What’s Really Important to me (even more than microbiology!)

“Mainiacs away from Maine are truly displaced persons, only half alive, only half aware of their immediate surroundings. Their inner attention is always preoccupied and pre-empted by the tiny pinpoint on the face of the globe called Down East. They try to live not in such a manner that they will eventually be welcomed into Paradise, but only so that someday they can go home to Maine.”   — Louise Dickinson Rich 1903-1991

These are images of the old one-room school house in Pleasant Ridge, New Brunswick Canada where my mother used to teach in the early 1940s. We lost Mum in April of 2008, and even though she ultimately went into a career other than teaching, I think of her teaching in this building many times when I’m in the classroom pretending to be a professor! It helps me feel connected.

Ann and I spent the 2007-2008 academic year studying and working (and playing!!) at the University of California and Santa Barbara. I still miss my friends and lab-mates there terribly and we especially miss the beaches and mountains. These are a couple of the hundreds of beach pictures we took. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how we ever left that place!

You just haven’t traveled until you’ve driven 3000 miles coast to coast (and back!) with two cats and two people in a Hyundai! Not only did Ann (that’s the wife!) help with driving, but Rosa (shown above) was a frequent co-pilot!!

Ann and I a bit more recently!

This is Baxter as a kitten. His name comes from our favorite park, Baxter State in Maine.

This is Rosa as a kitten. Her name comes from Ann’s hometown in Alabama! (If you haven’t guessed, animals are pretty important to us!)

Ann and I were married on Monhegan Island in Maine.  It’s a place we adore and return as frequently as possible!

(here’s a wedding photo from 1994; we look even better today!)

This is the most northerly light on the US Atlantic coast. It is near my hometown Calais, Maine.

These three photos are from one of the most important places in the world, at least to Ann and me: Baxter State Park, Maine.

These are Puffins and Razorbills on Machias Seal Island off the Coast of Maine and New Brunswick Canada.

I lived for a time in a National Wildlife Refuge in Maine while in High School. The Moosehorn is still where I spend much of my free time while home in Maine visiting family.

This is the St. Croix River. It forms the eastern border of Maine and New Brunswick Canada. I traveled back and forth frequently as the largest portion of my family still lives in Canada.

I have been a birder since I was a kid, but I don’t get to as often now as I’d like. Ann and I are also avid vegetable gardeners. This is NOT a picture of our garden. Not even close. Our garden/weed patch this year is pretty pathetic!