Day Two - June 11, 1984

The ocean and some crying seagulls woke me up this morning. I went to the window and just about had a cow! It is incredible!

The ocean is practically in the backyard, the sun is reflecting off the water so beautifully and there is a boat out fishing. A little breeze is blowing at just the right temperature. It was dark by the time we got home last night so I saw none of this. Even if it had been light I didn't feel a bit well last night so I still may not have noticed. I feel almost 100% this morning.

I think everyone is gone. I thought the girls were out of school but they're not - they have to go until the end of the week.

I need to unpack. It won't take long since my main suitcase is lost somewhere.

They have two canaries but I don't know their names yet. There are no snakes here I guess....just an occasional garter snake. No poisonous snakes at all.

Last night Susan (my family's mom) asked Jolene what she did last summer and Jo said she raked hay for her Dad and Susan couldn't believe it! She thought Jo physically raked it with a yard rake!

I had an English muffin and OJ for breakfast - it was all I could find...but I think I really like English muffins!

Claire (Susan's Mother) is here. She is really nice. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and works at Harvard - in the Library. She is staying for a couple of days I think.

Carl's (my family's dad) grandmother invited us all over for dinner tonight. She sounds like a character. She is very wealthy. She lives just down the road. She bought the house across the street from Carl and Susan so she could control the renters and no "undesirables" would move in and be a bad influence on her great- granddaughters.

Claire and I are going to walk down the street to do some grocery shopping and take Morgan's lunch to her. She forgot it. Morgan is the 7 year old. I haven't met either of the girls yet because they had already gone to school by the time I got up and around this morning. It will be fun to go to their school.

LATER-

I am at the beach now. We didn't go shopping because Claire got dizzy. She said it was because of the heat and humidity. We did take Morgan her lunch and caught a ride home with Susan. Claire is laying down. I decided to explore a little bit.

There are a lot of boats in the harbour. A fishing boat is just going by. A big yacht is headed out too. Cramer's beach is about 20 to 30 yards long. Just a little bit of it is sandy and the rest is real rocky but the rocks are fun to climb around on. The beach is on the south side of the harbour about half way between the port and the opening to the ocean. A creek runs along the edge of their property and into the harbour. It has a little waterfall and is really pretty but there were a lot of mosquitoes biting so I didn't stay there long. When I climbed out onto the rocks I could see the town. It is small and quaint looking. It is pretty hilly here and there is a mountain to the north. "Where the mountain meets the sea" is their calling card I guess. When I looked out to the east toward the ocean I saw a lighthouse on an island at the mouth of the harbour. I think lighthouses are neat.

Jolene just called and Thomas (her 9 month old charge) is very good. She really likes it so far and isn't homesick at all. I'm not really either if I don't think about it. Jolene says Tammy and Frick (her cousin and husband) have a satellite so she watched a lot of TV.

LATER-

I took a nap and went to meet the girls at school so we could walk home together. It is a 10 minute walk. We went to the beach a while then Tammy and Jolene came and took us for a drive. We went to Tammy's land where they are building a new house. They have a river and a lake right beside the property. It is a very pretty setting and will be closer to Camden where she works. They are just in the beginning stages so it won't be ready to move into anytime soon.

I really like the Cramer girls. Chloe is very grownup for a 10 year old and Morgan still sucks her thumb and has a security blanket at 7 - but she won't wear any shoes at all unless they are HEELS! They are so cute and funny!

On our drive we passed by some cows. They were Black with white bands around their middle. They are called Belted Galloways but the girls call them "Oreo Cookie Cows".

LATER STILL -

We just got back from Carl's Grandmother's house. She lives in an old Captain's mansion up the hill from Cramers. It is simply gorgeous. The view from there was incredible. The house was old and massive. They call her Grandmaria (gran-ma-rye-a). I think it is another language for Grandma but it sounds very elegant. Anyway...she met us at the door and was dressed for dinner (they call supper dinner here and dinner is lunch). We went to the sitting room and had before dinner drinks. The girls and I had cokes and the rest had cocktails. There were nuts and olives and it was all very fancy and formal - yet comfortable somehow. She has a cook, Annie, a personal maid and a paid companion, Bernice. Bernice's job is to hang out with Grandmaria. They do everything together. Grandmaria is in her 80's and her companion is in her 60's. They spend the summers at this house in Maine and winters in her other house in Arizona. She drives a bright red Mercedes and swims for two hours every day at a private club. I can't really grasp how wealthy these people are. But they are so nice...not snobbish at all.

After cocktails, we went to the dining room which had a fireplace and big chandelier and picture window with a view of the ocean, mountains, and the lighthouse. The table was set with real china, real silverware, crystal glasses and linen napkins. Instead of salt and pepper shakers there were two small silver bowls with salt and pepper in them and each had a tiny little spoon for you to spoon out your salt and pepper with.

The maid came and took our plates from in front of us and filled them and we ate. Nobody said grace. When we were done eating the maid took our plates and replaced them with plates (not bowls) of ice cream - lot's of ice cream. I ate all of everything. I was so nervous. But Grandmaria is very nice. Oh yes - what did we eat in all of this formality? What else but...HAMBURGERS!

We are back home now. Carl told me that I handled myself very well at his Grandmother's. (I still don't know if I was supposed to wipe my mouth on that linen napkin - but I didn't.) Carl says the girls respond well to me. I guess that is good. He uses a lot of big words. So does Chloe. Susan is more of a jokester and pretty laid back.

I am ready for bed. I feel like I have been here a week already!