Quote for the day:

"Always keep in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."

~Abraham Lincoln~

Spend the day: Six Flags New England

I suppose you could call me a theme park snob. I guess I am approaching that level in my quest for higher drops, more inversions, the smoothest, tallest, fastest . . roller coasters. It started a few years ago, in the first few years of my relationship with my now husband. My previous roller coaster experience was tame, and the only loop I think I had done was a dozen years behind me. Not that it frightened me, in fact I recall enjoying it very much, just that my life at that time did not include targeted trips to theme parks. Not really. Fast forward and I fell in love with the feeling of the launch on the Incredible Hulk coaster at Universal Studios in Orlando. Rode it over and over that first day.






Since then it’s been a fascination and a focus of our travels. We went to both Busch Gardens in one year, riding Sheikra in Tampa and then the Griffin in Williamsburg. Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster was a top thrill and there I found my favorite coaster to date, Millennium Force.



So I was kind of skeptical about going to Six Flags New England Six Flags New England.  in Springfield, Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend. The ulterior motive was to buy season passes that would save us money when we go to California later this summer and spend a few days at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, home to some record breaking, incredibly innovative coasters. We knew that Six Flags New England (SFNE) had a few coasters, and we had heard they were okay, enough to satisfy a winter’s worth of thrill craving, but my skepticism went deeper. I remember when this park was not a Six Flags, but a run down little local New England amusement park called Riverside. When I lived in Connecticut, we had gone a few times, a Friday night here and there, rode the Cyclone, ate cotton candy, and played carnival games on the midway, that kind of stuff. My memories include heaping trash cans and having to park way down the street on someone’s lawn, kind of like when you go to the fair, long and dusty and hot and sticky.

I’m pleased to say that on this trip, I was quite surprised and we had a great time. The “we” in this case is my husband and 11 year old daughter.

Boy has the place grown up and cleaned up and prettied up. Entering the parking area – a large PAVED – well organized setting (although the $15.00 parking fee is a bit much for this part of the country) – we joined other early visitors on the tram to the entrance. The tram dropped us off at a footbridge over the road – wide and nice, with lots of available trash cans for your refuse, none of which we bulging over with trash – and brought us to the ticketing area. We found our way through the turnstiles and into the season ticket buyers office, got our photos taken, were given a coupon book to use throughout the season – some we can use in California – and once the park was officially opened, with the cutting of the opening ribbon for the day, we were off to the biggest roller coaster in the park, Bizarro. The roller coaster that was once named Superman, and had won consecutive best steel coaster awards, had been renamed a few years before and given a new persona with a soundtrack . We didn’t care who the hero or villain was, we just wanted a great drop (221 feet) and a little air and a lot of exhilaration. It did the trick. And the wait wasn’t too long – about 20 minutes the first time, longer on consecutive rides as the parked got busier during the day.

We rode Bizaro three times that day and twice the next. We also enjoyed Batman another steel coaster with a semi – floorless coaster with some great corkscrew turns. We rode that one a couple of times as the lines were pretty long. We tried Minderaser but all three of us came out feeling like we’d been beat up, and I was really looking forward to it, as I like the seating style, suspended from above with feet dangling. It was just too rough. I don’t like wooden roller coasters for the same reason, too brutal, headache inducing not worth the no thrill, so we didn’t go on either wooden coaster in the park. And for smaller metal coasters with a fun twist, both the Flashback and Pandemonium proved to be really fun. The only ride that gave me pause was not even a roller coaster. It was the twenty story drop tower, aptly named Scream, which wasn’t as bad as I expected. And up that high over the Connecticut River, I swear I could see Hartford, the city where I worked for ten years and where my daughter was born.

I’ve been proven wrong. The park was clean, even the bathrooms, which had attendants and touchless everything – soap dispensers, water, air dryer. The food was typical park fare – burgers, fries, pizza, etc. All overpriced and under portioned, but that’s the theme park way, except for Busch Gardens parks – awesome food – another review . .



Overall, visiting Six Flags New England was a great experience. We had fun. It was well managed and well organized. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in and give it a try. Before you go, you might want to revisit my THEME PARK TIPS.



Also worth a look is the Roller Coaster Database, where you can find info about the record holders, what’s new, and some park history. http://www.rcdb.com/



I’d love to hear from anyone about their memories at Riverside in Agawam, MA or your experiences at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Talking about Etsy.

You know how it can happen. For years friends tell you about someone and how you should meet them and you kind of blow it off like, yeah yeah I’ll do that sometime . . . tomorrow . . next week. When by chance you finally do meet that someone and you wonder how you ever lived without them.


I’m not talking about a person here. I’m talking about Etsy.

For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy, it’s www.etsy.com, and it’s a creative marketplace for artists and crafters to sell their work and share ideas. It’s a community of people online who work with their hands, their heads, and their hearts. Okay, that’s a little corny, but these people really seem to care about each other, their crafts and the potential of the enterprise.

Being a creative kind of person myself, once I was on the Etsy site, I just got sucked in. There are painters and knitters, quilters and metal smiths, jewelry designers and soap makers. And there are photographers like me. I looked around at the stores that others had set up and decided to give it a shot. I uploaded some of my images, wrote up descriptions, researched pricing and listing strategy, and hung up a shingle. I’ve already had my first sale and was thrilled. To see my store, click here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ccotaphotocraft. Bookmark it so you can come back and check it out as I add more work.

Just in the few weeks that I’ve been operating this store, I have browsed and adored some of the items available. I’ve put quite a few of the stores and work into my “favorites”.

And I bought stuff.

I really couldn’t help myself. You would do the same thing in my shoes. I know it.

In the spirit of giving back for everything I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been a part of the Etsy neighborhood, I thought I’d showcase some of these items here.

My first purchase was this bright and cheery shoulder bag from Heart2Handbags. I just love it and can’t wait to start using it. I really liked Amy’s little personal note inside. Nice touch Amy. Such a wonderful change from the mass produced bags I had been looking at. So fresh and lovely, I just had to go back to her site and buy a small cosmetics bag to go inside of it. Check out Amy’s shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Heart2Handbags

Next I found myself searching for a cool scrabble tile necklace. I wanted something to inspire me to create every day and I found it at PrettyWhimsical, http://www.etsy.com/shop/prettywhimsical. It came in such a nice little bag it was like getting a gift from a friend.

My daughter’s name begins with the letter “N”. For reason, she has a difficult time finding N stuff and when you’re a tween, that initial is important. So I went on an Etsy search for an N scrabble tile necklace and found this fun and sassy letter N for her. I found it at Mytwinscoops, and here’s the link to her store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mytwinscoops. Bet you’ll find more fun and sassy stuff.

And the last of my first shopping adventures on Etsy was at the site of XOHandworks. I loved the blue of these earrings and have a sweater that needed pairing. Here’s the link to the shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/XOHandworks. She does some wonderful pendants with sections of map inside that I loved, and along with my earrings, I got an added bonus gift of this button with the section of map where I live. How cool is that?

I’ve done more shopping since then and will show off my purchases in a future post.

I’m having fun learning from these artists, and understanding how it works. I’ve joined some teams and have been participating in forums. I’ve linked it to my Facebook page and actually, just yesterday, started a Twiter account. I am learning about marketing and promotion and how treating others well really does have an effect on your daily life. I’ve always believed in karma but the community on Etsy is giving and encouraging and I hope that I can contribute even a bit to the general good.

Maple Syrup Sunday in Maine

If you read my last post, you know that I’ve been exploring my Franco American heritage. In my contacts with the Franco American Center on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono, I was lucky enough to meet Lisa Michaud. Lisa extended an invitation to visit Dragonfly Farm & Winery in Stetson with her group. On Sunday, March 20th, a small group of us were welcomed warmly by the Nadeau family and given a tour and tastings of the operation.



 Bangor is a relatively large city in this part of the state. My home is just over the bridge, in Brewer, and maintains the feeling of a populous area. As we drove out of Bangor, into Kenduskeag, then Corinth, and finally into Stetson, the land and homes transformed into fields and farms. The day felt like spring, with blue sky and sunshine. It was nice to be getting out of town.

I’m not sure what I expected when I thought of a “farm”. I didn’t really expect livestock or rows of corn, but I was surprised to see two beautiful modern homes flanking the curved driveway. A small sign by the road told us we were in the right place. Between the homes and the road, blue tubing stretched from tree to tree, intertwining, meeting, and all the while, collecting sap from the maples. Co-owner Todd Nadeau, offered tastings of the sap out of one of the buckets hanging on the tree. It was only slightly sweet, unexpectedly refreshing.


Next Todd showed us the vineyard. It was obvious that this is a passionate endeavor. He and his wife Treena started this vineyard seven years ago with 275 vines. It has now grown to 600 vines, many different varieties and a distinctive fruit wine selection.


 For us, though, that day was about all things maple. Todd led us down to the edge of the woods, to the “cabane a sucre” or sugar shack, the home of the maple syrup production on the farm. Todd’s parents, Rita and John Nadeau, are from Jackman, Maine. As Rita explained, many of her friends and family made maple syrup when she was growing up. As retirement neared, the Nadeau’s decided to make the move. They built the “cabane” with wood from the land, and recently purchased a large evaporator to increase production of maple products.

 Pails hung from most of the trees, already tapped and running. John Nadeau let the kids in the group install a tap and hang the bucket with the cover on the tree. It didn’t take long for the clear liquid to start dripping from the tap.

Steam billowed out of the cupola vents on the roof of the Cabane. Inside, the evaporator was bubbling and frothing, filling the room with warmth. Rocking chairs and a woodstove gave the space such a homey feeling that it was difficult not to sit and relax. Rita was taking out the plates and napkins and serving up a slice of Maple Sugar Pie to each of us. It was delicious, sweet and creamy. I remembered my grandmother making sugar pie when I was young. Rita said it was a traditional recipe. On the stove nearby, she had pots bubbling the evaporated sap, boiling it down to syrup. Periodically she would pour some into a container where she would compare the color to a set of samples. She explained that syrup is lighter in color early in the season, and deepens as the weather warms.

After the pie, we went back out with John to collect sap from the buckets that hung on trees around the cabin. He used a tractor with an industrial sized plastic barrel strapped to the front. The kids took the buckets off the trees and poured the liquid into the barrel. John let the little ones ride with him from tree to tree.

When we made our way back to the cabin, Rita instructed us to fill a child’s sled with snow. With our hands, we packed in the crystallized snow and brought the sled back. After some stirring and testing, it was finally ready. After handing everyone some popsicle sticks, they poured some hot thick syrup onto the pressed snow. We swirled the warm gooey maple onto the sticks and enjoyed the maple taffy.

My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves visiting the Dragonfly Farm and wish to extend our thanks to the Nadeau family and the Franco American Center for giving us an experience that we had never had. Many of my ancestors had their “cabane a sucre” and supplemented their farming in the off season with maple syrup production. It was a nice reminder of simpler times.

This past weekend was Maple Sunday here in Maine. That’s when many maple farms open their doors and allow the public in to see how maple syrup is made. Dragonfly Farm and Winery is a participating farm. For more information, visit their website. Here is a link to Dragonfly Farm and Winery in Stetson, Maine. http://www.mainewinegrower.com/


Here is the link to the Franco American Center in Orono. Great resource for history and support. http://www.francoamericanarchives.org/

History, Ancestry & eBay

My grandmother, Blanche Lajuenesse, back row, far right.

I realize that we are just hours away from a long awaited return to spring, so discussing my winter interests seems like a step back. Perhaps it’s my attempt to justify my lack of blog posts, to indicate that my time has been spent elsewhere, somehow easing my guilt. Reality is that you probably don’t care that I haven’t posted since we were 52 days away from spring. If you do, please let me know and I’ll be absolutely sure to post more often.

My grandfather, Willie Roy, with my mother,
Rejeanne, and my aunt Madeline.

With that said, I’ve been on a quest to uncover my ancestry. “Who do you think you are?” is partly to blame. It’s that TV show on CBS where each week, a celebrity delves into his or her own family history. This season we’ve seen Rosie McDonald go from Montreal to Ireland to find out what brought her grandfather’s family to this side of the Atlantic. Tim McGraw found a route that connected his family to early Virginia settlers that housed and encouraged George Washington. Lionel Richie found out that his great grandfather, who had abandoned his grandmother as a child, had actually set off to establish a support system that led to the civil rights.



I started an account on http://www.ancestry.com/. I started looking. I found some very interesting stuff. Prompted not only by the television show, but also by questions from my daughter asking about where we can from, I kept digging, or clicking, and looking.

The population of Maine is becoming more diverse, although at last report, we are still the whitest state in the nation. White faces, however, do come in many varieties and mine happens to be one of the estimated 25% of the natives born with Franco American roots. I’ve learned that in the mid 1800’s as agriculture declined in Quebec, the industrial revolution was ramping up here in New England. Shoe factories, tanneries, paper mills, cotton mills and all manner of large scale production was developing. The combination of poor farming, large French Catholic families, and the lure of steady income and a better life drew hundreds of thousands of people to Maine, including, in 1896 my paternal grandmother’s family. I found out that my maternal grandmother, one of eighteen children, came to Maine with her family when she was sixteen years old. On Ancestry.com, I saw my great grandmother’s birth record. I found that my grandmother was the first in her family to read and write.

My maternal grandparent's wedding, 1930

My maternal grandparent's wedding anniversary

Growing up in Biddeford, Maine, the French language was heard everywhere. My parents tell me that I didn’t speak English until I started to play outside with other kids. The large brick mills hummed with activity, and although on the decline in my youth, and shut down now, they employed much of the population, including many members of my extended family. Aunts, uncles, and grandparents lived their lives in and around the mills in Biddeford and Saco. My point is that I took for granted that my history was all around me. For the most part I ignored the obvious; that manufacturing was moving south, that the mills were being converted to apartments and office space, and that a way of life was dying. To me, it was progress and frankly, I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

My parents when they were dating.  Aren't they so cute?

My parent's wedding

So fast forward some twenty five years and I’m faced with a little girl who wants to know about her heritage, who has an unexplainable draw to France and the French language, and is looking for answers. I’m sharing with her the things I find and trying to sketch out a path that stretches back to France via Canada. What we find together, no one knows, but we’re looking.

My mom is the little one in the middle with the barette. 

My thanks on this to the Franco American Center on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono. I’ve got a book to pick up this afternoon on the Roy family, my family on my mother’s side. If Franco American history interests you at all, here’s their website: Francoamericanarchives.org

My grandfather

A quick note about the eBay mention in my title: My interest in selling my work and the neat items I find, and the things I dig out of our basement to ready for a yard sale has prompted me to open an eBay store to sell this stuff.

I will be writing more about this soon, and am working on a website to accompany it: http://www.fullcircleonlinestore.com/. It’s not up and running yet, as I’m still in the early stages of design. I chose the name based on the idea that the things I sell on the site and on eBay have been used, and can be used again, given a new life, come full circle from new to in use to unused to use and life again. We are fortunate to be able to have decent clothing and I want to pass on the things we outgrow. I’ve come across two antique photographs that have been in my basement for a few years after I claimed them from a pile of stuff found in my sister’s old house. Turns out Wallace Nutting and David Davidson have a following and I’m hoping to sell those prints online. An old jug that has been sitting on my parent’s hearth for years, dusted weekly by my mother, is an antique kerosene bottle. I’m selling my wedding dress, some jewelry, and some artwork and am hoping that with some sales, I can continue to explore history and craft a future with a connection to the past.

Here’s the link to my store on eBay: at http://stores.ebay.com/fullcircleonlinestore.

Wallace Nutting

52 days until spring . . . ideas to get you through winter

It’s snowing sideways again. I’m sure that you’ve all had it up to here with snow stories, folks being holed up in airports on their way to other places, and how it costs million dollars an inch to keep New York streets clear. Here in Maine, we’re supposed to be used to it, we all snowmobile to work and have parkas of every color, right? Absolutely, unequivocally wrong.

I hate winter. And I’m a born and raised Mainer. Perhaps in another life, I froze to death or I’m just not meant to live in this kind of cold. Whatever the reason, when it gets to this time of year, January and February, my normally upbeat, optimistic demeanor goes south, and not in the good warm way. I get mean and grumpy, impatient and irritable, selfish and sad. I feel constrained by the layers – long johns, two pairs of socks, turtleneck, sweater, coat, scarf, hat, and mittens. The car doors freeze shut. The walkway to the back door slicks over. The roads and driveway narrows. You can’t see past the snow banks to pull out into traffic. My neck and head constantly ache with the tension from wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to stay warm. It takes forever to leave the house. This time of year you can’t just run out for something, donning flip flops to go over to the neighbor’s. It’s not advised to try to travel anywhere without having let the car run for ten minutes. The cold and snow just make things so much more complicated.

Okay, so what do non skiing, forget about ice fishing, winter hating Mainers do? Those with jobs and kids and other things like budgetary constraints who can’t flee the state for warmer climes have to come up with things to entertain and sustain our collective sanities. Here are a few ideas:

Cook winter food– stews, soups, slow cooked meat like roasts and ribs. Search for recipes that keep the oven running a few hours and heat up the kitchen. You’ll find that having something steaming on the stove that you have to stir and taste every half hour does something good to you.

Cook summer food – you could go the opposite route – dig out the grill and take your chances tending to a good steak. Buy some of those expensive hothouse tomatoes, some overpriced fresh basil and some gourmet fresh mozzarella and make a salad that at first bite, tastes like summer. Salsa. Guacamole. Anything that brings summer to mind for you.

Sauna, steam, hot tub – my gym has all of these, but I don’t take the time to use them during much of the year. Now we make an afternoon of it, taking the kids to the pool, lounge around in our bathing suits and sweat while people cross country ski past the windows.

Work out – while you’re at the gym, run or lift or bike or something. Not only can you help ease the effects of the aforementioned cooking, but you’ll work up a sweat and get the blood going to keep you warm on your way to the car.

Read – I read year round, always have a book going. In the winter, though, I tend to migrate towards two types of reading. The first is some kind of self help, mind opening, philosophical something. This is usually triggered by the New Year and hopes of bettering myself and reaching some kind of goal. Last year it was about nutritional healing, in hopes of curing my chronic headaches. The year before, as I was about to move into a new house, Feng Shui. This year it’s about past life regression and then to counteract that, living in the present. The other kind of book I save for winter reading is the sell-everything-and-move-to the-islands kind of book. Caribbean travelogues, RV around the country for a year, move the family to Mexico kind of books – always warm weather destinations that will take me away for just a little while.

Get crafty – the winter is when I crochet blankets. It’s too hot in the summer to think about sitting there with a pile of yarn on my lap, much less actually use what I’ve made. I’d like to learn how to quilt, too.

Craft with the kids – given that you’re not off to the beach or the lake or working in the garden, do something creative with the kids. Last weekend my daughter and I made window cling decorations out of fabric paint. We’ve melted crayons on hot rocks and made paperweights. We’ve tie dyed t shirts. Go over to your local crafts place and see what you find.

Plan the garden – I know I’m not alone on this one. the reason all of the seed companies send out their catalogs early in the new year is for people like me who will pour through them, making lists, designing the garden for this year. I’ll order seeds. I’ll start the seeds inside.  I'll water and tend to the seedlings.  Seeing the growth, smelling the soil, watching for sunlight . . . all reminders that spring will come. 

It’s highly possible that just writing this has been good for me and has given me enough to go on to make it through February. I, too, need to be reminded that just because I can’t – or won’t – go outside in the winter doesn’t mean I have to resign myself to movies and tv (although not such a bad idea at times). So, count the days til spring, or summer for that matter (145), but try to enjoy today – even if you can’t see past the snow banks.

TAKING STOCK

 It really doesn’t seem like it’s been over a month since I posted anything on this blog. Well, in some ways it feels like forever. My mindset has been elsewhere lately. I’ve been taking stock.


That term can mean that I’ve been spending time reviewing my life, a personal inventory of sorts, if you will. But that’s not the case here.

I’ve been taking stock . . . . photography.

I have been trying to get into stock and magazine photography for years now. Though I do enjoy photographing people’s portraits, it’s not my true photographic love. I like the shots that tell a story about a place. I get into the details of the inside of a flower. I like the things that make the view want to be or do or taste or smell.



So what I did was try again. Getting photos accepted at stock photography agencies can be a frustrating experience. You decide which images. You edit them. You upload. You title, describe, and keyword. And you submit.

Then you wait. Wait to see if the agency accepts it, and you.


For the past few years, as I’ve researched advertising and magazine photography, I’ve found that very few publishers will assign you the work. Everyone uses stock. And there are plenty of agencies out there to choose from. The concept is that instead of getting $100 for a photo that’s used once, you get $1.00 and hope to sell it a hundred times. It’s sold royalty free. They don’t have to give you any credit or even acknowledge that they’re using someone’s work.

People do make money doing this. That’s what I’ve read anyway. What I’m finding is that it takes a lot of work to get images out there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not opposed to hard work. It is time consuming work though, even when uploading existing files. Shooting stock, too, takes a different mindset and vision. Each agency seems to have its own style and criteria. Shots that are accepted at some sites are rejected at others.

So after a few weeks of doing this, I’ve got a few dozen shots out there that have been accepted and actually sold some. That was kind of exciting until you realize that your cut is 36 cents or so. But the idea is volume. So we’ll see.

Consider this my excuse and apology for not posting in so long. In the coming weeks I will be writing about some new travel experiences I’ve had in the past few months. I’ve got some stories to tell.

Here’s a link to my Stock Photography Page:  Celeste Cota Stock Photography
I’d love to get some feedback from you!