Thursday morning Beth and I drove up to Freeport Maine to attend the Northern New England Conference’s 34th Annual Music Clinic. I think this was Beth’s sixth time going (and my third). In previous years she participated only in piano, but this year she was in the choir as well.
I brought my work laptop with me, found a quiet place to hang out and worked Thursday and Friday while Beth attended her practices. She very much enjoyed the weekend, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t.
I was treated to three concerts – one Friday evening, one Saturday morning, and another Saturday night. We had Saturday afternoon off, so we decided to hike up Hedgehog Mountain, the tallest mountain in all of Freeport. Yeah, at 300 feet above sea level, it’s not quite a mountain.
There was quite a bit less snow on the ground in Freeport compared to our house, but the trail was still covered with it.
The trail is snuggled up alongside several stone walls.
The view from the top was very nice, but not spectacular. After all, we were only 300 feet up. We still enjoyed the view.
View from the top
On the way back down we saw this weird pool.
An odd pool
It took me a little while to put my finger on it – the bottom of it is covered in ice. Ice is less dense than liquid water, so when it freezes it floats to the top. That’s why ponds and such freeze from the top down. They do not freeze from the bottom up. If they did, fish would have a very difficult time surviving New England winters. In fact, it might not be possible for them to survive at all.
And yet here it was, a pool with an ice floor. I’m pretty sure that the way this came about was that the pool was not very deep when it initially froze, and it probably froze solid, gaining a death grip on the ground underneath. Then as spring arrived, the surrounding snow pack melted and flowed in on top of it, burying the ice in a foot of water. It was pretty cool looking, and I was really glad to have seen it.
The hike didn’t take much time, so we headed back to the school. Most people were still gone for the afternoon. Beth decided she had not played enough music yet at the point, so she went up on the stage in the empty auditorium (save me and one other person) and played all the non-clinic songs she had brought. The set was still lit up on the stage, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a photo without interfering with a program.
Beth plays during some downtime
It wasn’t long after this that Va arrived for the evening concert which was pretty awesome. I had saved us a pair of seats, so we weren’t stuck in the back as in years past.
The concert finished up around 10:00pm, we got in our cars and drove home arriving around 12:30am.
It was a long weekend, but it was sure worth it. I’d do it again.
Jomegat's Weblog 
April 7, 2014 at 11:43 pm
That last one is a great picture of Beth! She is growing up!
April 8, 2014 at 7:10 am
Yes she is. One of the piano teachers pulled me aside Friday to tell me she was amazed by how much she had grown – physically, emotionally, and musically. That’s the kind of thing a parent never gets tired of hearing.
April 8, 2014 at 6:32 am
I’ve seen pools of water like that one all over the place this winter. I thought they formed when the melt water or rain couldn’t seep into the frozen ground so it froze and then thawed repeatedly, but I really don’t know. I first noticed them during the brief January thaw. There is also something called “anchor ice” which forms at the bottom of streams and rivers, but I don’t know if that is the same thing as this. I do know that ice is a fascinating subject.
It’s great that Beth got some time in the limelight. Does she want to be an entertainer later on? It sounds like she has the gift.
April 8, 2014 at 7:12 am
I don’t think she aspires to be an entertainer, and frankly, I’d prefer that she not go into that business. It is fraught with peril.