When I flew out of Durham NC it was 90ºF. When I arrived in Portland ME for the American Society of Indexing conference it was 91ºF on Tuesday. But the weather has improved–it’s now what I expected of Maine.

I was so glad to have some time to act like a tourist before we start the conference–my schedule hasn’t often allowed that. I’ve been out walking around, enjoying the clear, cool weather, and listening to the gulls.

Part of being a tourist was to go to the Portland Art Museum–to spend hours browsing amongst paintings by Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Winslow Homer, and a lot of American painters and sculptors with which I was not familiar. I could go back and spend many more hours. It’s well worth the price of admission.

Obviously, I’m a book fan–and there was a book shop with the museum. I couldn’t leave without a souvenir and given my interest in food, it certainly wasn’t possible to pass up a book by Kate Christiansen with the title “How to Cook a Moose”. On the lighter side, I bought a booklet of postcards featuring some of Edward Hopper’s lesser known works–including some land- and seascapes.

Until Sunday, my tourist activity is mostly on hold as we get to work on learning more about indexing.