The week gone by — July 5

Portsmouth and Kittery … Kittery and Portsmouth.

The border between Maine and New Hampshire separates them, but they’re so intertwined that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is actually in Kittery.

They’re just a couple hours away, and for years, they have been a regular trip, usually on one of the first weekends that remind us that, even in New England, winter doesn’t last forever.

When your life catches you off-guard

Not to get too inside baseball about how I do this here blog, but on Wednesdays I either post something I wrote years ago or something based on what I’ve written before — hence the “Written in Past Lives” tag.

Unless there’s something specific that I know I want to revisit, I basically just poke through my old stuff to see if there’s something that grabs my attention.

Which brings me to last August.

Just like I remember it

The game itself lasted just over 2 1/2 hours — a 9-0 win for Portland over Erie.

But while the game was pretty brisk, I could watch games at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine — particularly on beautiful summer afternoons — forever.

Dodging raindrops at the beach

Everyone at Popham Beach State Park knew it was coming, probably even the seagulls.

The dark clouds were off to the right, and at times it was hard to tell whether the crashing sound was thunder or waves crashing along the beach.

Pizza and ice cream? What could be better?

There was a line for the pizza at Derosier’s in Freeport, Maine, but that wasn’t our line.

Our line was for the ice cream. They serve sundaes in Chinese take-out containers, and my combo of cookie dough, cookies and cream and deep-dish apple pie (yup, that’s a flavor) with whipped cream, nuts and peanut better was awesome.

The young woman behind the counter could have probably used some help, but she was giving it her all.

But whether Derosier’s is a pizza place that sells ice cream or an ice cream place that sells people, it raises what to me is an obvious question.

Not being able to keep up

Ducklings gathering on the water — that’s what Suzi compared the kids in the youth sailing program to as they gathered on their little boats for their Portland waterfront excursion.

Some of them seemed to be getting it more than others, while one little boy figured out that if he shook his rudder really fast back and forth, it would propel his boat forward.

That worked until he bumped the boat in front of him. So much for that.

Making up the vacation as you go

Pumpkin bread or banana bread at the local farm store? Why not both?

Drink or ice cream to cool off on a warm day? Why not both?

After all, it’s vacation, so why not both?