kum ba yah

On Saturday morning, K (sister-student) and I headed out to the Bridgton Farmer's Market, to procure some stoneground wholewheat sourdough bread, some organic veggies and some incredible coffee beans from a Maine-based micro-roastery. In the evening, we went together to relish in the delights of traditional New England folk dancing (aka "contradance") at the town hall. We stood in rows opposite our partners (who would change throughout the evening), and the leader, or caller, stood at the mic and talked us all through the choreography for each dance before the band struck up its Anglo-Celtic tunes. I haven't had that much fun (or done that much vigorous twirling around at dizzying speeds on a dance floor) for a very, very long time! We laughed with delight the entire evening, and I just fell in love with this wonderful little community of mine.

Yesterday morning, four of us packed some hiking snacks and headed off to Pleasant Mountain, to find the head of a trail called Bald Peak and climb it. It was pretty gruelling (my hips, ankles and calves are creaky with stiffness this morning as I write), because the first part of the ascent was a good half-mile of vertical scrambling up tree-roots and old glacial stones. In parts, the trail flattened out somewhat and the breeze picked up and dried us off, bringing welcome relief. We reached the summit eventually and were over-awed by the view, of old forests and glistening lakes stretching out into New Hampshire. We continued on the trail to another peak, crested with a fire observation tower, and began our descent via a different path, called Ledges Trail. We found wild blueberry bushes and squatted down to forage like hunter-gatherers, picking off tiny, sweet, blue pills of juicy happiness. We spotted an eagle and various tiny snakes, and were overjoyed to be getting lungfuls of fresh mountain air with the bright fragrance of pine resin and spring water. Five hours later, we arrived home and immediately collapsed onto the sofa! What a glorious way to spend a Sunday.

In the evening, K and K (there are two "Ks" living with me in the apartment) and I rose from our afternoon rest to visit four sister-students living in a huge old eggplant-coloured house on Creamery Street. We spent our evening making and eating dinner, talking, giggling, drinking Maine blueberry wine, playing guitar (those of us who could) and singing. Kum Ba Yah indeed.