Let me start by saying- We love living in Portland, ME. The 60 degree cool and breezy summer weather is great, we love how we can walk to almost everything, how there are farmer's markets, and an active art community. The streets and little neighborhoods that surround us are fun to walk through with the dog and there is even a straight up DOG PARK- specifically for dogs- complete with water bowls and toys! It's great.
But I also want to share some of the quirky little impressions and stories that one begins to acquire after living in a place for a few weeks...
For example: The other night while out on a walk we were walking down this great little street we "frequent" and as we approached this heap of a recycle bin and trash bag- I thought I spotted a skunk. I told Cameron and dog to hold up as we peered down the very dimly lit sidewalk to this punky mohawk by the bag. What was it? Was it a shadow, a branch... something told me skunk... It did not move at all, leading us to question our own animal instincts.... So we cautiously took a few more steps waiting for more proof and then IT moved! YUP it was a skunk! So we briskly crossed the street to the other side and thanked our stars we had noticed and believed our eyes because that would have been super sick to have two people and one dog sprayed and trying to get clean in our little apartment in our awkward clawfoot tub! As we became parallel with the skunk on the opposite side of the street we warned an approaching pedestrian about said skunk and he chuckled and said it wasn't the really BIG one that is usually out. Awesome. And the guy actually stepped around the skunk and shooed it away without incident. crazy I guess them is tame But then just on Thursday night- while on the same street it smelled fierce. It seems that not all of them are tame. Good thing we weren't there when it decided to blow!
In addition to seeing a skunk in the neighborhood, we saw a possum the other night, which isn't so bizarre, but still a little startling and super gross! They look like they are constantly wet and greasy, like they just escaped a drowning. Sort of like this guy. 
Another impression/ observation... see these street lines? YEAH, well Maine could get out the ol paint brush and do some touch ups. Even on busy roads- ie leading to shopping centers where there are clearly two roads- the lines are but a distant hieroglyph. Like with a lot of roads- the colder the climate the more crappy the roads. The winter just beats them up. This was true in Anchorage, but it seems they attended to their roads more often... It's just an added challenge when you are trying to get from A to B as a newbie in town and there is not much of an indication that you are on a one way, a no way or a two way.
Flip over a bottle or a can and see the print that mentions a 5 cent redemption for NY, DE, ME, etc... here's what it means for Maine: typically the night before the trash and recycling are picked up- folks put their stuff on the curb and as I mentioned earlier- skunks etc get into the goods... well there is definitely a group with head lamp strapped over their knit cap, with shopping cart or a truck bed aiding their conquest, who go from street to street collecting cans and bottles for the 5 cents. I know this happens in NYC, I saw it first hand, but nothing like this happens in Delaware- I guess people aren't thrifty enough in DE.... but there is something kinda funny and trick-or-treat-ish about this ritual... You lay in bed at night and then poof around 11 or so you hear the jangling noise approach your street... is it Santa? No. No it's not Santa at all kids... it's the recycle fairy
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