... ann and amanda invited me to go with them to drop amanda off a her ship, which was berthed in portland ... it ended up that chuck could join us, so we all got to share the trip ...
... while she was loading her gear in the back of the truck i took a little wanderabout along the edge of the lake ...
... we've already had spitting snow, and in the early morning there've been places where the road was a bit slick, but here along the shore of east pond the autumn is still holding on ...
... this little guy always warmly greets me each time i arrive at what is clearly my "second home" on east pond ...
... bella, carefully adorned with her don't-shoot-me-you-idiot-i'm-a-dog-not-a-deer neckerchief, always acts as if it's been a hundred years since we've seen one another ...
... at the dock in portland amanda proudly introduced us to the vessel which is both her work place and, for want of a better word, "apartment" ...
... we went aboard so she could show us around ... since she is part of a team that catches fish and studies them to find out how much we humans are messing up their lives, the ship has great nets with which it can trawl the vast seas above the continental shelf ...
... unknown to us, while we were below decks a great storm arose and the ship broke free from its moorings and was blown far, far out into ocean ... !!! ...
... despite the crew's herculean efforts, it soon became apparent that we were doomed, that for us, like the tragic edmund fitzgerald, all that was to remain would be a catchy tune on the radio ... then, even as we huddled on the well deck getting ready to stuff our pathetic farewell notes into a bottle, upon the flying bridge above us a hero appeared ...
... "avast, ye maties," he snarled, "snitzen that witzenjammer ... furl that what'chmacallet ... grrrrrrrrrr ... we're not sunk until i say we're sunk, and i say that i see the way back to port" ...
... "hurrah-hurrah-hurrah," we all cheered, for the steely look in his eyes and the way he scoffed at the storm removed any doubt that we'd be sleeping on land that night ... he took the wheel and steered the mighty craft through the mountainous waves back to the safety of the harbor, all the while his faithful sidekick watching out the window to make sure he didn't run into an iceberg (i mean, after all, we already saw that movie and didn't want any part of that kind of trouble) ...
"hurrah-hurrah-hurrah, again," we all cheered, as the great captain returned all of us to portland harbor's tranquil waters ...
... "hurrah-hurrah-hurrah," his wife and daughter exclaimed, "ours is the greatest most wonderful captain in the whole world" ...
... "hurrah-hurrah-hurrah," yelled amanda and katie (and nikki, too, who is in the picture but doesn't show because of her ninjalike stealthiness), "if it weren't for the great captain we would've been lost" ...
... then, courtesy of the captain and his first mate, we did what all seafarers do upon first setting ashore after surviving a storm ... we scoffed down several huge flatbreads and celebrated our great fortune ...
... the end ...
... (except, that is, to add a "thank you" to commander richard behn of the n.o.a.a. corps for the picture of the ship's bow in the storm) ...