Eagles Over the Kennebec

So, yesterday, Steve and I drove down to Old Orchard Beach (aka Archers Beach) to distribute samplers of Carousel Tides to Various Interested Venues, including the Skylark Beach Inn, where we usually stay when we can afford to stay at the ocean, and which appears in the book as the site of Kate's grandmother's house, and also at JJ's, where the bartender was sharp as a tack and got the idea immediately; and at the Book Warehouse, where the salesperson on was somewhat less sharp and confessed that people who wrote fantasy "puzzled" her. Still, she was kind enough to take a few copies and promised to give them to people who bought fantasy books, which she didn't have to do, and I appreciate her help. We likewise stopped at the Borders in South Portland, to find that the Inventory Manager was very, very busy.

In and around all this taking care of Serious Business, there was ice cream, and a cheese sammich picnic at Pine Point Harbor, where there were Enormous Black-and-White Ducks with heads the size of grapefruits, and various comings and goings of working boats and pleasure craft to entertain us.

One of our goals had been to check out some options for shifting the location of the Confusion Factory (one of my dreams is to live at or near the ocean, and I'm not yet ready to file it away with, "And I'll never feel the wind blow through my hair as I drive through Paris," as unachievable). Completely by accident, we found a house, in a nice, very settled neighborhood, all on one level, big enough but not too big, wood stove in the family room (hey, it's Maine), screened-in porch, small corner yard, not stupidly priced.

Note to self: Buy winning lottery ticket today.

We completed the day's adventures with dinner at Cacciatore's, and so to home.

Today is the Official Day of Celebration of Steve's birth, and we intend to continue the festivities by going into Waterville to watch Nic Cage chew up the scenery, and achieving something in the line of ice cream and cake, before coming home -- Steve to pack and me to get with Clan Korval.

Hope everyone's having a similarly pleasant weekend.