rolanni | Reposing in Light

...at least for a little while.

We left the Fortress of Solitude early this morning in actual sunlight, bound for Freeport and L.L. Bean, where I had an 11:30 a.m. appointment with the employment office. The yellows were glorious, the reds not prominent, and the few bronzes more than a little brown. Still, a beautiful morning, and the ride pleasant, with good company.

We arrived in Freeport early and did a little back-road exploration to pass the time, then

kinzel dropped me off at the employment office and betook himself to the village for a couple hours of mad dissipation while I filled out forms, answered questions, read Policy and Procedures, undertook sexual harassment training, successfully proved not once but several times that I was who I said I was, and departed with an employee number and a start date. Seasonal phone work in the Waterville office, 4 to 48 hours per week, nine clams an hour and a handsome employee discount for All Things Bean. Well enough.

The nice folks at Bean had cautioned me to budget two hours for the questioning, reading, proofing, mugging, &c, but -- I read fast. I called

kinzel on the cellphone, and very shortly thereafter we were on the road to Old Orchard Beach, where I am very sorry to report that the entire so-called Midway is gone, gone, nothing but an enormous hole in the ground, being pumped full of concrete even as I type. The World War II watchtower is still standing -- perhaps they can't take it down, being as it's possibly historic. Or maybe they're waiting for a propitious time.

The door to the Pier was unexpectedly open, so we went up, collecting a handful of change and two smashed pennies -- or maybe not precisely pennies -- from the boards before a young man unloading stock at the bar informed us that the Pier was closed. We left and he prudently pulled the door down behind us.

On the beach, it was windy, and cold and glorious. The waves were turgid and full of mud; the tide somewhat over-high. A few days ago, it must have been awesome judging by the line of tangled kelp up near the road.

kinzel and I walked for a while, lazily beachcombing, then went up into town for lunch at the new Italian restaurant, Giardio's. The chicken marsala was wonderful. We left town via Saco and Once and Again Books, where -- surprise! -- several books, a couple of CDs and a stuffed fox stuck to our fingers. Home again the Long Way, arriving to the happy news that an arrest warrant has been issued for Tom Delay.

On balance, a perfectly delightful day, ohmyyesindeed.