... last fall john invited me to join him on a trip to vinalhaven where he was scheduled to do one of his famous "northern stars planetarium" shows ... five months and three postponements (severe illness, death in the family, and icy winter gale) later we finally made the crossing to the island ... while waiting for the morning ferry we wandered the waterfront with our cameras ...
... before leaving the terminal john jumped at the chance to drop his coins in this machine ...
... interesting, what people'll collect, and, even more interesting, how sometimes learning something about someone is like finding a new piece to a puzzle but you just cannot figure out where it belongs ...
... leaving the protection of the headlands, we passed the famous owl's head light (you might remember sharing a little wanderabout we took that way during the winter) ...
... we saw a tiny porpoise, perhaps a juvenile of the species ... too far for impressive pictures, still it was fascinating to watch the creature glide through the sea ...
... sea birds flew alongside the ferryboat ... they have names, but, like flowers and trees and the internal pieces to machines, such don't stick for long in my head ...
... further out we encountered some of the hardy souls who work on the surface of the sea ...
... we had strange companions for our voyage ... this little guy was easily twice the size of his two friends who remained hidden beneath a blanket on the back seat ... he made up for their reticence by barking us a tale of a long ocean voyage ...
... we encounter the other ferry as it emerged from the low mist ... i wasn't happy when i realized there were no lifeboats visible ... didn't they see that movie ... ??? ...
... me, on another wanderabout ...
... and another intrepid wanderer ...
... a bald eagle escorted us as we negotiated the twists and turns of the harbor's labyrinth-like entrance of rocks and shoals and tiny islands ...
... arriving at the vinalhaven school, i helped john set up his air bubble planetarium ... "helped," of course, means i carried stuff ... after that i stayed off to the side and marveled at the perfection of his practiced choreography as he precisely placed each component ... here, i think, is his last, "have i forgotten anything" ...
... it was worth the price of admission to witness this process ...
... why drive to boston, or new york, when you can have a fully functional planetarium with an accomplished star guide pop up in your gym or lunchroom, or, for that matter, living room if the ceiling's high enough ...
... school rules, i can't show you the images which captured the joy and wonder on the children's faces ... that was the best part of the day, easily making up for the fact that there's no longer a label on the ninth rock out from the sun ...
... finishing the show and having everything all packed back into the van, we were served a nice school lunch by the friendly staff ... some of the third-graders made a point of asking us to join them at their table, a most wonderful way to end our visit ...
... while waiting for the ferry we walked a bit and snapped pictures ... there was a gimongous pile of rope along the shore ...
... my first ever visit to vinalhaven, it seems a very peaceful place ...
... we stopped on the way home to visit a favorite tree ...
... another wonderful wanderabout ...