In the Indigo Girls famous choice, the Language or the Kiss, we have not been choosing the language. Instead we have been summering and running around with our two weeks of guests. Mel, Barb, and Marie were up for a week. Marie got them up to Bingham for rafting on the Fourth of July and on the 95 degree day that was the perfect thing to do. Mel got to work through previous traumatic Maine rafting experiences. Oh that we had joined them. Instead we used a scythe and lawnmower to clean up a trail by Sandy Stream preparatory to a tour of it on Saturday. Melissa wore Birkenstocks for this adventure and of course got wicked poison ivy. Several times we retreated into the stream to cool down. That was the O Brother part. Something about putting down your scythe and wading into a stream that makes you hum O Sisters Come On Down... After the UBR Saturday morning event, we headed up to Quebec for two nights. On the rainy drive up we spotted this big boy snacking by the roadside near Jackman. Upper city, lower city, finding ways to get from our hotel, up through the wall to the old city, up and down the funiculaire, salads at sidewalk cafes, Stella Artois beer, and always shopping. I see that I can learn French the way I learn software, occasionally consulting the manual. I can use the Montreal TV station that we get on cable as a class, and listen to tapes during my commute. I could have a lot more French next time we go there. Quebec was having a two week music festival and getting reservations wasn't easy. The first night we stayed at a strange snomobiler motel way on the outskirts; the second night we were at the Belley near the Marina, pleasant and quiet, a bocce game (rules impossible to figure out from observing game) in progress. A good breakfast (maple crepes of course) on our last morning there and we liked the juice glasses used there enough that we went around the corner to a shop and bought a set for the Heron. While our New Orleans guests were here, Solas, an Irish band, played to a packed house at the Unity theater, and our friends got it: the walk down the street to the small theater, the networked little town, the power of live music, the shared experience. Now they understand more about our life here. Solas's haunting song, Black Annis is the current MP3 download. Speaking of techie things, my laptop has a DVD drive only because I could see its 9 gig storage capacity becoming the standard. I knew I'd never watch movies on it. But I've discovered that's a cool thing to do. I'm reminded of the interactive primer in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. Watching a movie on a notebook computer is like reading a book, and then suddenly the book becomes alive. Good earphones facilitate this experience. I've only watched a few minutes of Lord of the Rings and a few minutes of Moulin Rouge, but I can see that this combines movie experience and book feel into a new thing.

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