Been feeling a little blue today, partly because I haven’t been feeling well, and partly because the loneliness has been creeping in while I was hanging out at the lounge.
I was at the Portland Museum of Art for most of the morning, a pleasant surprise as I found most of the art to be intriguing and fascinating to look at. There was one in particular that really captivated me, titled “Autumn Birches,” by Albert Bierstadt:
I <3 this painting.
You know how it is when you first glance at a painting, your initial thought is, “Meh, looks nice?” But then you take a closer look, and after a while it starts to speak to you? That was my experience. It was a painting that embodied everything I loved about nature: mountains, fall foliage, even a darkened sky that hinted at a coming storm. I knew all about that storm too: it was my life after all, which began on the same day a violent hurricane hit our coastlines, and that same storm has been with me in some form or another ever since.
Yet at the same time, I welcomed it in a way, especially its raw power and destructive force. It had the capacity to destroy, while at the same time leaving behind the things that really mattered to me: such as the mountains and the trees with its vibrant autumn leaves. As violent and disruptive as these storms could be, in the end I was left with the hope that everything was still going to be ok. Life would still go on. The mountains would remain unmoved and the trees would continue to grow.
So in spite of this melancholy rain sweeping over me, evening will soon turn to morning and I can look forward to a new day, one taking me back to the safe mountains of New Hampshire.
A set of children's blocks at the Portland Museum of Art
Portland suddenly got hit with a one day deep freeze, forcing me to flee back indoors and hide out for a while, but on the upside it gives me a chance to catch up on my blogging.
Yesterday I explored the surrounding areas of Portland and found three lighthouses, the first and probably the most famous being the Portable Head Light, located in nearby Cape Elizabeth. The commission to have it built was first begun by none other than George Washington in 1787, and other than height adjustments, very little of the lighthouse itself has changed over the centuries.
Much prettier than Montauk's lighthouse, but then again I'm biased against anything from Long Island.
I used the occasion to try out some movie effects on my new iPhone, resulting in this 1920s style clip as I walked around back and got a closer look of the famous lighthouse:
As I walked around, I noticed some odd rock formations with words painted on one of the boulders:
The sight of a shipwreck!
It occurred to me that some of the odd rock formations I saw could actually be petrified wood left over from the shipwreck. Wild. I took another opportunity to do a vintage clip of the site:
After enjoying the views for a while, I decided to start hunting for geocaches, picking a few caches at random that were inside Fort Williams Park. You think I could find any? Of course not. The first cache I tried for I had to abort because of all the snow. The second cache was located inside an ancient powerhouse here that once powered the old fort:
Where is this $%^& geocache??
It was a camouflaged ammo can that I really should have been able to find despite its difficulty rating, but after 30 minutes of searching I turned up empty. Yeesh. I remembered not too long ago when caching used to be fun too.
Nice area though. The fort itself was built after the Civil War and used as a defense installation for World War One and Two.
After my failed cache hunts I decided to search out the next lighthouse, a petite little light known as the Spring Point Ledge Light. It was located almost directly behind Southern Maine Community College, and as a result parking was virtually impossible to find. So I just parked illegally as close as I could and got out for a quick run towards the lighthouse itself before somebody ticketed me:
Oooooh, pretty!
I hopped from rock to rock to get closer but decided I was too lazy and impatient to venture all the way to the light itself, so I just took a snapshot about midway through (while watching in the distance to make sure my car hadn’t been towed.)
It's ok, I'm good here, no need for more rock hopping.
After I took in the splendid views I hopped back into the car in search of one more light, this one called the Portland Breakwater Light (or more affectionately known by the locals as the Bug Light.) A small park has been erected around it this time, making it MUCH easier to access than the Spring Point Light. I took a lazy stroll as I observed the city of Portland from the distance, the waves rippling and the ocean air already clearing my perpetually clogged sinuses.
Maine at its finest.
This particularly light was made with style, the seams covered by elegantly made Corinthian columns, giving it a more artistically pleasing look. There happened to be a geocache here as well, but I had no luck finding that either. Eeesh, this was just not my day for geocaching.
Probably not roomy enough to live in.
Still, I was happy enough to have gotten in plenty of lighthouse peeping while I was in Portland, so I turned back to the city to visit the Old Port and stroll around down town before the sun finally set. Typically I’m not much of a seaport city fanboy, but Portland grew on me, and I could see myself returning here again someday.
The Old Port is another of Portland’s attractions, sort of like an extension of down town, with a mish mash of old timey fisher’s taverns, specialty stores and restaurants of various flavors. I’m enjoying the atmosphere and ocean air so far, but it’s time to head back to the hotel before the Valentine crowd comes out in full force.
