Our trip essay

The beach and the ocean beckon to me.  They say, “Come and play” but the Atlantic Ocean is too cold for me to put my body into it yet there were people swimming in it at Old Orchard Beach.  What were they thinking?  Better yet, why would you parade around the beach in a swim suit if you did not have a body like you just stepped out of Seventeen or some fashion magazine?  I saved the people from seeing me in a swimsuit – Bill and I were in Jeans and tennis shoes; No bathing beauty here!

There were bikini clad bodies sporting miniscule to over whelming tattoos and some men who were in competition with the illustrated man from the movie long long ago.  Does your skin tan only where the ink is not?

The fashionistas were out in full force on the sidewalk in everything from the total cover up including large floppy hat to a bikini that was almost present  and loads of suntan lotion making the skin glisten in the sun.  The companies that make tanning lotion and sunscreen had a good week this week at Old Orchard Beach.

We ate at a small restaurant that boasted a parking lot and we asked if we could leave our car in their lot while we walked down to the beach and back.  The waiter said ok as long as we were not too long.  15 minutes tops and we had been to the beach and were back in our car and on our way to the Mall at Portland. 

We went to the Apple store – Apple is alive and well and all the devotees of the Apple Realm were busy looking over the merchandise, asking questions or playing with the latest Apple Toys on the various installations.  We were there to try to recharge Bill’s Iphone – he had forgotten to plug it in last night to recharge the battery.  Leaned that after 2-3 years the battery on these phones will not recharge and so they just give you another one in place of it – as long as you have a ‘plan’ with them.  Ours is with Verizon and we hope that in two years time we can get replacements as well.

I walked down the mall a little to hear the young lady singing.  I think I expected someone dressed as though she was in a cabaret setting, but she was bare legged, wearing flip flops and a raggy looking skirt and shirt.  Her hair was not even styled.  I thought that if you were selling yourself as a performer, at least get dressed up so that if someone was there to discover you, you would really be ready to be discovered.  As I was standing there, an old man pushing his oversized wheel c hair came by and just pushed his way to the front and stood there.  I thought he wanted to get through so that he could leave the mall – but no, he just wanted to be out in front to see the singer and to admire the leggy little dancers.  Papa Lockyer was right, when a man stops looking there is something wrong with him – he is either blind or dead….this old man was neither – I think he was window shopping or something.

As we were leaving the mall, we saw a store that had super large bags – at least they looked like bags that were somewhat like bean bags.  The salesman had a stuffed bag that was about 4 feet tall and very plump.  He pushed in the center of it and invited us to sit and experience this marvel.  It is very comfortable to sit in and desirable, but we have no room in our car for much more than what we brought with us.

On the way home we stopped in Hallowell and ate at the Lucky Garden.  Once is enough.  It is not a match for the Great Wall Chinese Buffet up by Walmart…..but you have to try at least once to see if you like what they have.  The best part of the experience there was seeing the river out the window.  The tide was coming in and I was watching a sand bar disappear under the water as I ate.

Today was a wonderful day.  The weather was fine and it was not too hot.  The best part was that Sara told us that Jacob has an appointment with the specialists at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota next week for a battery of tests that will take up 2 days.   The doctors at UN Omaha have told him they can do nothing more for him.  We are hoping and praying for a miracle at the Mayo Clinic.  His sister Chas will go with him – Sara now has a job and perhaps cannot take off time from work to be with Jacob.  He has many papers to fill out before he goes.  I know a little about that – I had to fill out pages and pages of info before I had my heart procedure done at Mayo.  We have his name on the prayer roll at the Boston Temple as well as the Mesa Temple.  Getting an appointment with Mayo is HUGE.  Jacob was able to get it through talking to the professors at UNL and one of them knows someone at Mayo and was able to arrange it.  What a blessing to have such a swift response.