... i was supposed to join john on his astronomy outing to vinalhaven island today, so i awoke at four o'clock in the morning, showered, shaved, dressed up in the blue jeans without holes, and started to prepare two thermoses of hot coffee ... at that point john called, "i'm wicked sick, we're going to have to do this another day" ... i reassured him all was okay with me, cautioned that he get plenty of rest, then switched off the phone ... pleasant thoughts of jumping back into my warm bed were suddenly interrupted by the realization that at least one giant mug full of coffee hadn't made it into the stainless steel bottles ... sooooooo ...
... so, i decided to go for a little wanderabout ... a couple of hours later found me enjoying the sunrise from the deck of the wire bridge in north new portland ...
... the roads in the area were ruts of iron-hard ice and packed snow, and the entire landscape around the bridge was encased in an inch-thick laminate of hard ice on top of thawed and then refrozen snow ...
... i'd walk several steps, just enough that i would begin to relax, then one of my feet would break through the hard surface and i would fall over like a drunken cow on the side of a hill ... sometimes the ice would close in on my leg like a chinese finger trap and it would be a great effort to get myself level again ...
... knowing what would be waiting for me, i struggled several hundred yards to the place where the river makes a slight bend to the north ...
... returning to the deck of the bridge, i was mesmerized by the music the river played with the ice edging its banks ...
... walking on the ice covered bridge was almost impossible, and driving its span was a most entertaining experience ...
... i hope john is feeling better ...