Labor Day weekend signaled the end of summer, but it was in a week of hot, humid (you know, humid for here) weather. We canoed down to the end of the lake for Joe and Andy Bellerose's brewoff and pig roast. Joe's maple beer was the best. Melissa was taking notes on the pig roast thing because she has to do one for Rotary(aka "the goddam Rotary") soon. At work, I'm just straight out trying to get a demo of the community college site ready. It will be called College Now. The legislature is all hot on the idea because it doesn't need much funding. It creates a virtual community college from existing resources: a core of introductory courses at the seven technical colleges with guaranteed transferability to the campuses of the UMaine system. At the Heron we're in kind of a lull now until Commonground Fair and leaf-peeping season hits at the end of the month. We had a totally Americana moment this morning: putting up a picket fence in the back yard (a polite border with our student neighbors) while hearing the whistle of the steam train and church bells playing how great ya'll art. There are bells on the hour at the University too, and someone with a sense of humor selects the tunes. One morning prior to the 8 am class, they played "Send in the Clowns."

Just down the street from us this fabulous paint job is happening and I like to think that we had something to do with it. When we painted our house in-ya-face yellow the bluehairs gasped, but now there seems to be a movement in town away from white with black shutters. This is the house of Meg Malmberg and her husband Steve. Meg is the provost at Unity College. She stayed at the Heron during her multiple interviews for the job and then became a neighbor. The house was painted dark grey before, and you had to look at it closely to even see the shingle patterns and moldings. Check the detail on the hand rail ballusters. Anybody who visited us here this summer got dragged down the street on Saturday morning to the Farmers Market, prior to which they got to watch Melissa's imitation of Sister Bernadette. For which we'll all burn in hell no doubt. Applying Catholic logic, I think you can indulgence your self out of the consequence by buying a loaf of Sister B's bread each week. We call them the Little Sisters of Marketing, but as you can see from the sign, their place is called Transfiguration Hermitage. Catchy huh? There's only two of them. Sister B bakes and cooks and seems to work hard while Sister Elizabeth appears to be blessed with the Divine Gift of Supervision.