing from apples in the huge vat provided.

We may be a little island, but we know how to have big fun!

. . .

Birthday Weekend

2008-10-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

A bunch of friends gathered at the Beal's camp on Squam Lake in New Hampshire this past weekend to celebrate Alex's partner Brian's big 40th birthday on Saturday. Squam Lake is where the movie On Golden Pond was filmed and it was even more of a jewel with the autumn colors framing the setting.

We had a very fun time together, eating extraordinarily well thanks primarily to the amazing Alex Beal and his non-stop cooking for the crowd. Chicken, grilled steaks, chowder, salads, roasted potatoes, sauteed summer squash, roasted acorn squash, stuffed challah french toast, egg casserole, and even homemade carrot cakes (yes, that's plural, cakes) kept everyone incredibly well-fed. It was all made with an extra helping of love as Alex planned and orchestrated it to make this a special weekend for Brian.

Brian was surprised by his best friend Mark's arrival (along with Jeremy, Mark's bf) late on Friday night from Los Angeles. Brian was almost speechless. And other surprises included a gorgeous custom-made scrapbook that was assembled with pages from each of his friends. Brian invoked the spirit of mahalo to share with us how grateful he was that we were sharing this time with him.

We all went on a short hike on Saturday to the top of Rattlesnake Mountain where the views of Squam Lake were gorgeous. We got this hike in before the weather changed and the heavy rains arrived. We spent Saturday night drinking cocktails and playing a fun party game called "Celebrity." (Who the heck actually knows that Sarah Chalk was the second Becky on the TV show Roseanne??!?)

Sunday was also my birthday and Derek's birthday! So we had two more birthday cakes at lunch!! Good thing that as we had to go our separate ways on Sunday afternoon, that Dan, Peter, James and I did our own longer hike up to the top of Mount Morgan. Sunday's weather was near perfect for autumn with bright, sunny skies. And our hike was more challenging up the steeper trail. We worked off a fraction of the birthday cakes, cookies, and other weekend goodies-- and the view from the summit was truly astounding. ( You can judge for yourself from the photos.)

What a great birthday weekend for all of us! A big mahalo to Alex and Brian and the whole wonderful group of guys. It's going to be a very good year...

. . .

Autumn Hiking up Speckled Mountain

2008-10-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

Dan Pelletier and I went on an absolutely spectacular hike on Sunday up Speckled Mountain in New Hampshire's White Mountains (Evans Notch) and it was a near perfect autumn day-- cool enough to be comfortable when we were working harder on the steep sections and warm in the sun so we could just wear a light fleece vest or jacket.

And the fall colors, even though they were a bit past peak, were astounding under the brilliant blue cloudless skies. Plus, we mostly had the whole trail to ourselves for the entire hike, passing just a few other contented souls.

The leaves rustled under our feet with every step as we made our way along the 4.1 mile hike to the summit and back down again. The view from the top was extraordinary, with the peaks in Maine (like Sunday River) and New Hampshire (Mt. Washington and the Presidentials) in clear view all around us.

A pair of Canadian Jays kept us company at the summit and seemed used to human visitors as they flee around to check us out and see if we had brought any goodies to share.

The fall colors, although a bit past their peak, were still astounding. And as the light changed in the late afternoon, the forest took on an even deeper, more penetrating vibrancy.

It was an amazing hike and an amazing day! Here's a slideshow of many of the photos from our hike.

And here's a little video clip I took from the summit.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-21T19:10:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween! From David, Kai, and (especially) BOO!

The Obama Hula

2008-10-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

You know, Barak Obama is from Hawaii and I lived there too from 1997 - 2000. Here's some rare footage of the two of us doing a hula that tells a political allegory through this ancient dance.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

And What Rough Beast...

2008-09-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

Maybe every generation feels that too familiar sense of foreboding and urgency that wells from some atavistic personal and social survival instincts. We find ourselves at yet a new crossroads, bearing witness to another defining moment in history and in our own lives. War. Genocide. Natural Disaster. Humanitarian implosion. Economic crisis. Terrorist assault. Death of an iconic leader or enemy.

These can also be our highest moments, when we join in collective awe and pride, tacitly embracing one another in celebratory triumph as fellow human beings and world citizens. At these moments, new markers are placed along the timeline of history and we are propelled forward as kindred souls with both a shared and deeply personal sense of gratitude, purpose and possibility.

And there are those awful times when we lose our breath in shock, fear and grief, when nearly incomprehensible ugliness and cruelty are hurled upon the world. Deliberate pain and evil is inflicted on adults and children. Families are rended. Communities are devastated. Governments fail. Economies crumble. Civilizations devolve. As always, the disenfranchised are made to suffer disproportionately. And many types of insidious violence are perpetuated.

Are we at another such precipice?

William Butler Yeats captured this moment in his unnerving poem, The Second Coming. It was first published in 1920, in the wake of the First World War, but before the horrors of the Second World War and The Holocaust. It is still hauntingly dire and poignant:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

We have choices to make, political and personal. Will fear prevail and dictate our actions and our future? Will hope and possibility be our beacons and guides? Do we open ourselves up and embrace one another? Or do we put up barriers and try to protect what cannot be made safe, what can never be made inviolably secure.

...And what rough beast, its hour come round at last/ Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.

Indeed.

. . .

Schlepping for Obama

2008-09-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

I've been getting lots of election material forwarded to me and, among the many superlatives that can be used to describe this particularly important presidential election, one can say that the humor and technological sophistication, as well as sheer resources, being used to produce and circulate this stuff with unprecedented speed is boggling!

One that arrived in my email inbox this morning is linked to The Great Schlep website. It has a pretty funny video with Sarah Silverman exhorting us to understand that Florida is a battleground state where the vote can be swayed in Obama's favor by strategic coercion of our snowbird Jewish parents and grandparents for the good of the country and world. She also offers helpful and offensive reminders about the similarities between middle-aged black men and old Jews.

Here's the video which, in typical Sarah Silverman style, is pretty wonderfully rude. She's so good at making us squirm.

Oy! So now you want I should tell you more about why to vote for that nice black fellow, Barak Obamawitz?!?

. . .

Some More Economic Outlooking

2008-09-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Early in July I responded to an email that Brother Gary had sent by penning some of my own homegrown economic prognostications. Some of those predictions seem to be coming to pass and others are even more clearly in the offing. Here are a few more thoughts to consider, as well as a bit of opinion because, not only do I think the end-game has just changed over this past weekend, I am both a bit more scared and a lot more angry. Here's why...

First, I said back in early July that it will be at least the first or second quarter of 2009 before the [residential] real estate markets begin to reach bottom. Now, I believe that while we may reach a bottom in that timeframe (probably later though), any real recovery and upswing will be seriously delayed, meaning that we'll stay in those depths for a prolonged period of at least several months to a year or more. That means that any industries that are dependent on the housing market as an economic engine will also be groaning along, which also means a sluggish (probably recessionary) economy will be in place for at least all of 2009, if not beyond.

And now the commercial real estate markets, even the ones that had been immune to the downturns across the nation like New York City, San Francisco, and Boston, will be softening substantially. The office sector is sure to be affected, the retail sector is already seeing a serious retrenchment, the industrial sector is shifting, and the hospitality market is slowing considerably.

But in the commercial markets, the real story is the lack of access to debt. For the most part, the institutional lenders are not lending. Some of the larger real estate companies have huge amounts of debt that will be coming due because they used a lot of leverage to expand and get deals done. Now, both banks and real estate companies are focused on "capital preservation," and are implementing crisis strategies accordingly. Core assets are being sold to raise capital to make debt service payments. Staffing cuts and other operating expense reductions are gaining momentum to keep the cash flow capital available to make debt service payments. Empires are at stake and some are teetering. Others have already started to fall (i.e., Macklowe).

It is not business as usual as the focus in the commercial real estate sectors is primarily on managing cash needs, rather than on expanding, upgrading and improving the performance of portfolio assets for the benefit of institutional investors. (And, by the way, most pension plans and money funds that use a balanced portfolio approach to investing have something on the order of at least 10%- 20% of their assets in real estate, so mom and pop should care about how this part of the market also moves.)

There's no "cheap money" catalyst tricks left to inflate these markets. It will take real market underpinnings, jobs, affordable residential real estate , enough creditworthy business tenants, and restored consumer confidence to allow the market to become robust again.

Equity will rule the markets in the commercial sectors as debt capital will be extraordinarily scarce and precious. (The only real lending capacity right now is coming from the local and community and regional banks!)

The days of no-doc "liar's loans" (politely called "Alt-A" loans in the financial industry) are also gone for the swath of homebuyers in this country, as are the almost-too-good-to-be-true loans that allowed people to buy multiples of the amount of house they could practically afford. Even conventional home-buying loans will be all but unattainable for people who have less than truly stellar personal credit as there's no liquidity in these secondary mortgage markets.

But hasn't there been some good recent news in the background? The U.S. dollar has staged a small rally and crude oil prices retreated from their high of $140 per barrel to just above $90 per barrel.

Well, yes, except as of this morning, the dollar is losing strength again--thanks to unprecedented US government bailouts of the US financial sector using US taxpayer money which will have to be raised by selling US Treasury securities into a saturated field of non-US institutional investors. And oil had its largest one-day price jump ever, surging $16.37 per barrel! But what the rest of the world is realizing, as evidenced by the devalued US dollar and consequent spike in oil prices, is that this ridiculous new proposed bailout plan is being foisted upon the US citizenry & taxpayers in record time because we are, in general as a nation, asleep, uninformed and scared.

Some say we're averting a greater meltdown that could cause enormous uncertainty, losses and pain in the economy for average citizens. This may be partially true, but if we are being honest, isn't it also an enormously politically-motivated move to keep the markets from imploding before the November elections?

The foreign markets understand what is going on. They look at the broader US economy and wonder if the turmoil has something to do with the excesses on Wall Street that kept the general economy artificially cranking after the battering caused by the 9/11 terrorists. And then there's the little fact of the US budget and our deficit being financed by our great-great-great-great grandchildren as the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being financed off the budget balance sheet.

Off-balance sheet financing seemed to work so well for our current administration that it's the ask-no-questions-'cause-this-is-an-emergency way to also handle the recent Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, and AIG bailouts. And now it looks like we're going to have an additional $700 billion mortgage bailout plan which, when all costs get tallied, will surely become a $1,000,000,000 (that's a one TRILLION dollar) boondoggle.

Boondoggle? Aren't you just being a little angry and cynical, Dave?

Well, angry, yes, but objectively, how is any of this truly expected to be recaptured or repaid when the value of the underlying collateral has already been lost and when the things being bought are securities derivatives that no one truly understands how to value in a declining market?

It's amazing that for the greater-good-of-the-larger-whole-and-bigger-picture, our Washington representatives can try to push through a massive US taxpayer bailout of the financial sector. (We may even want to debate whether a "bailout" is dubious in its very conceptualization as the free markets will still seek their own level of parity anyway.) But how is it that these same grand paternalistic thinkers can have this holistic view when for more than two decades and through two different administrations encompassing both Democrats (Clintons) and Republicans (Bushes) they couldn't find a fraction of this $700 billion amount to, say, help reform education or provide better access to healthcare for most Americans?

So when our leaders purport to suddenly have our societal best interests at heart as they are reaching deep into the Treasury pots-O'gold that we taxpayers filled, all the while claiming that they are in a better position to make these holistic assessments and that we need, therefore, to trust them, maybe it's not so fringe-lunatic crazy to be a bit skeptical? If millions of regular Americans can be hurting from lack of reasonable health insurance and if other millions are having their savings vaporized and homes foreclosed upon, where's the greater-good-of-the-larger-whole-bigger-picture help going?

Oh yeah... This is an election year and the people being hurt most at the moment are well-connected rich folks. Oops. I forgot that's how it works in the real world. My bad.

Political expediency is the greater good being considered right now. So maybe the bigger picture goal is to keep this economic car engine held together with some very expensive duct tape amd bubble gum. This should keep it on the road, maybe, until it gets past the election in November. Don't worry about the upcoming bumps in the road of whopping heating oil prices and dismal holiday retail sales because these won't jar the jury-rigged ugly mess too much.

...But you'd better fasten your seatbelt.

By the way, the folks who caused this mess in the financial sectors will be spending their holidays skiing in the Alps or sunning in Tahiti since they got enormous salaries and bonuses last year (and even into this year). That's truly what got us into trouble, in case anyone is keeping score.

How so? Well, just like the Savings and Loan debacle of the late 80's/early 90's, the industry was thrown into hyperdrive by an incentive compensation structure that rewarded people for creating and churning loans and financial transactions to create sheer volume. S&L loan officers only received year-end bonuses if they met their production goals, so when they hit a natural slowdown after saturating the market with good loans, they made bad loans. And then they made truly terrible loans. But they made loans, generated volume, and got their bonuses.

Well, at least until the S&L industry collapsed, many of the greed-is-good jerks lost their jobs, the bad banks imploded or consolidated, and the US Government stepped in with the largest bailout in history which entailed the creation of a new government bailout entity called the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC).

Hmmm... Does something sound kind of familiar here?

Except this time, with the investment banks, it was an incentive compensation plan gone amok that was fueled by even higher octane, newly discovered volatile compounds that were distilled out of crude cheap money from ultra-low federal interest rates that made a new nuclear rocket concoction called Collateralized Debt Securities (CDS) and Collateralized Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS).

This allowed the piggish investment banks and colluding rating agencies to replay the S&L abuse strategy, but on on an exponential scale. Some investment banks used 30:1 leverage because this scheme was so "profitable," at least to the executives of these firms. (That's like being able to afford a $100,000 house and going out and buying a $3,000,000 mansion because you could sign your own loan documents attesting to your own ability to repay the mortgage. ...Oh wait. Some folks actually did things like that, too.)

And now, when the conflagration has gone out of control, when the reactor core has gone into meltdown, when the foundation is failing and the walls are beginning to quake and tumble, now we are looking at the mess and saying, "Huh! Would'ya look at that. Didn't see that coming. Maybe we should hurry up and try to do something, like to build some containment walls to keep this financial China Syndrome from happening?"

This trillion dollar bailout plan may douse water on the thing and keep it contained for a bit, but the reckoning can't be contained or denied.

The money in the system is gone. Poof! Vanished. And the real estate markets, as well as other financial markets, will have to drop further before everything will be able to reset and come back to a new post-crash equilibrium.

I'm no soothsayer or scholar, but that's how it happened in the 90's and in other past meltdowns.

And this will spread across the globe before any real recovery takes hold. We live in an integrated global economy. And if you read my blog entry from July 8, 2008, some of my predictions are now becoming conventional wisdom.

So what's on the horizon and how bad might this get for those of us living our more modest lives?

I don't know, but here are some very recent indicators, just a few headlines actually from just today's Wall Street Journal:

So here's some simple advice for these trying times:
Don't panic. This is just a cycle. A pretty ugly down-cycle, but we'll come out of this eventually.

Live within your means and get rid of any unnecessary debt. And build an economic cushion.

Look for opportunities.

Be of good cheer.

And vote the pigs, crooks, liars and dolts out of office in November.

Thanks Maureen!

2008-09-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

NYTimes.com Op-Ed columnist Maureen Dowd published a great piece today that allowed Aaron Sorkin, the creator of the TV show the West Wing, to pen a piece about a fictitious meeting between Obama and the West Wing President Jed Bartlet.

It's so good that I am including it here! Can you imagine if Barak Obama actually said some of these things in his upcoming debate? John McCain would be left speechless... Here's the link if you want to read it in its orginal format:

Op-Ed Columnist - Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

And here's a reprint:

By Maureen Dowd
Published: September 20, 2008

Now that he’s finally fired up on the soup-line economy, Barack Obama knows he can’t fade out again. He was eager to talk privately to a Democratic ex-president who could offer more fatherly wisdom — not to mention a surreptitious smoke — and less fraternal rivalry. I called the “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin (yes, truly) to get a read-out of the meeting. This is what he wrote:

BARACK OBAMA knocks on the front door of a 300-year-old New Hampshire farmhouse while his Secret Service detail waits in the driveway. The door opens and OBAMA is standing face to face with former President JED BARTLET.

BARTLET Senator.

OBAMA Mr. President.

BARTLET You seem startled.

OBAMA I didn’t expect you to answer the door yourself.

BARTLET I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET Come on in.

BARTLET leads OBAMA into his study.

BARTLET That was a hell of a convention.

OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it.

BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America. I’ve been a little out of touch but is there a mandate that the vice president be skilled at field dressing a moose —

OBAMA Look —

BARTLET — and selling Air Force Two on eBay?

OBAMA Joke all you want, Mr. President, but it worked.

BARTLET Imagine my surprise. What can I do for you, kid?

OBAMA I’m interested in your advice.

BARTLET I can’t give it to you.

OBAMA Why not?

BARTLET I’m supporting McCain.

OBAMA Why?

BARTLET He’s promised to eradicate evil and that was always on my “to do” list.

OBAMA O.K. —

BARTLET And he’s surrounded himself, I think, with the best possible team to get us out of an economic crisis. Why, Sarah Palin just said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” Can you spot the error in that statement?

OBAMA Yes, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t funded by taxpayers.

BARTLET Well, at least they are now. Kind of reminds you of the time Bush said that Social Security wasn’t a government program. He was only off by a little — Social Security is the largest government program.

OBAMA I appreciate your sense of humor, sir, but I really could use your advice.

BARTLET Well, it seems to me your problem is a lot like the problem I had twice.

OBAMA Which was?

BARTLET A huge number of Americans thought I thought I was superior to them.

OBAMA And?

BARTLET I was.

OBAMA I mean, how did you overcome that?

BARTLET I won’t lie to you, being fictional was a big advantage.

OBAMA What do you mean?

BARTLET I’m a fictional president. You’re dreaming right now, Senator.

OBAMA I’m asleep?

BARTLET Yes, and you’re losing a ton of white women.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET I mean tons.

OBAMA I understand.

BARTLET I didn’t even think there were that many white women.

OBAMA I see the numbers, sir. What do they want from me?

BARTLET I’ve been married to a white woman for 40 years and I still don’t know what she wants from me.

OBAMA How did you do it?

BARTLET Well, I say I’m sorry a lot.

OBAMA I don’t mean your marriage, sir. I mean how did you get America on your side?

BARTLET There again, I didn’t have to be president of America, I just had to be president of the people who watched “The West Wing.”

OBAMA That would make it easier.

BARTLET You’d do very well on NBC. Thursday nights in the old “ER” time slot with “30 Rock” as your lead-in, you’d get seven, seven-five in the demo with a 20, 22 share — you’d be selling $450,000 minutes.

OBAMA What the hell does that mean?

BARTLET TV talk. I thought you’d be interested.

OBAMA I’m not. They pivoted off the argument that I was inexperienced to the criticism that I’m — wait for it — the Messiah, who, by the way, was a community organizer. When I speak I try to lead with inspiration and aptitude. How is that a liability?

BARTLET Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

OBAMA You’re saying race doesn’t have anything to do with it?

BARTLET I wouldn’t go that far. Brains made me look arrogant but they make you look uppity. Plus, if you had a black daughter —

OBAMA I have two.

BARTLET — who was 17 and pregnant and unmarried and the father was a teenager hoping to launch a rap career with “Thug Life” inked across his chest, you’d come in fifth behind Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and a ficus.

OBAMA You’re not cheering me up.

BARTLET Is that what you came here for?

OBAMA No, but it wouldn’t kill you.

BARTLET Have you tried doing a two-hour special or a really good Christmas show?

OBAMA Sir —

BARTLET Hang on. Home run. Right here. Is there any chance you could get Michelle pregnant before the fall sweeps?

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well ... let me think. ...We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know ... I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

OBAMA Good to get that off your chest?

BARTLET Am I keeping you from something?

OBAMA Well, it’s not as if I didn’t know all of that and it took you like 20 minutes to say.

BARTLET I know, I have a problem, but admitting it is the first step.

OBAMA What’s the second step?

BARTLET I don’t care.

OBAMA So what about hope? Chuck it for outrage and put-downs?

BARTLET No. You’re elite, you can do both. Four weeks ago you had the best week of your campaign, followed — granted, inexplicably — by the worst week of your campaign. And you’re still in a statistical dead heat. You’re a 47-year-old black man with a foreign-sounding name who went to Harvard and thinks devotion to your country and lapel pins aren’t the same thing and you’re in a statistical tie with a war hero and a Cinemax heroine. To these aged eyes, Senator, that’s what progress looks like. You guys got four debates. Get out of my house and go back to work.

OBAMA Wait, what is it you always used to say? When you hit a bump on the show and your people were down and frustrated? You’d give them a pep talk and then you’d always end it with something. What was it ...?

BARTLET “Break’s over.”

The Hippy-Dippy Fair 2008

2008-09-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a spectacular autumn day, just perfect for a drive up to Unity, Maine to go to the Common Ground Fair, one of my most favorite annual events. Charlie Pollock, Tim Diehl and I had so much fun at the "Hippy-Dippy Fair," as we call it sometimes. The Press Herald ran an article in Monday morning's paper (9/22/08) that appropriately described the fair as the, "... place where dreadlocks meet mohawks and ponytails. Part hippie love-in, part political convention and agricultural celebration..." And it's pretty popular up here in these parts, with an estimated 60,000+ people attending this year!

The fair has been running for more than 30 years. It's organized by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and it focuses on sustainable agriculture and living. The fair is a zero-waste event, meaning everything is recycled, composted or reused. And all of the fair food is organic and/or local. They only allow foods that can be grown in Maine, so there's blueberry ice cream (and peach, apple, and cherry...), but no chocolate! There's pea soup, falafel, lamb kabobs, haddock chowder, and even deep fried shitake mushrooms. But no coffee, unless you buy it from one of the vendors just outside the fairgrounds. The burgers are made with local organic beef, the french fries are from Maine potatoes, and the lemonade... Hey. they don't grow lemons in Maine!?!?

The traffic getting in and out can be awful at times, but it's still worth it. There are tents full of arts and crafts, food, social action and community organizations, green building products, a farmer's market, livestock (cows, horses, chickens, pigs, rabbits, etc.), vegetable exhibitions, music, performances, and demonstrations of all kinds-- all of which are all insanely cool to a city boy like me.

One of the most amazing things is the border collie sheepherding demonstrations. These are some ultra-smart and well-trained dogs. They can get the sheep (and even a flock of ducks) to do what they want mostly by just making threatening eye contact with them. I captured a bit of it on video.

We laughed all day and made fun of the weird and curious, which included people, as well as exhibits. The Vegetable Oddities table also caught our particular attention. Regressing to moronic sophomoric humor is part of the natural essence of this organic environment. OK, maybe that's just our natural state.

And it was great to meet Matt and John there, too! (They're the handsome couple in the last photos in the slideshow above.)

I'll be going again next year. You coming?

Sea Dogs with Dad

2008-08-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dad arrived yesterday for a visit with me in Portland and on Peaks Island. We brought his minivan over to the island and then went back to town to have dinner and go to a Portland Sea Dogs baseball game. (The Sea Dogs are a AAA team for the Boston Red Sox.) It was a perfect summer night for a ballgame and Hadlock Field is such a great venue. You are so close to the field and players and the mascots and small town silliness makes it all great fun.

Oh, and the beer and peanuts were great, too!

Team Isaac Visits Peaks

2008-08-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

Isaac KW-B was born on July 22, 2008 at 6:47 am weighing 8lbs. 11oz. and measuring 21.5 inches long. Yay!! "Mom" (Harriet), "Ema" (Ayelet, the birth mother), and "Dad" (Michael) are now lovingly referred to as "Team Isaac."

And I get to be a totally smitten "uncle" to the extraordinary tyke. He's gorgeous and, of course, way above average!

Team Isaac had its first adventure far afield from home just five weeks after the blessed event. They drove up to Portland and took the ferry over to Peaks Island to come for a weekend visit. It was fantastic weather and we went for walks, runs, bike rides, and basked in the sun. Michael was the most adventurous and went for a swim in the approx. 60-degree water! Brrrrrr...

And, of course, we ate like royalty all weekend. I was in heaven having a captive audience to cook for. And they were suitably impressed and adoring of everything. We're talking fresh tomato soup, marinated steak, ruggelah, fruit salads, creamy bean soup, fresh Swiss chard from my garden, etc., etc., etc.

We managed to capture a lot of the weekend doings on camera, as you can see. It was a great weekend, all around.

And now I have another amazing kid in my life! Does this make me part of the extended Team Isaac?

Economic Prognostication

2008-07-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

My brother Gary emailed me an article in today's New York Times written by Charles Duhigg entitled Mortgage Shares Plummet as Fears Worsen. It foreshadows even darker economic times ahead and it got me thinking. I wrote a reply that I sent to my brother and thought I'd share it here:

- - - - - - - - -

Gary:

I'm certainly no scholar or soothsayer, but when asked in the last year, I have said that it will be at least the first or second quarter of 2009 before we generally hit the bottom of the residential real estate market and all the associated financial underpinnings. All of the mortgage resets that just occurred won't filter down the system into defaults and foreclosures until the last quarter of this year. When all that property hits the market, prices will stall even more. And when no one is buying the vast inventory of homes & condos when the spring "selling season" usually gets into gear, the financial institutions will start dropping prices in a "controlled panic" mode which will ripple through the market. And that's just the top-level residential real estate market impact.

We will also have just gotten through the winter "heating oil" season with energy prices 30% or more above just last year's budget straining prices. Personal discretionary income will be seriously depleted for another huge swath of the country. The Christmas buying season will have been slow (it won't be a total bust though as folks will still buy too much on credit). But the credit card companies will report historic delinquencies as 2009 gets rolling. New car sales will be at unprecedented low levels. Home Depot and Lowes will report record sales drops. Etc.

And Corporate America will retrench as capital becomes even more difficult to access and becomes more expensive (interest rates will be going up). Companies will be shedding jobs and closing unprofitable or marginal production facilities and service offices.

And if we also have some sort of "exogenous shock" (as economists call it) to the system, like a terrorist scare/attack, major energy crisis, global or domestic political upheaval, or disease pandemic, everyone will hunker down even more.

It will just be part of a cycle, albeit a seriously deep part of the down-cycle, but things will recover again once we get to a "bottom" and capital perceives additional value in the current pricing of everything. This won't be a Great Depression II or anything of that nature. And it will ultimately have some benefits, like resetting home prices in most markets to a level that is reasonable for families and first-time home buyers, and spurring innovations in energy, financial services, and possibly even health care delivery. But many people will be seriously hurt, especially the ones who have been living above their means, either on too much credit (because they carry large credit card balances, bought too much home with a crazy mortgage, or have lifestyle obligations that are too dependent on enormous immediate cash flow). And people of modest or low incomes will suffer disproportionately, as always.

And while things are so volatile and much of the economy will be falling, there are at least three sectors that have proven to be somewhat better places to be focused during the lean years: academia, government, and healthcare. Folks can "invest" in these sectors by moving investment capital somehow into these related areas, providing services to these sectors, getting (or retaining and growing) a related job in one of these areas, or going back to school to retool their marketable skills. There will also be opportunities for those who have cash and want to jump in when the time is right.

So, there's plenty more economic trouble to come. That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

Oh, and the democrats will win the presidency, not because Obama is a rock star political savior, but because the majority of voters will vote with their personal pocketbooks in mind and they will vote for major regime change. They will be voting "non-republican status quo." So assuming there are no major politcal disasters, Obama will win not only because he is a good, competent candidate, but because he will also be in the right place at the right time-- the zenith of political expediency! ...But he will inherit a mess and have a rough job after the honeymoon ends.

-David

Easter with My Peeps!

2008-03-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's fitting that I am resurrecting my blog on Easter. It's been almost 3 months since I added an entry and it took a gift from my friend Kristen to move me to want to talk about my peeps. ...Sugar-Free Peeps, to be specific.

These are the actual "Just Born" brand famous Peeps that look like little marshmallow chicks (or sometimes bunnies) that are ubiquitous around Easter. Luckily Kristen and I share much of the same sense of what's curious and ironic in life. So when she saw Sugar-Free Peeps sweetened with Splenda in our little island grocery store, she had to buy them for me. (By the way, wouldn't "Splenda Peeps" make a great drag name??!?)

So, what is it a sign of that there is a market big enough to mass produce Peeps in a Splenda-sweetened version? Are there really so many health conscious people either dieting or watching their sugar intake who also find Easter Peeps so frustratingly irresistible that they need to compromise and buy this new sugar-free version?

Eating lots of regular sugar-laden Peeps might not be a great idea, but there are also specific risks associated with consuming these Splenda Peeps. There's a warning on the back of the package that says, "EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION MAY CAUSE STOMACH DISCOMFORT AND/OR A MILD LAXATIVE EFFECT." So let me make sure I understand this: The liability lawyers know that the very people who may buy the sugar-free version of Peeps may also be so obsessed with Peep eating that they just might go a bit crazy with their Splenda Peeps and eat a small flock? They really needed to include this warning about possibly getting tummy distress and peep pooping ?!?

And for the record, what exactly constitutes "excessive consumption" of sugar-free Peeps? Three? Six? Nine? They come three to a pack, so even just having six little Splenda Peeps would be eating two whole packages. Is that "excessive"?

But it gets even better... Check out the note on the package that reads: "Diabetics: This product may be useful in your diet on the advice of a physician." So now doctors might advise their diabetic patients to eat sugar-free Peeps? And are Splenda Peeps a sound part of the South Beach and Atkins diets?

I was going to ask if we have really become that indulgent as a modern society that we need to have "healthier" versions of Peeps available as a lifestyle choice, but I guess the answer is pretty obvious.

...Oh, and yes, they tasted pretty good. I ate two of the three in the package which amounts to a mere 40 calories. No stomach discomfort. And now I can't wait to see if I can find more on sale for half-price tomorrow!

Can I get reimbursed for these through my flexible spending healthcare account?

Season's First Snow

2007-12-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

It may only be December 4th, but it's officially winter in Maine as we had our first major "snow event" (as the hyper-caffeinated weather forecasters call it). We got about five or six inches of snow (and sleet and slop) between very late Sunday night and early this Tuesday morning. At one point the National Weather Service had a winter storm warning posted saying we should expect 8 - 14 inches of snow, so I guess we made out on the light side this time. More inland and farther north, they received 12 - 18 inches of snow, which pleases folks in the snowmobiling regions.

It's funny but everywhere I have lived prior to moving to Maine, which includes Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston and Honolulu (although they don't get snow in Honolulu!), when several inches of snow is predicted, the general response is, "Oh damn! I hope not!"

But here in Maine, when they predict a big snowfall the general expected response is, "Alright! I hope it's a wicked good storm and we get a mountain of snow!"

Mainers do love snow, most of them anyway... Of course, whether you live in Maine or Boston or Philly, the common stupidity thread is that when a sizable snowstorm is predicted, folks run out to the grocery store and buy up "supplies" as if they were going to be snowbound for a month. Do you really need an extra two gallons of milk in the fridge when the streets will be plowed and cleared within a few hours? They know how to handle snow in this town people! You do not need extra loaves of bread, a half dozen cans of soup, and five gallon dispensers of bottled water!

My friend Kristen and I have this plan we'll put into action the the next time they forecast a major snowstorm. We're going to go to the supermarket and clean out the shelves of a couple completely inane items, like all of the anchovies or every last bag of marshmallows, and let the panicky hordes wonder what they must be missing.

And why do people forget how to drive from one snow season to the next? Actually, how do they have driving amnesia from one snowstorm to the next? The headlines in the paper seem to always tell of some tragic snow related accident or pile up the morning after a big storm.

December 21st is still two and a half weeks away, but it's officially winter here in Maine. Do you have enough anchovies to make it through until spring??!?

"I'm with Bob..."

2007-10-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was in New York City over the weekend of October 11-14 for the annual Board meeting of the North American Friends of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute (NAF-IOLR). I'll blog more about this amazing scientific organization later.

My folks and my brother Dan and sister-in-law Sara were also in NYC for the meetings and part of the weekend. On Saturday morning, we all met at a good NYC breakfast place on the upper east side near the hotel where mom and dad were staying. The breakfast choices from the deli area and from the buffet were typical-NYC boggling. I kept it simple and just had a toasted bagel with cream cheese. (Hey, when in Rome, right?!?)

My dad wanted to treat everyone, so he got to the cashier first and worked out a deal where he left $60 in cash at the register and had a special pass-phrase agreed upon: The cashier agreed that if anyone said the magic words, "I'm with Bob," that would be the code to use whatever cash balance was left to pay for those breakfast items being wrung-up. Dad let us all know to just say, "I'm with Bob," when we got to the cash register with our trays and it worked like a charm. The astounding thing was that no one else caught on to the deal and used the magic words to get a free breakfast!

So, the next time you're in NYC, before paying for your theater tickets, cocktails, or penthouse condominium, try the magic words: I'm with Bob! Won't you be surprised if they nod and wave you on...

A Perfect Autumn Weekend in Maine

2007-10-08T17:12:00.001-07:00

Michael, Harriet & A.B. came to Peaks Island for a Columbus Day weekend visit. The weather was spectacular and made for a fantastic early-autumn outing in Maine. The light in the autumn takes on a clarity and brilliance that truly has to be experienced to be viscerally understood. It's heady, almost intoxicating. Summer is warm and wonderful, but the gift of autumn is why it's worth enduring Maine's long winters.

Everywhere I turned this weekend, there was another scene that looked like a Wyeth painting. And some of it was even a bit impressionistic. (Click on any of the blog photos to see a bigger version.)

I took a bunch of photos this weekend with my new digital camera. As you can see in the slideshow below, we did a lot in just a couple of days.

I have that good kind of tired feeling, after enjoying a great weekend. We biked, jogged, walked, swam (well, only Michael was brave enough to swim in the "bracing" Maine ocean water in October), ate well, slept well, had great conversations, and even got to tour a bit of the Old Port in Portland, too.

"Maine, the way life should be... " That's the official Maine slogan.

Really, it is... Our license plates say "Vacationland," but everything else has the official tagline. And especially on weekends like this, it fits.

Here's the gang on the ferry last night heading into Portland from Peaks.

And I just love this shot of Peaks Island Pure Honey. We found a self-serve display of these bottles sitting on a makeshift table by the water with a sign that said "Small Jars $3.00." Sales were on the island honor system: There was a small bucket on the table in which you left your money and made change if necessary. A small note taped inside the bucket said that any checks should be made out to "cash." It's like living in Norman Rockwell-ville.

The honey is produced from bees kept here in an apiary on Peaks Island. It's the real thing. So, we bought six bottles! If you come for a visit, you just might get lucky and could go home with one of these jars of liquid gold!

Culture Shock

2007-09-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm back home again. I arrived at the Portland Jetport around 11:30 last night and slept over at Charlie's house in town. I woke up early this morning and Charlie gave me a ride to the ferry to catch the 7:45 a.m. to the island. We're having an unseasonably warm stretch of weather here in Maine (it reached 90-degrees here in Portland today and set a record!) and hanging out on the outside decks of the ferry, sans-tourists since it post-season, is great. But my thundering surf, three-story tall ferns, coconut laden palms, and legions of geckos have been replaced suddenly with quiet harbors, early autumn colored oaks and maples, lobster boats hauling traps, and seals cavorting in the bay.

Everything seems so clean and modern and orderly. And the roads are relatively flat & straight, well-paved, and wide. As the taxi drove from the Portland Jetport last night along Congress Street--with its two lanes in each direction--to take me to Charlie's house, I had the thought that this would pass for a superhighway or autobahn in Dominica!

The cats were very happy to see me when I opened the door to my cottage. Tammy was still there as she had stayed over at my place for one more night of house and cat-sitting. (Thanks Tammy!)

After going through a mound of mail, magazines and newspapers, unpacking, starting a load of laundry, and picking up around the house a bit, I jumped in the shower and got cleaned up. It felt like I was washing a week's worth of Dominica off my body.

I took the ferry back into town and drove to my office at CEI, but I still have Dominica in my head. I feel like I've just flashed forward in time about 50 years in terms of entering modern life again and about a couple million years in terms of leaving the dinosaur-filled jungles behind.

This is truly another world.

...I wonder what else is out there??!? Hmmm... Where to next?

I Knew He Wasn't Me

2007-09-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

We have to jump through so many hoops to go through all sorts of checks and double-checks to get through airport security. No matter if you are checking in at a teeny-tiny little airport like in Dominica or in San Juan or JFK, you have to show photo I.D. at the ticket counter, then again along with your boarding pass to even be able to stand in the x-ray security check line. They make you take your shoes off, empty your pockets of any metal objects and coins, put your laptop in a separate plastic tub through the conveyor belt, and have all your liquids, creams & gels (none bigger than 3 oz.!) in yet another separate one-quart clear plastic baggie. And then you walk through the metal detector with your boarding pass in hand.

So I went through all of this security yet again in San Juan as I had to claim my luggage from the LIAT flight from Dominica/Antigua and then haul it back up to the ticket counters, go through the USDA x-ray inspection, and check it in with JetBlue to NYC/PWM.

My JetBlue flight boards and I get on this brand spanking new Airbus A320 plane. As a matter of fact, the plane is so new that they announced that the satellite dish on the top of the plane had not been connected yet, so we wouldn't be pacified into a multimedia stupor by any of the little TV set programs, movies or XM Radio usually available on JetBlue flights. Bummer. Still, this is a comfy plane and is quite a change from the ancient and crappy deHavilland Dash 8's that LIAT flies.

So I'm boarding the plane and I get to my seat, which is an aisle seat in the exit row (score!), but there's a young guy already sitting there, in my seat. No problem, I figure. I'll just politely ask him if he's in the right seat and show him my boarding pass for seat 11D. He smiles and pulls out his boarding pass and it also says 11D for the same flight!

But here's the kicker. His boarding pass has MY NAME on it! Yup. He's got a duplicate of my boarding pass showing my name and my seat! WTF?!?

I'm suddenly wondering if I'm on Candid Camera or if I have become slightly schizophrenic after my jungle fever. Maybe he's my secret sharer, my doppleganger?

But nope. He's a young guy named Petricio Colon.

Somehow, despite all of the security, despite having to show photo I.D. multiple times and going through all of that annoying-but-let's-be-safe-good-citizens security, JetBlue and everyone else screwed up enough to issue him a boarding pass with my name on it, that didn't match his driver's license, and then let him board. They even issued him the second boarding pass to Portland, Maine even though he was only going to New York City as his final destination. And he never noticed anything was off either!

We alerted them to the error and they got Petricio his own, correct boarding pass. "Wow, we've never seen that one before," they all said.

Petricio sat in the window seat in the same exit row in the shiny new airplane headed to New York and I glanced over several times during the flight just to make sure that he really wasn't me.

Departing Dominica

2007-09-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

We had a call last night from Dominica's Disaster Relief Coordinator alerting us to the fact that a new tropical depression dubbed #97L was blooming and that heavy rains and storm conditions would probably hit the island after midnight. Sam & Laura warned me that there was a good chance that my flight might not be able to go out in the morning. They also said that if the weather was really stormy, there would be a good chance that the phones, mobile phones and internet would all be down. So I sent out a preemptive email last night letting folks back home know what was going on, just in case things got all bollixed-up and I couldn't get word out that I was delayed.

Well, I was up until almost 3:30 a.m. finishing my work on a draft report that we have to submit today and then packing to be ready to leave very early and there were a few passing showers, but no heavy weather. I woke up after just a couple of hours sleep to a decent day, too. There have been some off and on showers this morning, but otherwise it looks like a fine day for flying.

I've already survived the harrowing hour and 45 minute drive to the Dominica airport. The roads here are just insane and driving is a blood sport. In any event, it looks like I'll be on the flight that is supposed to leave for Antigua in about 30 minutes. Then it's a connection to San Juan. Then I change to a JetBlue flight to NYC-JFK and, after a three hour layover, I have my last flight to Portland. If all goes as scheduled, I should arrive in Maine a little before midnight, too late to make the last ferry back to Peaks Island tonight. So I'll be staying in town tonight at a friend's. (Thanks Charlie!)

Oh, and yes, in this strange little third-world country airport, they actually have free Wifi at the airport! There's just a funky bar of soap sitting on top of a decapitated liquid soap dispenser in the men's room. There's a security check area that could fit into my home coat closet. And the "gate area" is about 100 feet from the runway. ...But they have free Wifi.

I love this Banana Republic!

Bagels & Breyers!

2007-09-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

I'm in the capital city of Roseau in Dominica at the moment. Sam, Laura & I came here this morning to attend a conference on business financing that USAID-COTS was coordinating. Laura and I stayed for the first two hours, but the presentations were not very helpful for our needs, so we left and Sam stayed. Sam is there more for the networking opportunity than the information. I got to see my friend Jeannelle Blanchard from USAID-COTS, so that was good, too.

Laura and I walked around the port area for a bit and I was able to pick up a few things as gifts for folks, like some amazing local rum that is infused with real cocoa beans (still in the bottle!). They gave me a taste and it is incredible. Woohoo!!

And I bought another bottle of rum in a different store that is made in the local Dominican rum distillery, Macoucherie Rum, but this is a special kind that is infused with Bois Bande, an herb that is supposedly an aphrodisiac. Again, Woohoo!!

I also bought a couple little gifts that actually are not booze related. (US Customs only allows you to bring back two liters of alcohol per trip anyway... Spoil sports.)

We stopped in a local grocery store, too, which I always find fascinating. You can tell a lot about the day to day culture of a place, and its economic, cultural, and social trends just by seeing what is on the shelves. It's telling if they carry a lot of junk foods, imported produce, and global brands. It was strange, for instance, to see that they carried only plastic bags of Dole carrots when they have such fantastic local organic produce everywhere on this verdant island!

I also love scouting for the local specialties and brands of things, especially the things that are completely different and even boggling sometimes (i.e., the Bois Bande infused Macoucherie rum). The local baked goods section is always quite enlightening; I found out that very dark, dense fruitcake is a particular specialty here, for instance.

And I did a "globalization" double-take, twice! First, I saw a bunch of bagels in the deli case--real, honest-to-goodness bagels! Not some awful doughnutty Wonder Bread type impostors either. These, as you can see, were better looking than what you'd find in most U.S. Midwestern states. But you can forget about finding any lox here. Salmon is not a species of fish they ever see in these tropical waters. They actually have bagels, cream cheese and smoked marlin on the menu of a cafe in Roseau! (I wonder what they'd use in place of matzah balls? Breadfruit balls?)

And the other non-sequitir of sorts was passing a case in the frozen food aisle and seeing it stocked with Breyers ice cream! As a Philly-boy, that really tickled me. And it was even the specialty line of Breyers "Carb Select" ice cream. So now I know where to get some Breyers mint chocolate chip ice cream to soothe my heartburn after a big meal of Pig's Tail Soup or curried goat.

And I'm posting this entry from a little waterfront cafe that has wireless internet access. I ordered a glass of fresh passionfruit juice to go along with my blogging. (It's still a bit too early to order spiced rum punch.)

Yah Mahn!

You Bettah Work!

2007-09-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday has been a day of working non-stop. Yesterday was my day to play and go sightseeing, thanks to Sam and Laura, but today we've all been cranking to get our first draft of our ecolodge resort proposal ready for delivery tomorrow.

We'll also be attending a USAID-COTS meeting and presentation in Roseau tomorrow morning. And we'll probably go to the Carib Territory to do some work tomorrow afternoon. Then it's one more night's sleep in this island paradise before I catch an early morning flight for my first of four legs of a trip home. If all goes according to travel plans, I should get back to Portland, Maine by a little before midnight on Tuesday.

I may have to sacrifice a virgin to the island volcano god to appease him and enlist his help in granting me safe and non-delayed travel back home.

Any volunteers?

Another Really Good Day, I Hope...

2007-09-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

Dominica is so much like Hawaii that it's scary. It reminds me a lot of Kauai, both having lush jungles, rainforests, amazing valleys, coastlines, and mountains. One big difference though, however, are the roads here.

In my last post I said that Sam's wife and I had guesstimated that the steepest roads were maybe around a 40% slope. But Sam said that the steepest roads are just 30% slopes. In most of the civilized world, you can only build a road with a maximum of a 20% slope, which to most of us would seem ridiculous. 30% is crazy. And it's all switchbacks, washed out sides, and death defying drops. Oh, but as we were driving around today, we came upon a temporary detour where the torrential rains from the recent Hurricane Dean and the additional huge storms that followed had caused a whole portion of the roadway to collapse and slide off the mountain.

This detour was, even by demented Dominican roadway engineering standards, wildly steep. We're talking so steep that I couldn't believe Sam's 4WD Suzuki SUV, even in 4WD low gear, could strain hard enough to make it up some of these mud and rock and cement hills and switchbacks. I was sure that the car was going to actually flip back on its rear bumper before turtling completely and letting us slide on our roof off the top of the mountain. But, as you can tell from this blog entry, we made it safe and sound both there and back. It was absolutely, completely mental though.

So, I've been out all day with folks from the Jungle Bay Resort and all in all it's been another really good day. Sam and Laura, the owner and the marketing manager (also the two people with whom I'm working on the consulting job) took me around part of the island to see a bunch of very cool things. We went to the big city called Roseau and stopped at the Saturday market. I bought some cocoa sticks so that when I get back home I can make this fabulous cocoa tea that I've been drinking since I got here. (Think incredibly delicious organic dark chocolate, like hot chocolate, that is also very healthy--high in antioxidants, low in fat and no sugar or milk unless you choose to add them.) Sam also bought some sugar apples (also called sweet apples in Africa). It's a type of fruit I've never tried and it was delicious. You kind of eat it like a pomegranate, eating the sweet fruit flesh from around lots of large individual seeds held inside the outer peel.

We then went to a place called Fresh Water Lake, part of the Tres Pitons National Park set in the mountains, but it was no great shakes from my perspective, just an uninspiring small fresh water mountain lake, which in a tropical island, I guess, is a bit of a novelty, at least for the residents.

But our next stop, Trafalgar Falls, was truly beautiful and wild. There are actually twin waterfalls there. The bizarre thing is that one waterfall is fed by hot spring waters and the other is cold river water! Laura and I made a wise decision to soak in one of the hot water pools below the falls and, as they say, it didn't suck.

The island is still pretty geologically active, obviously and hot springs and even a place called "Boiling Lake" are famous features in Dominica. (BTW, I was told later in the day by a Rastafarian guy with dreadlocks who also happens to be a well-read philosopher and practicing intellectual property rights lawyer that Boiling Lake is the only fumerole fed lake of its kind in North America and the largest "boiling lake" in the world. Who knew??!?) The spray from the cascading waterfalls made everything drenched and the cold water was bracing, but sitting in the mineral rich hot water pools was pretty tropical-paradise-fantastic.

And then we went to Screw's Spa, which is a "spa" of sorts owned by a guy named Screw (that his real last name) who built hot-tub-type natural rock pools at a site fed by some very hot spring water. There was a series of three pools (there's usually a couple more, but they were damaged by Hurricane Dean and the subsequent flooding and rockslides). For the record, I tried all three pools and I could only handle soaking in two of them as the third was just way too hot (all natural heating, of course!).

And finally, the craziest capper to the day was that on the way back to the resort at the very end of our outing, we stopped by to see some of Sam's friends at a drive by roadside "bar." They were cutting up lots of ganja (pot) and rolling joints. Sam had told me about this local moonshine of sorts called "Jai Danielles," which is the Rastafarian was of saying Jack Daniels. It's basically a big jar of island rum to which a whole lot of marijuana has been added so that the ganja steeps in the rum for a week or two. It's purported to be quite the hooch. Sam wanted me to try it and all the guys at the bar were happy to see me accept their local courtesy. So I had two small shots (each followed by a shot of plain water). I can report that it tasted just fine, with kind of a burning herbal flavor. I can also report that it hasn't seemed to make me feel drunk, high, or otherwise all that intoxicated. Well, I guess I do feel very, very mellow...

Oh, and I did all this on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar! Yom Tov y'all.

It did dawn on me though that not only did I not fast today, but I had Pig's Tail Soup for lunch, which is more of a stew than a soup and is a local delicacy of sorts. And yes, there was real pig's tail in it, kind of like oxtail soup, but with pigs' tail(s). The soup/stew was great, with red beans and veggies, but the actual nubs of pigs' tails were not my favorite, I have to admit. The soursop juice drink though was pretty good. (Trying soursop was yet another first for me!)

All in all, it was a great day, but somewhere along the line, I probably bought myself an express train ticket to hell. I just hope God understands and is laughing with me.

Really Steep Hills & Spotted Blue Lizards

2007-09-22T07:39:00.001-07:00

For the past two mornings I've gone out around 6:30 a.m. with Glenda, Sam's wife, to walk to the top of the mountain on the main road. It's a paved road, but it unbelievably steep for a regular vehicle roadway. I am not exaggerating that Glenda and I guessed that there were parts of the road that were at around a 40-degree angle! I tried to take a few photos, but learned you really can't capture how steep a road is. The camera is level, but without the third dimension of distance, you can't tell how the road points way up (or down). I tried to capture it in these shots, but you'll have to just take my word for it that it's kind of crazy.

We made it to the top of the road/mountain in about 40 minutes, which Glenda was happy about, saying that I was getting her to pick up her speed. I doubt that. She's a yoga instructor and is younger and is in great shape! But maybe my running has helped. (Did I mention I did my second 10-K run last Sunday, the Portland Trails to Ale Run? I shaved about 2.5 minutes off my 10-K Beach to Beacon time, and I somehow came in about three seconds ahead of Dan Pelletier who is a much better runner. To be fair, he had a cold and was not up to his best, which gave me an edge this time.)

It feels really good to get to the top of the mountain road. The views as you get that high up are quite stunning. This is such a green, fertile place.

Walking up and walking down again is amazing exercise that gives an great workout to your quads, hamstrings and glutes, as well as your lungs. It's been pretty steamy and hot here these days and I'm drenched by the time we walk all the way up. And it's no picnic coming back down again on those steep hills and curves (although it is easier than the initial climb). A couple of cars passed us on the way up and way down and you can hear them coming for quite some time before they show up around the nearest curve as their motors are whining and straining in low gear to negotiate the hills.

I had a couple of Johnny Cakes, a fresh ripe banana, local watermelon, and more hot cocoa tea for breakfast when we got back. ...And lots of water.

On the way back to my cottage to shower and get ready to go to town with Sam and Laura (we're headed to the big city here called Roseau to go to the big Saturday Market there), I spotted a couple of the elusive and beautiful big spotted blue lizards. They are very timid and zip into the dried leaves and underbrush when the sense you are anywhere near, but I was able to get a couple of decent shots of a few before they eluded me.

Spotted blue lizards everywhere... This is sooo far from Maine.

Coconuts, Cocoa, Noni, Breadfruit & Bats

2007-09-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

I love learning about new things and trying new things and this Adventure in Dominica is full of new experiences for me! Today, all in the course of just this one day:

I drank my first coconut water--straight from a freshly macheteed coconut first and then poured into a glass. It was mostly clear, not sweet, but refreshing even at room temperature. They told me it was like natural Gatorade, full of electrolytes, which helped as I had just finished a 90 minute walk up to the top of a very steep mountain top and back down again (the alternative to running in this mountainous jungle).

I had my first cups of real cocoa "tea" from cocoa grown here in Dominica--which is minimally processed and formed into little logs or cubes that can be dissolved in water, steeped, strained, mixed with a few spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove, and served so you can add any sugar or milk, if you want. It is the best chocolaty drink I've ever had AND it's supposed to be very healthy (low caffeine, low or no sugar, and high in antioxidants!).

I saw my first noni fruit growing wild--not that I've ever seen one cultivated before either. If you haven't heard of the noni plant and noni juice before, you'll see it in health food stores and even places like Costco and BJ's Wholesale Club in the U.S. It supposedly has great antioxidant and health benefits and is used in alternative medicine with purported curative powers for cancer and other diseases.

I ate my first breadfruit--which is a fruit that grows on a tree, but has almost the exact same taste and consistency of white potatoes. I tasted it steamed (which tasted like a baked potato, but less mealy) and made into a breadfruit salad (which was just like potato salad with a bit of may, onion and carrot mixed in).

And I swam in my first lava rock swimming pool at night. The water was bathwater warm from the rocks having captured the sun's warmth all day. The bats were out and were flying around and swooping down in these incredibly graceful, lightning fast aerial acrobatics to pick up bugs on the top of the water. It's even more amazing when you realize that they do this by "sighting"their target with sonar.

...Hey, I just realized that most of the "new"experiences were things I got to eat or drink. Well, no wonder I'm ending this day so happy!

Paradise Lost or Found?

2007-09-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is a different world. Dominica is relatively remote and separate from the rest of the world, despite its being part of the Caribbean chain of islands. There are about 70,000 people on this island of about about 290 square miles. That’s like taking the population of just the City of Portland, Maine proper and spreading it out over 290 square miles. Of course, like most places, the people are mostly gathered in modest sized cities, smaller villages, and little hamlets, so most of the island is uninhabited and relatively pristine in its mountainous jungle nature.

So, I haven’t fully decompressed yet, but I am starting to feel like I am a million miles away. The Jungle Bay Resort is a comfortable place that was built with incredible vision and patience, mostly by the hands of newly-skilled local laborers. What they created is nothing short of amazing: reclaimed-wood cottages; a massive wooden restaurant pavilion, a lava stone swimming pool, masonry stone buildings and yoga studios, etc. The individual guest cottages are rustic, but beautiful and very comfortable. The shower is enclosed, but outdoors. There’s a new hammock on the front deck that overlooks trees and ocean. The sound of the crashing surf is a relatively loud constant that lulls me to sleep and generally gives me a feeling of well-being.

They serve mostly locally grown and raised food here. That means fresh fish, locally raised chicken and pork, and a fantastic amount of fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s healthy and delicious. They do serve locally grown coffee here (which I haven’t tried since there’s no decaf version), so java junkies would also be in heaven.

The resort is closed this month as it is their slowest month of the year and Sam (the owner with whom I’m working) decided to use the time to do some construction and upgrades. They’ll reopen again October 4th. I have the place mostly to myself, along with Sam, his wife Glenda, Laura Ell who is the single 32-year old general manager, and two other women, Marcy and Christine, who do operations and marketing (plus a handful of resort staff and construction workers).

Christine is a 27-year old woman from Ontario, Canada who majored in adventure travel tourism, is generously tattooed, is newly pregnant from here Dominican boyfriend, and is a committed expat looking to settle down here now.

Laura has been here for a few years and originally signed on to do some smaller consulting projects for Sam as he got the place up and running. But Laura quickly took on the role of General Manager and has been here doing that as Sam’s sidekick (along with Sam’s wife, Glenda, who is also pretty involved in the Yoga part of things, as well as a lot of the community work). I haven’t spent much time yet with Marcy, so I don’t know her story, but I’ve already made friends with Laura and Christine. I’m working a lot with Laura on this Carib Territory Ecolodge project (the consulting job) and she is great.

Jungle Bay opened about two years ago, in November 2005, after more than three years of community development work, worker training in construction, farming, and tourism/hotel operations. It's now winning all kinds of eco-tourism and adventure travel awards.

I’d say that I’ve “unplugged” since arriving here as there are no TVs around and I haven’t even heard any music playing on a radio or stereo, but I’ve been spending hours on my computer doing work and when I’m at the main lodge building (which is most of the day), I can get a weak WiFi signal and be connected to email and the web. Laura and Christine were very excited to learn that I had brought a few movies on DVD with me and have already planned to have a “movie night” tonight using an LCD projector and a white sheet as a big screen. Christine even mentioned something about making popcorn!

Oh, yeah, and the work is incredibly interesting to me. The community aspect of this project is huge and has the potential to have enormous positive social and cultural benefits for the indigenous Kalinago Tribe of Carib Indians here, the most economically challenged group on an island that is still far behind the rest of the world by most modern measures. Most people here still live a subsistence lifestyle, for example. Sam says that most folks are happy about it and work just enough to make just enough money to buy what they need most. The Kalinago, however, trade mostly in handcrafts (woven baskets for the most part) that they sell primarily to other vendors who make the real profit selling them to the cruise ship passengers.

I’m already philosophically puzzling about whether it is better to bring these folks more into the modern mainstream economically and socially. Sam said that when he worked with the locals to teach them construction trade skills to build Jungle Bay, he took folks who never had any bills to pay and, like a pusher, gave them “a taste of the crack” which made them hooked (his analogy and words). He said they then had some money and then bought things and had bills to pay, but that he sees that they are all doing very well now and have used their skills and experience to get lots of work, some even becoming managers of local construction crews around the island, and some even taking their high-demand trade skills (especially stone masonry and finished carpentry) abroad where they can earn huge relative wages.

But I saw a few guys fishing off the ridiculously rocky beach that’s constantly pounded by the rolling surf. It was simple and beautiful and powerful. And I wondered who was better off in the long run? I’m not romanticizing a subsistence lifestyle that most would call impoverished and parochial, but along with the wonders of modern life come all of the obligations and responsibilities. Sure, better healthcare and education and opportunity lies in the territory of modernity, but so does a host of troubles for those who can’t balance and navigate the cacophony and miasma. Paradise lost?

I doubt there’s ever going back once you’ve been a part of the bigger world, and I look forward to having good teeth, a longer projected lifespan, the opportunity to travel to distant reaches of the globe, experience different cultures, and even ponder these types of questions when I enter a milieu in such contrast to my own. I wonder though by what measures can I understand who is better off, who is richer, who is more settled in spirit, place, and heart?

So these are some questions I can live with during my week here. This is why I love—and need—travel. I need to live these bigger questions.

And then coming home again is very sweet.

Dominica Days

2007-09-19T17:18:00.001-07:00

I left Portland on a 6:00 a.m. flight yesterday morning to fly to Dominica (PWM to JFK to SJU to DOM) and got here last night. It was another hour and a half drive to the Jungle Bay Resort & Spa on roads that twisted and turned and dropped and climbed. It felt like we were on an amusement park ride and I had to do my best to not let that crazy carsick feeling take over. (Maybe riding the ferry to/from Peaks everyday has helped me build some tolerance to motion sickness?) Dominica has nothing but these crazy up & down and twisting switchback road, so to do any traveling here requires a strong constitution. It’s probably easier, too, if you are the driver and not a passenger in the backseat of a hot van.

Dominica is an island of mountains, cliffs and jungles. It’s known as the “Nature Island” of the Caribbean. It's so mountainous here that, even though I brought my running shoes, I doubt I'll be able to do any running! They all laughed and rolled their eyes when I mentioned running here. “We just go for long walks,” they said, implying that only lunatics and masochists go running in a place like this.

So far I've only seen part of the Jungle Bay Resort since we got here when it was already dark and I just took a shower, had some dinner, and went to sleep. I had a chance to go down to the rocky beach just before sunset and it is really beautiful and rugged. Everything feels remote, like this is some jungle in a land that time forgot. (Well, except that I can get mobile phone reception and a WiFi connection when I am back at the main lodge.)

By the way, I have another tropical consulting "office" set-up. I have my laptop outside and a view that is, well, far from the typical office view.

Here’s a short video I shot of the surf and rocky beach at Jungle Bay Resort late this afternoon. The sound of the surf rolling the stones back into the ocean as each wave retreats is pretty amazing. I love that rocky clatter.

It's pretty hot and humid here, but it cooled down and was comfortable sleeping last night. Being an eco-resort, there’s no air conditioning, but the cottages are fantastic. They’re rustic in design, but very comfortable. There's a great semi-outdoor shower with wonderful soaps and shampoos, a great deck overlooking the ocean, a hammock hanging from the deck rafters, a plush king-size bed, ceiling fan, coffee maker, etc. It's great. If you’re into hiking, kayaking and other soft-adventure type activities, there's a huge amount to do here. They also have two great yoga studios and offer mostly locally grown and produced food for meals. Very impressive...

I’m already thinking about organizing a trip down here with a group of friends. Now that would be very fun!

L'Shanah Tovah

2007-09-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year to all of my Jewish compatriots. We're starting the year 5768 and I hope it is a year filled with more peace, more understanding, more caring for one another and our world, more patience, more gratitude, good health, and especially love.

It's the season of reflection, the Days of Awe. I am very, very grateful for all that I have in my life, and for life itself. ...thank you...

...May you be inscribed in the Book of Life. And me too, OK?

I already have the feeling that this is going to be a very good year. And I'm going to be learning a whole lot this year. ...thanks...

I Love Burlington, Vermont

2007-09-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

Burlington, Vermont should be a sister city to Portland, Maine. They both have a very similar vibe: an authentic, earthy, intelligent, clean, genuinely happy, community-minded energy about them.

I'm here for an overnight on business and can sense the early signs of the change from a busy summer to the transitional twilight autumn season. The trees are all still full of green leaves, but every once in a while you can spot a few scarlet or amber leaves that have already rushed to change and fall. It rained most of yesterday which ushered in a Canadian cool, dry air mass and it was bout 55-degrees when i woke up this morning.

I went for a 45-minute run along the Lake Champlain waterfront. The have an awesome biking & running path along the lakefront here in Burlington that extends for miles. Gorgeous views across the lake and a dramatic sky of rolling clouds and filtering sunlight made my run comfortable and a real treat. And the cool lake breezes kept me at just the right running temperature.

I have my second 10-K coming up this weekend and I haven't been doing all that much running or training for it. It's the Portland Trails "Trails to Ales 10-K" along the downtown Portland East End trail. It ends with a gathering at the Shipyard Brewery (hence the "ales" part of the 10-K). Since my trip to Dominica was delayed until next Tuesday, I'll be able to do the run, which may be a bit of a challenge now...

I'll be finishing up here in Burlington this morning and heading back home by around noon. I may take the mountain roads route going home. It's a bit longer, but it should be beautiful today!

Beach to Beacon 10K 2007

2007-08-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

The 10th annual Beach to Beacon road race was held in Cape Elizabeth, Maine yesterday and I ran my first 10K. It was a beautiful morning weather-wise and I had a great time running. There were almost 5,000 officially registered runners and about 10,000 spectators along the run route! It's a big deal for Maine and it now attracts some of the most elite runners in the world.

Here's a short video of some of the the 2007 Beach to Beacon highlights with the winner (from Kenya) and Maine's Governor John Baldacci (who also ran the race!):

My goals were just to finish the 10K run and to enjoy it so that I'd want to do it again. And I did, both! I was advised by many people and seasoned runners that the key was to pace myself and to keep enough in reserve for the big hills that come in the last mile and a half. So I did my normal pace, maybe even a bit slower. I had never run 6.2 miles before and only did my first 5-miler last weekend when I ran in the Peaks Island Road Race.

Here's a photo of me as I passed some friends and was mugging for the camera.

So I surprised myself with how much energy I still had around the 5-mile mark. I picked up my pace a bit and then, as we entered Fort Williams Park and the final big hills that lead to the finish line overlooking the famous Portland Head Light lighthouse, I tried to sprint through the narrow roadway crowds. It was great!

I finished with an official time of 54:15. That a pace of 8:45 per mile. It's a tiny bit slower than my normal pace and I know that next year I can pick it up a bit and do even better!

Here's a photos of Dan Pelletier's "special" easy-to-spot-in-a-crowd running outfit:

After we had all showered and had some breakfast at Dan's we took a photo of the run finishers sporting our 10th Anniversary Beach to Beacon bling that all finishers received.

Then Dan, Kristen and I were invited to go out on Dave & Deb's motorboat for the afternoon. We moored off Cow Island in Casco Bay and lounged in the sun drinking a few beers, munching on snacks, laughing, and taking quick dips in the cold water.

As summer day's go in Maine, it was wicked good.

Heading Back to Antigua

2007-07-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

It feels like I just got over my jetlag coming back from Israel last week and now I'm heading to Antigua again on Monday morning! I'll be there for six days this time. The bank wants Ted and me to help them with their real estate initiative, as we proposed. So we're going back there at the bank's invitation to sign an engagement letter and get started! It pretty exciting.

And there's still a good chance that the other project in Dominica may come together. Then I'd have two consulting gigs in the Caribbean going at the same time. Sweet.

Folks back at work are really wondering how this will all play out and what kind of relationship we will have going forward. So far everyone is being flexible and accommodating and using this as an opportunity to learn how we can work as a more "virtual" organization using technology to let us communicate and collaborate when we are not in the same offices.

It's all pretty exciting. There's no exact model for all of this, so we're making it up as we go. I love that.

Holy Moly! What a Trip!

2007-07-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

My trip to Israel was fantastic-- a real education, an adventure, and a lot of fun. It had been 20 years since I was there last and things had changed a lot. The nationalistic (and zionist) passions were just as strong as before, but the landscape and cities had grown and evolved.

I took over 250 photos, from the Ramon air force base in the Negev, to Eilat, to Jerusalem, to the Kinneret/Gallilee, and all points in between. We covered a huge amount of ground in just six days! It was mind blowing. My day in Jerusalem alone was worth the whole trip. I learned more in those 10 hours than I had learned in a dozen years in Sunday school, about biblical history and history in general.

Here's a photo album slideshow of all of the pictures...

I also shot a few short videos using my camera and I'll post them later.

You know, I learned first hand that what we see on TV is only a very, very small fraction of the larger picture when it comes to life in Israel, the Palestinian issues, and politics. Israel is beautiful, with vast landscapes (even though it's a tiny country), and very safe. And the Palestinians are mostly friendly and peaceful (at least in the West Bank region) and are really getting screwed by the other Arab countries that don't want them and keep them holed up in their territories in Israel. A negotiated settlement and peace will come when the Palestinian extremists decide they want to create a future for their children rather than fight an intractable war. ...So many wasted resources and lives. It's tragic and it does not have to be that way.

Anyway, more about things like that later. For now, I'm basking in the glow of a truly profound travel adventure. And traveling with my brother Dan as part of the small group was just the cherry on top of the sundae.

Heading to Israel

2007-07-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

It's kind of a last minute thing. My brother Dan is going to Israel with a few people on a combined Jewish National Fund (JNF) and Israel Oceanogrpahic and Limnological Research Institute (IOLR) tour. Dan is taking over the reigns from the current NAFIOLR (North American Friends of the IOLR) chairman Murray Barbash. I used to do work with the NAFIOLR (I was its first executive director, back in 1987). So I promised Dan I'd help him.

It's interesting work, it does some good in the world (oy, maybe it's even a mitzvah), particularly advancing marine sciences, it helps to foster Middle East peace (the IOLR is instrumental in getting the Israel and the Arab countries to cooperatively share scarce water resources), and advances the fight against world hunger (via pioneering certain mariculture technology, which is fish farming in sea water, as opposed to fresh water). The IOLR does many other astounding things related to meterology, environmental sustainability, and agriculture. So I am pleased to lend my support in this regard.

I'm most excited about getting to spend a week with my brother on a mini-adventure like this. We rarely get to spend a block of time like this together--a whole week. And it will be just the two of us with no other family in tow. We're going to get access to places and people that are not the usual Israeli tourist type things. I'll write more from the road, but it's going to be a real education, and a lot of fun.

So I'm leaving very early Tuesday morning. I'll have to take a water taxi to get to the airport in Portland early enough to take a 6:15 a.m. flight to Newark. I've been told that I have to check in almost three hours before the 2:15 p.m. flight departure from Newark to Tel Aviv since El Al airlines has such tight security (which makes me happy!). It's an 11+ hour flight to Tel Aviv, so I hope I'll be able to sleep on the plane. ...Airborne and Benadryl ought to help.

PeaksFest 2007

2007-06-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a PeaksFest weekend already and we still have more to go! Picks and Judy and the kids arrived Friday afternoon and we went right from the airport to The Flatbread Company for our traditional pre-ferry lunch. We walked around Portland for a bit and got ice cream and then took the ferry over to Peaks.

The PeaksFest kickoff Schmoozefest event got underway on Friday evening and was a big success, with probably 150 people or more attending and bringing cocktails or appetizers to share. It's a real community gathering and there are always people I meet there whom I have seen on the ferry for ages but have never been introduced. Everyone is in mingling mode and good spirits. One of my favorite things about the opening community gathering is that the a capella singing group, The Uncalled Four, performs and sings there own very funny and creative Peaks Island songs including songs about the junker cars on the island, songs about riding the ferry everyday, and even a song written especially for PeaksFest. Here's a clip of them singing the PeaksFest song at the Schmoozefest. (Notice that they are all wearing different PeaksFest t-shirts going all the way back to the first PeaksFest 6 years ago! And there are actually five singers for this song--not just four--as they add an extra to sing "The Pies" portion of the PeaksFest song.)

Then the Peaks Island Idol competition got started and I was the M.C. again this year. The Hanley sisters swept the competition in both the kids and adult categories. Some of the competition included Heather Thompson singing whale songs (high volume moaning and screeching) three little girls singing "Sisters," and a six year old boy singing "I'm a Little Teapot." Most of it was funny, incredibly cute, or decent singing (with a few clunkers thrown in, but the crowd was kind). There must have been almost 300 people at the show by the time it ended.

The cookie bakeoff competition was held while the votes were tabulated and at $1.00 per cookie purchase, the group raised about $285 for the Peaks Island Tax Assistance program.

Peaks Island's very own Avner the Eccentric performed after the Idol contest (and before the winners were announced). Avner is a world-famous clown and was actually inducted into the Clown Hall of Fame. He's not a circus clown, but a physical performance clown. Check out his website: www.avnertheeccentric.com He had everyone rolling in the aisles and he never said a word!

And that was just the first night of PeaksFest 2007 on Friday!

I'll write more later, but here are some additional highlights:
(By the way, you can click on any of the photos here to pull up a bigger version.)

Lynne sold PeaksFest 2007 t-shirts. The Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion cooked their pancake breakfast.

An awesome ventriloquist entertained the kids. The BBQ lunch on The Legion lawn was as busy as ever!

Colleen and Eben sold loads of fresh veggies, fruits, cheeses, breads and more at their Peaks Season farm stand. Captian Eli's dispensed hundreds of cups of free soda.

John Orion Barnes was having a balloon blast. Some kids really got into the spirit of the crazy parade!

Anything that rolled or could move was fair game for the parade, including riding lawn mowers! The pie judges made their pronouncements and crowned this year's pie baking contest winners.

And the pies looked mighty fine this year!

Jeffrey and Brooke competed in this year's pie eating contest. Jeffrey (age 9) went at it with gusto and heeded our advice to really get his face buried in the pie mush because the more that he got on his face, the less he'd have to eat. Alas, others were coached in the same trick and Jeffrey came close, but was not the winner. Here's a video of Jeff's valiant effort!

Brooke was great, too and gave it her best shot, but this was just her first try at it (age 7) and she was a bit more demure than some others.

The crazy PeaksFest parade that preceded the pie contest also attracted quite a crowd. The kids decorate their bikes and scooters and its a madhouse! The kazoo band and others were in rare form, as you can see in the video below.

The Fire department had its open house, which the kids love, and ther were dozend of other PeaksFest events throughout the day.

The weather was spectacular, which is a first for PeaksFest, and it made everything even more fun.

Picks and Judy and the kids flew home this afternoon. I was sad to see them go. We had a great time together.

But there's still a big BBQ and hot dog eating contest tonight before PeaksFest 2007 officially comes to a close.

...Whew!

Runaround!

2007-06-12T20:25:00.001-07:00

I haven't been able to get to the gym since I've been home because I've been so busy. And I really have been feeling the need to get some exercise as it's been almost a week since I hurt my leg jogging on the beach in Antigua and have been taking a break to let it heal.

But I worked late again tonight and got home around 7:45 p.m. I still had about an hour or so of sunlight left, so I decided to try to go for a run around the island.

I am very happy to report that my leg felt fine and that the run felt great! Whew!

I was worried that maybe it was a more serious injury that would take a while to heal. Now I can drop a few of the pounds I put on in Antigua from enjoying the omnipresent all-inclusive" food and booze and desserts. And I can train for the "real" runs I registered for that are at the end of July and beginning of August (the Peaks Island 5-mile run and the much more serious, but still fun Beach-to-Beacon 10K).

I'll get to the gym tomorrow, too, for sure.

Homecoming

2007-06-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

It felt great to come home and sleep in my own bed and kiss my cats. I was away just long enough to make it an even sweeter homecoming than usual. I've had a bunch of catching up to do since I got home at 1:30 a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning.

There's been a whole lot of odds & ends to take care of at the house and in the yard, although Sarah and Ian did a great job house-sitting. I had several big loads of laundry to do, which I am still in the midst of finishing (when I'm actually at home and have the time). Work at CEI has been extra-busy with not only the catch-up things, but also with a big transaction that we are pushing to finally close this week. This is also the week that we are holding our annual combined Directors and Advisors dinner and meetings. So there's lots of activity in the office.

I'm also not very good at pacing myself and budgeting my time. For instance, I didn't want to eat dinner out on Saturday night since I had eaten every meal out while I was away for the last month (breakfasts, lunches & dinners). So decided I'd cook and I invited Mike & Troy to come to the island for dinner. I have to admit that it turned out to be a a pretty good dinner, too! I made these grilled and braised cherry bourbon pork chops, with a coconut-cardamon- currant rice side dish. Yowzah! And we had mango rum cocktails to start.

Then I got up early on Sunday so I could go into town and attend the memorial service for Chris Chenard who passed away on May 20th from pancreatic cancer. (That was a shock!) I also was able to participate in the Walk with The Ones You Love Event on Sunday afternoon that was renamed in Chris' honor since he and Eliott started the event nine years ago in Portland.

Oh, and PeaksFest is the weekend after next, June 22-24. I have to get the draft Schedule of Events updated and circulated as soon as possible since folks are waiting and we have to get it printed and posted to our website. www.peaksfest.com

And I haven't even mentioned all the ordinary "life" stuff I've crammed in over the past three days, as well, like getting a haircut, catching up with friends, finishing some of the Antigua reports, etc. I have to admit that I'm a little tired from all this homecoming and catching-up.

But yesterday afternoon I got a little cosmic homecoming grin from the universe. As I got on the 7:15 p.m. ferry to go home to Peaks Island, I looked out over the stern of the boat and there was this fantastic rainbow! Actually, it was a double rainbow and it was pretty vivid. Rainbows are kind of rare here in Maine, so this was a fun treat.

Everyone was oohing and ahhing about it. Some just stood there mesmerized, in there own little quiet trances. I whipped out my cellphone camera and was amazed to have been able to capture a few good shots.

The rainbow faded just as we pulled out into the bay to make our way home, but now I can honestly say that I actually do live somewhere over the rainbow...

...And there's no place like home. (You knew that was coming, right?)

Heading Home Tomorrow

2007-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Time flies! Where did the month go??!?

I am headed home tomorrow, leaving early in the morning. It will take me over 12 hours to get home, flying Antigua to San Juan, PR, then to Charlotte, and finally back to Portland, Maine. If my flight is relatively on time, I should be able to make one of the two last ferries back to Peaks Island.

I have learned a lot in the last month. I've learned about a region in the world I didn't know much about until now and I've learned about Antigua, in particular.

I've learned about how much I actually do know about business and real estate, and how I can handle myself as a flexible, creative, world traveling consultant.

And I've learned more about myself, how I interact with the world and people, how I try on new experiences, how I handle challenges, how curious I am about new things and how I have truly let a lot of fear go and how that has freed me to move outside my comfort zones.

I'll go home again, but I think if we are good travelers with open hearts and minds, we go back to a familiar place, but as new people, with fresh perspectives, changed for the better, more experienced and knowing more, but also knowing more about how much we still don't know.

One thing that I have learned and now do know is that Peaks Island truly feels like home to me now. It's my place in the world. My cottage is there. My cats are there. My neighbors are there. And my heart is there.

Oh, and PeaksFest is the weekend after next, June 22 -24! Yay!

Another Gorgeous Sunset

2007-06-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

After almost four weeks in Antigua, you'd think that I'd have something better to post today than another sunset shot... But they are just so spectacular! And I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow, so I'm drinking it all in. (Sunsets and warm turquoise ocean waters, not rum...)

I went down to the beach to do my usual run this evening (after it had started to cool down a bit) and about a third of the way through, I must have twisted my ankle or something in the soft sand. It really hurt and I had to stop running.

At first I thought maybe it was just one of those momentary pains, but it just got worse as I tried to stretch it and test it out with a few jogging steps. Ouch!

So I just stopped and used the time to take a few more sunset shots. I was mesmerized by the colors and light on the water. It took away a lot of the pain. Then I went swimming and that helped a bunch, too. At least for a few minutes...

My ankle's gotten a bit worse, but I'm popping ibuprofen now and that's helping. Hey! It's my first jogging injury! That must count for something, right?!?

The Pacific

2007-06-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

Kirk brought me a book as a gift when he came to Antigua. It's a book of short stories by Mark Helprin called The Pacific. I've only read the first few stories so far, but I am enjoying it like one of those really rare finds.

I woke up a bit too early this morning and picked up the book. I've just finished the third story called Monday. It made me cry. And I never cry.

Helprin writes beautifully, with well-crafted precision that is seamless in his conversational prose. He's one of those truly gifted authors that can say much more in what he chooses not to say. His narrative and dialogue are rich, full and spare all at once. He respects the power of his own writing and his readers and leaves unexpected emotions hanging tacitly in his text, in his comfortable and taut phrasing, in his readers' minds. He does this even as he crafts finely detailed scenes and can meaningfully make note of the texture of grit coating a city window.

That's powerful. That's a writer's art.

I've only just begun this book of short stories, but I can tell you that at least Monday will be one of my all time favorite pieces of writing. Read it if you get a chance. It will be a gift.

Thanks Kirk.

My Morning Swim

2007-06-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

After a week in Antigua, Kirk left yesterday afternoon.

Poor guy. His American Airlines flight was first delayed by six hours because of equipment problems. Then they had a problem with the flight crew. They offered him a $10.00 voucher. Big woop. ...Then they canceled his flight.

In total frustration with American Airlines, he ate the price of the ticket and just rebooked himself on a JetBlue flight that was supposed to leave around 1:30 a.m. And that was delayed until 2:30 a.m. The person who was going to pick him up at the airport in New York had already bailed on him when his American Flight was first delayed, so he also had to pay for car service from JFK to his home. I spoke with him around 9:00 a.m. this morning and he was finally home, but it sounded like a painful journey.

We had a great time together in Antigua though. Swimming, scuba diving, jet skiing, romantic dining, etc. I'm just sorry that it was bookended by an awful trip back home.

I got up a bit later than usual this morning after going to Jeannelle Blanchard's party last night. The invitation said from 7:00 pm on... I got there around 7:30 p.m. and was the only one there for about an hour! I had some rum and made the best of it.

More people started showing up and the party filled up and got rolling around 9:30 or so. What a beautiful crowd, too! Very friendly and fashionable. Jeannelle also made me feel very comfortable (and no, I only had two mild rum drinks all night, so it wasn't just the hooch putting me at ease). I realized at one point that I was the only white person at the party. It was totally comfortable, but it was also good to get that perspective since I live in one of the least diverse states in the U.S. Now I know better what it must feel like for some of my friends back home at times.

I struck up a conversation with a guy at the party named Trevor (he came with a gorgeous woman who looked like she was dressed for a New York or Los Angeles celebrity party!) who had gone to grad school in Boston. It turns out that he also went to M.I.T. at Sloane and took a class at the Center for Real Estate. He had Bill Wheaton as a professor. Small world.

So after last night's party, I went for my morning run a bit later than usual today. It wasn't too outrageously hot though and some clouds kept passing in front of the sun which helped. I was just slogging through the sand this morning on my run, or so it seemed. I had some good tunes on my iPod (the PodRunner podcasts are great) and when I finished, my time was 23:49, so I was right on my usual beach-running-in-Antigua pace.

I stripped off my running gear and jumped in the ocean and swam around to cool off, which is the best part of my morning run routine! And as I was just relaxing in the cool/warm water, a rain shower started, which has been a real rarity. It was just a gentle passing shower, but it rained pretty well for a few minutes while I was in the water. It was one of those mini-Zen moments actually, as the raindrops were pinging in the water all around me, making little splashes everywhere in the gentle rolling turquoise surf.

And in my post-run float-around euphoria, the following haiku formed in my head:

Raining in a soft ocean
Splashing drops all around me
Sea circles infinitely

It seemed to sum up the moment... My inner poet was pleased.

But Zen moments are often ephemeral. I went back to my hotel room and did laundry in my bathroom sink.

...More splashing around in water... But no haiku this time.

Selwyn's BBQ

2007-06-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

You know you're on a particularly good adventure when you discover a great local food find!

I was out with Kirthley Maginley to take a look at a particular beach property and on the way back, we stopped at Selwyn's BBQ, a new "shack" type bar & grill. Now, when I say "shack", I mean that it was a brand spanking new plywood shell of a place without much in the way of interior build out. And when I say "bar & grill," I mean the place served rum punch and beer at your table (no actual bar involved) and had an outdoor type charcoal grill going inside.

Friday afternoons and evenings seem to be the traditional times for BBQs in Antigua. They suddenly spring up on every street corner and roadside stand and restaurant. And the smokey smell of chicken, ribs, fish and pork seems to be everywhere.

Kirthley and I had a couple of glasses of homemade rum punch (the spiced fruit punch was homemade, not the rum!) and some BBQ chicken. The rum punch was pretty amazing; fruity and refreshing, with lots of spices settled at the bottom of the cup when I was through. I had two of those.

Selwyn James is also getting famous for his BBQ sauce and I can understand why. Wow. It was good. He was the head chef at a few big restaurants before deciding to open his own place, so he knows a thing or three about spices and grilling. He and his wife Irma make some fantastic simple food. Irma made the potato salad which could have held it''s own as the featured specialty on the plate, it was that good. (And she said that she was missing one of her secret potato salad ingredients that day, so I can only imagine what it's like when it's included!)

I was treated like an old friend and they laughed and said I was now a friend and had to come back soon, that I was welcome anytime. And you know, I felt like an old friend by the time Kirthley and I left.

The shack is a prelude to a hotel and restaurant that he will be building on the same site. I hope Selwyn's BBQ gets discovered by lots of folks. If you find yourself in Antigua, head to Selwyn's BBQ in Picadilly around English Harbor.

Let Selwyn and Irma know you found them after reading about them on this blog!

Designer Sunsets

2007-05-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

Last night's sunset was one of those gaudy, you-have-to-be-here-
to-believe-it, it-looks-too-much-like-a-bad-minivan-
airbrush-mural, Oy!-I've-seen-that-on-at-least-150-
different-inspirational-greeting-cards, kind of sunset. The clouds even formed a small opening so that the rays could burst out as it neared the horizon.

It was a pretty spectacular show...

Makes me wonder about the "Grand Design" and such.

Let's just say that if there is a God, he/she had a fabulous designer! (Obviously gay.)

Shirley Heights

2007-05-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

The tour books call it the longest running BBQ in the world. Sunday afternoons and evenings at Shirley Heights (an old fort constructed by General Sir Thomas Shirley in the late 1700's overlooking English Harbor in Antigua) hosts the gathering of locals and tourists who come to drink, eat barbecue, listen to the steel drum bands, dance and have fun.

Maybe I'm just a cynic when it comes to these types of things, but it sounded a bit too touristy to me. After all, I've been living with the obnoxious "Reggae Sundays" at Jones Landing on Peaks Island every summer Sunday for years now and it brings out droves of drunken, loud, creepy tourists who crowd the ferry and make Sundays altogether a lot less fun back home.

But I checked with some of the locals I trust here and they uniformly said that it was worth going. They said the view from the top of the mountain was beautiful, the music was great, the drinks were good, the BBQ was delicious, and the people, in general, were fun.

It’s a big business here, the Sunday afternoon Shirley Heights gig. The Jolly Beach Resort where I am staying even organizes group taxi transportation there. They charge $22.00 US per person for a roundtrip excursion. (It then costs another $8.00 US cover charge to get in, plus whatever you want to spend on drinks and food.) It would costs $80.00 US roundtrip to hire your own taxi, but as long as you have at least four people splitting the cost, it comes out about even.

Well, Kirk and I didn’t know anyone else who was going, so we opted to join the resort organized caravan. When we showed up to board, there were about 60 other people from the resort going! What a racket! We crowded into a taxi van with nine other people (11 of us in all, plus the driver), so the driver made out like a bandit.

It’s not all that far mileage-wise to Shirley Heights, but the roads in Antigua are pretty awful. Between the slow-going on the broken up roads, dodging other drivers and parked vehicles, and some extra holiday weekend traffic and church parades, it took us a good 45 minutes or more to get there.

The taxi driver, Renneth, asked us when we wanted to be picked up to go back and we said around 8:00 p.m., which would have given us about three hours there. Well, little did we know we only needed about an hour tops…

The views were beautiful.

The steel band music was fun, if not a bit cheesy. (I mean, they were playing regular cover hits, like ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”! Really. Check out the video below for proof.) But an hour’s worth of steel band music goes a loooong way.

The beer was O.K. You could get a plastic cup of the so-so local brew called Wadadli Beer, but most of the choices were the same brands you can get anywhere in the world.

The BBQ food smelled good, but we weren’t hungry. So we just walked around and looked at the views, took lots of photos, kidded around with a few other tourists, and then were checking our watches only to see we had the better part of two hours left before our arranged return taxi pick-up.

The other folks who had been in our taxi-pool with us found us and said they wanted to try to get a hold of the driver by mobile phone and go back earlier, which was fine with us. And I just happened to have that particular driver’s phone number programmed into my local mobile phone, which made me an instant hero. (I had used that driver earlier in the week to do some business trips on then island and had his cell number to arrange the return trips when needed.)

Well, he wasn’t answering his cell phone! I eventually was able to leave him a message and also finally got through to him. He came a bit early to pick us up, but by the time he got there it was already about 7:15 p.m. Then he disappeared on us as we boarded his parked taxi, only to have him reappear 10 minutes later saying he wanted to get some dinner from the BBQ vendors. (He couldn’t have told us that??!?) And then he ended up lying to us and driving us home on a completely roundabout route that took us all the way to the north part of the island near the airport before coming east and south again to Jolly Beach Resort.

He took that route so that he could pull over to the side of the road at one point and drop off the BBQ food he had bought to a woman who he had phoned while enroute and who was waiting for him at a prearranged intersection. I have to admit that we were all anxious to just get back to the hotel and that kind of pissed me off. So I won’t be using Renneth anymore as my taxi driver when I have a choice.

My advice, in a nutshell, is to take a pass on Shirley Heights. Buy yourself a cocktail, listen to some of your favorite music or some local steel drum music if you are so inclined, and go swimming at sunset in the warm tropical waters. That’s how to enjoy a Sunday late afternoon in Antigua.

Come to think of it, that’s how I suggest you enjoy every afternoon in Antigua!

Beach Feet

2007-05-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've been running on the beach here almost every morning. I've actually only missed two mornings since I've been down here (today being the second one since I slept in on a Sunday morning). It gets pretty hot down here in the beach, so if I don't get to out there by 8:30 a.m. at the latest, it's too intense to go for a decent, long beach run. Most mornings I've been out by around 7:15 a.m.

I started running with Ted, one of the other consultants down here. He's been a runner for most of his life, so he has helped me and encouraged me. I'm still a "newbie" runner, having just started again at the end of last summer, after more than a 20 year hiatus. We started running on the beach and ran all the way from one end to the other and back. I have increased my distance slightly and now am up to about 3 miles (or so Ted says by his estimate). I'm doing the 3-mile run in about 23 minutes, which seems pretty good for me since we're running on slanted soft sand. I wonder what that would translate into on a hard surface or roadway?

I signed up for a couple of road races back home for later in the summer, including the 5-mile Peaks Island run and the 10k Beach-to-Beacon run. I have to keep running while down here so I have a prayer of being able to do those runs back home. I'm amazed that my feet and legs are holding up so well. But, then again, I also give them a lot of rest...

I Miss My Cats

2007-05-21T20:01:00.001-07:00

There are so many things I could write for a blog posting. And I have actually started a list of ideas so that I don't forget some of the things that have happened or experiences and thoughts that I want share.

But after being away for only a little over a week, I do have to admit that what I want to mention is that I miss Boo and Kai, my seven year old Siamese cats.

They are two of the sweetest cats. ...And I bet they miss me, too.

They are being well cared for by Sarah Yanni and Ian Ludder who are housesitting for me while I'm away. I hope they are giving them lots of kisses and playing Kai's favorite toy, an ordinary piece of clothesline. They couldn't care less about catnip or regular cat toys, but Kai actually sleeps near his piece of clothesline and drags it into the bathroom every morning while I'm taking a shower. The both wait for me on the shower mat just outside the shower curtain. Siamese cats get very attached to their human owners. It's one of the endearing traits of their breed.

I'm lucky. They're exceptional cats.

Jolly Beach Resort

2007-05-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

So, I'm staying at the Jolly Beach Resort in Antigua which is a bit old and tired. It was built over 40 years ago and there's only so much the owners can do with the place, despite having spent some serious cash on a few updates. Overall, it's more of a Howard Johnson's "resort" than a Four Seasons. And they know it, too. They cater to a crowd that would be at home on a Carnival cruise ship. As a matter of fact, it's pretty much like an affordable cruise package vacation for these folks. It's an all-inclusive resort, so the food and booze are free, plentiful, and made for mass consumption. They emphasize quantity and frequency over quality. But all in all, it's reasonably decent, just nothing to write home about, at least when it comes to the food, general clientèle, or evening entertainment.

The rooms are kind of small and furnished in spartan early Woolworth's decor and linens. The pictures on the walls look like they've been upgraded a bit, as if they came from Target (well, maybe a Target clearance sale to get rid of the cheesy stuff that hadn't sold). The resort is mainly filled with Brits who seem to love it all. (I can tell they're all British, not only because I can hear the obvious refined English accents, but also because they have all brought their own personal jars of Marmite to Antigua which they bring to the buffet breakfasts each morning to slather on their toast.)

But the reason to come here isn't the all-inclusive food, booze, and Gong Show type entertainment. It's the beach.

The beach really is pretty spectacular with its powdery white sand, gorgeous warm turquoise ocean waters, and views of the surrounding green hills. You can even see the volcanic mountains of Montserrat in the distance on a clear day.

So, what the resort lacks in modern charm and graciousness, it makes up for in its intrinsic beauty. It's kind of like if the Jolly Beach Resort being a naturally born beauty queen who doesn't quite know it and happens to be dressed in some funky, old hand-me-downs and cheap lipstick as she mingles with the common folk. She's still beautiful under it all and it would probably be even more obvious if she lost the old duds.

Speaking of the beautiful beach, I'm heading out now for a quick run on the beach and dip in the ocean...

Hey, want to see what the beach here looks like? Take a peak at the short video I shot this afternoon:

Sweat Suits in Paradise

2007-05-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, May 14th, was my first full day in Antigua. I had to go into St. John for my first meeting with our clients at the bank and I had to wear a suit in the 95-degree Antiguan heat. First impressions are important in the consultant-client business. So I donned the banker-like dark blue pinstripe suit and white button down shirt and gold-colored tie I had packed among my shorts and t-shirts. And I was trying to do my best to look calm, cool and collected despite the tropical heat and humidity.

Somehow, I was managing to doing a much better job of it than my colleague, Tim, who was also going to this meeting at the bank. Tim had on a dark khaki suit, blue oxford button down shirt and tie and I thought he had this routine down since he had already been in Antigua for a couple of weeks.

It didn't help that the taxi we took from the hotel to the bank's office in St. John had been sitting in the taxi-pool waiting area in the sun for quite some time. It had been long enough before we embarked to pre-heat the cab so we could have broiled a raw chicken by the time we got to our destination. We opened the windows as soon as we got in the cab, but that just seemed to piss off the taxi driver who then acted like he didn't need to turn on the air conditioner. (Maybe it was a cultural faux-pas?) So, we asked him politely to turn on the a/c and closed the windows after a couple of minutes of letting the worst of the super-heated air out. Even after 15 minutes on the road with the taxi's air conditioner cranked, the cab only cooled down to 80+ degrees by the time we arrived in St. John.

As Tim wilted (and oddly refused to take off his suit jacket even though mine was off within seconds of getting in the cab) I realized the lunacy of wearing a formal suit in a place as hot as Antigua. But hey, I was the new guy on the block and I was following protocol, at least to start.

By the time we got to the bank where we could luxuriate in some well-cooled modern office environs, I was glad I had worn an undershirt. I was warm, and a bit sticky, but still looked respectably professional. Tim, on the other hand, when he finally took off his suit coat in the private office that had been reserved for our use when we were at the bank, was mostly drenched. Quite literally, his light blue oxford shirt had turned almost totally that dark, wet blue color. There were just a few patches of the original dry pale oxford blue remaining.

His face was also red and he had rivulets if perspiration running down his forehead and temples. I thought the poor guy was going to have a heat stroke right there! But he kept talking nonchalantly and seemed fine, so I kept up on my end and just pretended like this was all just par for the course. It was like pretending that he wasn't wearing big clown shoes on his feet or something, but within 20 minutes, we had both cooled down considerably and his shirt had started to dry and had become a few shades lighter.

I made a pit stop in the men's room before our meetings with the bank staff and washed my face with some cool water and such. I looked like a cool million bucks by the time we met with our clients.

I was never so happy, though, to get changed into shorts and a t-shirt as soon as we got back to the hotel.

Of course, I did have to wear the suit and tie getup again the next day when we met with the chairman of the bank, but at least we lucked out and got a pre-cooled cab on the way to St, John. I also made sure I didn't put on my suit jacket until the last minute before we met with the chairman.

And about 5 minutes into our meeting, I politely asked if he wouldn't mind if I took off my jacket, which I actually think earned me some points on his rationality scale.

It's true, I guess, what they say about trying to make a good impression: Never let them see you sweat!

Arrived in Antigua

2007-05-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

Rachel, Josian and the kids dropped me off at the airport in Puerto Rico around noon today so I could catch my flight to Antigua. I had a good, quick one-day/night visit with them and got to see a tiny slice of their life in San Juan. I love their kids, JonJon (9) and Erica (7). They are very bright and are already full of trivia and knowledge, mostly from Rachel's tutoring.

For instance, at dinner last night (they took me to a restaurant to get some typical Puerto Rican food). Ten, in a bit of a set-up, Rachel tells me to pick a number between 1 - 43. JonJon thinks for a few seconds and then was tells me the name of the respective U.S. President! Hey, it's kind of a neat parlor trick, you know?! I think Rachel was beaming more than JonJon...

The flight from PR to Antigua was pretty easy. I was supposed to meet Ted, my contact from the consulting company, on the flight to Antigua. I had seen his photo, but we had not yet met in person. Well, there was no one boarding the flight who looked like him. and, as it turned out, he was not on the flight. (It turns out that he missed the flight and had to fly the next day.)

Once in Antigua, I cleared Immigration, claimed my gi-normous (62-lbs.!) suitcase, and cleared Customs. I then hired a taxi to drive me to the Jolly Beach Resort, where I am staying for the four weeks I'm in Antigua.

This was an auspicious start...the taxi ride. I sat in the passenger front seat, which is on the left side of the car as they drive on the left side of the road here--part of the British heritage, like the cricket fields and games we passed enroute.

I can't help myself and always start chatting with folks, like this cab driver, often getting some incredibly interesting life stories.

It turns out that my cab driver was born in Antigua and had been driving a cab since 1968. He was 61 years old, which was amazing since he looked like he was about 45! I asked him his name and he said it was "Mason." He then told me his father was "Oscar Mason" who he explained was somewhat of a famous guy in Antigua. He said that his father had died of a stroke just a few years ago, at the age of 86, and when he died, they had a state funeral for him, with all of the heads of the country attending.

Since my cab driver's dad was Oscar Mason, I figured that the name of "Mason" that the driver had given me was actually just his last name. It turns out that his first name is "Jean." So now we were on a first name basis.

And then Jean told me that his father Oscar had 26 children! Well, actually there were many more than that, as Jean was still finding out., but that his father had only publicly admitted to 26 kids. Jean, however, had met many others who said that Oscar was actually also their father. So far, Jean said that he knew of 48 kids in all!

I shook my head in amazement and commented that Jean had quite a sizable group of half-brothers and half-sisters. But Jean corrected me and said he considered all of them his brothers and sisters, no "halfs!"

He then told me about how he kept meeting even more siblings, like the woman he had been chatting-up while sitting out under the shade of a tree to avoid the Antiguan noon sun. He said that after chatting a while, she started to tell him that he better not be thinking of making any romantic moves on her because they were actually siblings! This was news to Jean, but the woman said that, sure enough, her father was Oscar Mason, too, and that her mother had finally admitted that to her after she had become a grown woman.

...Jean had a few more similar stories and we bonded over these as he drove me to the resort via the "long route" so he could give me a bit of a tour of this part of his island country along the way.

I tipped Jean well...

Heading to Nova Scotia

2007-05-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'm heading to Nova Scotia tonight. I have to drive down from Portland, Maine to Boston later this afternoon so I can catch a 7:00 pm flight to Halifax. I'll meet Donald, Susannah & Joe, who will have arrived a couple of hours before me, at the Hilton Garden Inn near the airport. I may not see them until the morning when we get together to take a charter flight to see some properties from the air.

One of the first properties we'll see is Fishing Lake, the large lake property that I am buying along with Dan & Sara and Susannah & Joe. I've had the property under contract for several months now and as soon as some legal issues are cleared up (relating to some rights of way, easements, and title), we'll be ready to close. It's a 464 acre property surrounding a quite beautiful and pristine lake. It also includes a 4-acre island in the lake. We'll own almost all the land around the lake, except for a relatively small lakefront parcel and two small islands in the lake; these are owned by the Crown (the Province of Nova Scotia).

Fishing Lake is surrounded by over 100,000 acres of Crown land, as well. This means that the area will most likely remain undeveloped. It is a spectacularly beautiful northern lake and timberland area. It feels like you are in the middle of nowhere, yet the property is only a 45 minute drive from downtown Halifax or the Halifax airport. To get to the property, you turn onto a seven-mile private logging road (these are the right of ways and such that are being cleared up). Where the logging road meets the main paved highway road, there is a country club with an 18-hole golf course, restaurant, and guest rooms. The area is definitely rural, but it's not completely remote.

There will be no public power or water at Fishing Lake since there are no power lines runningf down the logging road, so we'll have to generate our own power and drill wells (or pull water from the lake). Being off the grid, so to speak, will give us even more incentive to build green, low-energy usage cottages on the lake. And we plan to make some rules to protect the pristine nature of the lake, like prohibiting petroleum powered watercraft or other uses that could pollute the lake.

My goal in buying this beautiful property is to protect and preserve it for future generations. I'm really buying it (at least my share) for the benefit of my future family and godchildren. It's more of a legacy property in that respect. I hope to build a cottage there and spend time relaxing on the lake, gathering there with family and friends in the warmer months, but I'm buying it mostly because it represents a very special, rare opportunity to own almost an intact undeveloped lake that is so close to a major population center...and the price is very reasonable.

So that's part of my dream. I guess when it comes to real estate, I have some vision. It was that way when I bought my cottage on Peaks Island, and then bought the other house on Peaks to renovate and sell. I have a dream of sorts that Fishing Lake will be a family legacy property that one day, people will say, "How the heck did your family ever get to own almost an entire lake like this??!" And my nieces and godchildren will smile as they sit around the roaring fireplace after a day canoeing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, swimming, and adventuring on the island. They'll shake their heads and say, "That Uncle David... He must have had some vision, huh?!"

Where are we going?

2007-05-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

My life's moving at a pretty good clip these days. This blog is my way for me to tell myself my own story and to share it with others. And just maybe it will make some sense...or at least be oddly amusing.