MaineCourse

This and That

Noland described the ship ( he called it a wagon) he was on and I found this photo. Given the wonders of the internet, I assumed I'd find his ship's roster, but haven't yet.

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Specifications:
Displacement 6,873 t.(lt) 14,837 t.(fl)
Length 455'
Beam 62'
Speed 19 kts.
Complement 56 Officers 480 Enlisted
Troop Accommodations 86 Officers 1,475 Enlisted
Cargo Capacity 150,000 cu. ft, 2,900 tons
Boats 2 LCM, 12 LCVP, 3 LCPU
Armament 1 5"/38 dual-purpose gun mount, 4 twin 40mm gun mounts, 10 single 20mm gun mounts
Propulsion 1 Westinghouse geared turbine, 2 Combustion Engineering header-type boilers, 1 propeller, Design shaft horsepower 8,500

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Today is moving day. Flo’s new home will in Concord Park, an assisted living complex in West Concord. Susan, with sewing machine and more energy than all of us, is in her car speeding northeast to help with sundry details like cleaning and selling Flo’s condo.

The camping group is now at twelve teens, three cars, and two adults. Today, I’ll call the Littels and the Prestons (two of the nearby landowners) and tell them what to expect, which is maybe three hours of play at Spoon’s Pond. The remainder of our camping trip will be at Ed’s place, isolated from all but Adam and me. Karen, Chris’s mom, after spending eighteen hours chaperoning an all night cancer walk fund raiser with most of these same students, has been totally converted. She thinks it’ll be “So much fun.” My fear now, as late as it is in the spring, it’ll be so much liquid refreshment for sucking insects.

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The Dance

My Mother would always put
fresh flowers
on my desk.
The tired mornings,
the literary struggles,
all would be encouraged
by the tulips,
lilies,
orchids,
sunflowers,
that sat in a pool of liquidly love,
which my Mother placed
so lovingly,
by my side.

To her,
it was an act of Motherhood.
To me,
it was an act of divinity,
a demonstration,
that growth was all around.

Written by a friend’s eleven year old daughter.

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Chris's daughter, Caroline, from the back.

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Thanks for the flower comment, Kathy.

I cannot believe an 11 year old wrote that poem. It is beautiful. Let us know what Roland says about the ship. We tracked down the ship my grandfather came over from Greece on. Kind of fun to have.

Posted by chris.

Good luck in Gilsum with the "sucking insects"! At least you don't have the 17-year Cicadas that are emerging all around us in MD. There's a constant drone all day, all night. Driving some of us in the DC area quite mad (those who aren't quite mad already, anyway.)

Posted by rakkity.

Those Cicadas appear everytime we have a republican president.

Posted by chris.

Those Cicadas must know something. Let's see, working backward--2004 Dubya, 1987 Raygun, 1970 Nixxon, 1953 Ike, 1936 FDR. Oops! I guess the cicadas didn't expect FDR to get a 4th term.

Posted by rakkity.

Posted by Michael at May 19, 2004 06:27 AM