"I would never leave you for another man, or woman"

The Coast Guard helicopter that came out of the blue to hang suspended over Chelsea Creek across the street for a "vertical delivery" yesterday won every heart and mind of neighborhood families enjoying Eastern Salt's totally awesome Maritime Festival. Its rotors' turbulence roiled the waters, stirring up half-remembered miasmas of the mind. Teresa Hummel photo.

"This is really sick," we wrote our sis re a UK Independent article headlined "Attenborough alarmed as children are left flummoxed by test on the natural world":

Less than two-thirds (62 per cent) identified frogs.

It seems impossible. Even if they are out of touch with nature, haven't these kids ever seen "Sesame Street"? Can you say Kermit the Frog? 'Guess that being green is even harder than we thought. And here's the irony of it all:

Experts blamed the widening gulf between children and nature on over-protective parents and the hostility to children among some conservationists, who fear that they will damage the environment. They said that this lack of exposure to outdoor play in natural environments was vital for children's social and emotional development.

"They don't understand beauty, let alone recognize it in unexpected places," noted our sis.

Christian and Susan, two for the seesaw, beautiful people —madonna and child —who light up our life blessed us with their presence for 24 hours starting midday on Saturday. Talk about energizer bunnies. Woo hoo. So much fun, so little time. Sissy Willis photo.

"All I want to say is … you are THE MOST gracious hostess ever was. We have our rough spots, but at the end of the day … Sisters, sisters … I would never leave you for another man, or woman":

Caring, sharing ev'ry little thing that we are wearing.
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome
She wore the dress and I stayed home.

When the helicopter hovered and the froggy-footed man descended, tears of ecstasy flooded these old eyes and set this hoary heart to skipping a beat or two. Teresa Hummel photo.

"Where did you get that dress, it's awful, and those shoes and that coat, jeeeeez!"  TH photo.

Eastern Salt imaginator Dan Adams and his stunning bride Marie were there, of course. They asked us in fun how long she could be referred to as a bride, what with their having tied the knot just last June or so, if we're remembering correctly. "One year," we replied. "Then you can call her anything you want." Oh, gosh. Battle-of-the-sexes jokes aren't so funny when you're young. May their life together be blessed with love and understanding. TH photo.

We love these guys. They lend the light fantastic to any gathering. Such magic. TH photo.

Paul Lamb, dock manager of Eastern Salt and Leo Mahoney, the Father of All Chelsea Salt Piles, brought gravitas, a great hawaiian shirt and a superb bowler hat to the day's festivities. TH photo.

Say cheese. City Manager Jay Ash — wicked tall with sandals, right of center — presented the Coast Guard with a totally awesome Chelsea Clock in recognition of all they do to make our shores safe for democracy. TH photo.

Company president Shelagh Mahoney with her papa and the next generation smile for the cameras. Sissy Willis photo.

Wow are we lucky to have the dog folks, Kayem, as a local sponsor. Yummy!!! TH photo. 

Well look at that! A sign featuring a photograph of one of the salt mines (left) and one of our own photographic images of the working waterfront (right) inviting Maritime Festival goers to walk around the corner and visit the "Landing Salt" exhibition. SW photo

There's that ubiquitous woman with a camera, Teresa herself, chatting with the guard lady at the "Landing Salt" show, with Ken and Tuck in the foreground studying a satellite image of Eastern Salt and environs on the gallery floor. SW photo.

Teresa found, as we had a couple of weeks back, that that lovely guard lady at the Pearl Street Gallery had become enchanted with the show, learning for the first time in her life where road salt comes from and how it gets to market.

We broke bread — and sipped the bubbly — together last night with our party of six and this morning with the usual suspects left over after an extended wee-hour marathon. Deep, dark and delicious. These gatherings are not for the faint of heart.

Update: Teresa's take here and lots more pictures with captions here.         

Comments

[Teresa]

It was a delightful day. I'm so glad we were able to come see the fun. Meeting your sister and nephew - how wonderful to add 2 such lovely people to our circle of friends!

I thought I had gotten a better shot of Paul when they were grouped - but it seems he was hiding from the camera. ;-)

[goomp]

Living next door to Portsmouth, N.H. another port city that has combined the mystique of the waterfront with the tidy unloading of essential materials, it was a pleasure to see the photos of a celebration of the l waterfront.

[Elisson]

I am thoroughly envious - sounds like a wonderful time was had by all.

[Ken]

Sissy, as a retired member of the "Hooligan Navy", sometimes known as "Shallow Water Sailors", sometimes known as the "World's Largest Non-Nuclear Coast Guard", it makes me proud to see the Coast Guard finally get the recognition is deserves. It's just a shame that it took 9/11 and Katrina to introduce the Coast Guard to most of the nation. When I first joined and the CG was under the non-leadership (as well as the rest of the nation) of Jimmy Carter ...I'm sorry, I can't say or write his name without throwing up a little bit in my mouth...we were known as Uncle Sam's Confused Group. We LITERALLY had to provide our own toilet paper (with sporadic water pressure and "Old Guard" supervisors, an improvised bedet was out of the question. TMI, I know. Later, with the underwhelming leadership of Beth Dole , we were known as the "Red-headed Step-Children" of the Dept. of Transportation. In her inspirational brilliance, she gave priority to the railroad system. Obviously, removing graffiti from rail cars was a higher priority than us knuckleheads "willy-nilly" saving lives and interdicting drugs before they hit the U.S. I often wonder if those railroad folks suffered as high a divorce rate as us non-entities "farting about" the high seas. THANK your nephew's beloved for serving in the CG. Also, tell her that if she hangs in there, she'll be strolling-about Wal-Mart in her "Retired Coast Guard" ballcap and pants pulled-up to her armpits before she knows it. There's a lot worse things than retiring in your late 30's/early 40's.