Finishing up

I forgot to mention that yet another wonderful part of taking a trip on the Margaret Todd out of Bar Harbor is that you can help hoist the sails, if you'd like. Tall Ken on the left there helped twice and felt, I think, a little pirate-y as a result.
It didn't rain but it had rained that morning and was, as always, a little cold out on the water. They thoughtfully give you maps that show you the names of the islands you pass, and the other side helps to identify some of the birds you are likely to see.
I loved having our friends Ann and Rory over from Ireland to see us, and loved sharing more of Maine with them. There couldn't be any easier travel companions. But to be honest, it was hard for me sometimes and I made it hard for Dean. Traveling with people who don't have children alleviates the challenge of making sure the kids all get along, but I'm hyper sensitive to Dean's behavior under circumstances like these, and the reality for him is that he takes a back seat in a situation (vacation) that's normally pretty focused on him. It's a good learning experience at his age not to be the sole center of attention, but hard. And being with us meant that they ate dinner earlier than they normally would, that we went to bed while they were still up and raring to go, and that we tiptoed out to breakfast while they were still asleep. I do hope they had an all right time....

Doesn't look as though Dean minded too much though, does it? I hope he had an all right time, too. I think he did. The microscope of "am I a good parent" is intensified by close time, travel, with other people.

Sure, it is out of focus and over exposed (I even did quite a bit of Photo Shop work on it to get it looking this good). But it gives an even better view of what "home" looked like for 8 weeks every summer. Mosquito bites? You bet. I'm thinking about making a camp blog, in hopes of luring more Juniper Knoll alum, in anticipation of getting all kinds of camp experiences from all different kinds of camps and campers -- ok, I have to say it -- a virtual camp fire of songs, stories, marshmallows (b.y.o.). Would it work? Could I sustain it? Could it be my platform from which to shout my agenda for transforming the Girl Scout organization? Leo was nice enough to send me the 2006 Chicago Girl Scout Council annual report and I was appalled that they had room to be able to list everyone who donated $25. Appalled because their level of donations received is so ridiculously low. Oh, sure, encouraged that an old time Juniper Knoll devotee gave many significant gifts, but appalled that the Council hasn't seen a path to pave for more involvement and even more donations that help build their program to serve girls.

I believe that Girl Scouting should be deep, deep into the sustainability movement. The tag line? "We've always been green!" Hey, do you know anybody who works at headquarters?