Maine Event: Day 56

· Maine Event

Today was a pretty typical day. We headed down early to the post office to get our mail but alas it was closed for the holiday. We had a foggy cloudy morning early that turned into beautiful blue skies. We are enjoying a bit of a slightly warmer week. Our high today was 66° and our low was 54°. They are indicating later in the week our highs will be in the low 70s. This is a busy week at work and we are starting to think about things we want to do before heading home. Also, we are planning to get our flu shots this weekend from our local Walgreens. 

I've been thinking about density and how a certain level of density brings resources together in a unique way. NYC has 27,016 people per square mile. San Francisco has 17,246 people per square mile. 04101 which is most of the peninsula part of Portland Maine is 8,069 people per square mile. Yet most of the housing on the peninsula is multifamily. It's interesting. Portland was the largest it has ever been at 77K people in 1950. It is 68,408 today. I think the peninsula part of Portland is the most walkable city I've been in. I'm still working on why that is but part of it is because it is a small area (one mile wide by two miles long)

View of the beautiful buildings downtown on our way back from the post office.

brick buildings and brick sidewalk with tree trunks

This is seen all over Portland. It is their improved version of the No Smoking sign.

Sign that says: "If you are seen smoking here we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action

A little delicate pink rose growing against our foundation. I'm surprised by how many wild kinds of roses there are and what a wide range of climates they grow in.

delicate pink rose

We made a quick run to the garden at lunchtime to deposit the leftover vegetable matter from making stock. This mixture is growing outside of the garden in a lovely wild mass of plant matter.

mixture of green and purple plants in a garden

There are a huge number of asters in this area that perhaps once I get back I'll try to summarize and post about. This amazing site is the seed pod of the New England Aster - a rich medium purple when in bloom. This was such a surprise, I almost like the seeds more than the flowers. There are bunches like this roughly 8 inches across everywhere now. A complete delight!

aster seed pods

Giant blue sky on Summer Street.

blue skies on a small street with homes

This is the view from our little park that we visit. I don't think it is as popular as others but I find it rather swell plus it is a 5 min. walk

park with foliage turning

This is the other direction and that is the bridge to South Portland (a separate town) that we walked over when we were first here. It also is the bridge that folds up so ships can pass under it.

another view of the park and harbor and a bridge

Green Ash turning yellow and making the walkway golden.

yellow leaves on a brick sidewalk

A soft sunset.

sunset

Have a lovely night.

Sending oodles of love, Tawnia