New Years Eve and New Years Day 2012

Today is the first of January, 2012.  The sky cleared to reveal blue – wonderful blue.  When we lived in Pennsylvania, I often wanted to go out and photograph the blue because there were many – make that mostly cloudy skies -  and we did not see a lot of blue during the winter time.  The sun is watery this time of year – not much strength in it, but enough to melt the ice in the driveway of the apartment.

On our way to church I noticed that the banks of the Kennebec are coated with ice…….and small bits of ice are floating on the surface and a few hitchhiking gulls are seen clinging to the ice floe.  Guess they get tired of swimming for themselves so to hitchhike on an  ice floe is a good way to get around.  There was a river in Johnstown that always seemed to ice over in the winter and when it began to thaw in the spring, sometimes you could hear the loud cracking noise as it broke up.  They tell me that there was a time here in Augusta that the river ice backed up the river and caused a flood.  Before we left the church for home, we went with another couple to visit an elderly lady in an assisted living home.  It is a magnificent mansion on the bank of the Kennebec River and has 5 floors including the basement.  In its heyday it must have been a magical place to live in.  It still has all the original flooring of polished hardwood and her room has a bay window overlooking the river.

At the Archives this past week, we were doing the Criminal docket of Knox County for 1905 and the following are some of the words that have jumped off the page at me as I stood there doing the records.  Lobster pilfering (apparently the thief hauled up the lobster trap and stole the Lobsters from inside it.  I am sure that the Lobsters did not come with their pincers held together with rubber bands like they do in the water tank at the supermarket today– ouch!).  An attack with a clam hoe; I did not know that they dug clams with a hoe – I would have used a shovel or something – that tells you how much I know about how they harvest clams. One man was fined for stealing Lobster Traps and the buoy that marked them even though the name of the lobster man was carved on the top of the trap.   Operating a house of ill repute and when it was not being used as such,  it was a gambling den.  There was one case of election fraud.  Seems like two men paid another man to not vote by giving him $5.00; I guess the vote was only worth $5.00?  There was a case of someone open for business on a Sunday and another person fined for having an unregistered dog.  Someone stole loads of copper wire (in 1908) and sold it to someone else while one person pled insanity and was committed to a mental asylum for the rest of his life.  There were assorted murders and rapes and other miserable conditions too numerous to mention.  I wonder how a judge steels himself against such a barrage of lies and misrepresentations by the criminal wishing to escape punishment for the crime committed.  How are things different today?  Not too different in my estimation.

We had a phone call from David.  He apparently is short of money again (as usual) and he is going to have to spend the gift cards he bought for us for our Christmas Presents.  It is easy for us to understand his thinking, but for someone who has not lived with him, it is pretty impossible to understand his way of thinking or operating.  We are just grateful that he even thought about us to buy us a gift card in the first place.

They threatened us with snow and Ice in the forecast for today but it did not come to pass.  So this afternoon after we had lunch, we drove to Hallowell and parked the car and went walking on the rails to trails walkway.  The Kennebec is frozen in lots of places around Hallowell and there was a lot of ice on the trail so we did not stay long on it but walked on the railway line.  We turned around and came back home.  Nevertheless, it was wonderful to be outside even if it was rather cool.

In the newspaper today there is a raft of items about the little girl who is missing from Waterville.  The authorities have now termed it a criminal case and there are a number of psychics who have offered their services.  One from California even drew a map of where they would find the body.  I just hope that the little one is still alive.  One lady in Massachusetts posted a note on the internet in the form of a poem that claims that the little one has been whisked away by family to keep her from the father who had sole custody.  When the police saw that note they made tracks to her door quick smart to check out where she got her information.  It turns out to just be an emotional outpouring from the writer’s soul and a wish for the safe return of the little one.  I hope she is found alive and well.

We are having a traditional Pennsylvania meal for New Years – Kolbassy (Sausage) and kraut with potatoes.  I guess there are some traditions that stick with us even when we no longer live in the area where we learned them.  I checked with Sara if she was having the same, but they have been invited out for dinner today and she reminded me that Jacob calls it Kielbassa.  Well, it just depends on which part of the country you lived in and what name it is called…………Kolbassy it is!