Gap - and not the Delaware Water Gap

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I apologize for the gap in time between the last post and this one.  I had problems with my computer for two weeks.  Then I could not find my New England pictures in my reconstituted computer.  Totally panicky problems.

But the tech issues are resolved and this morning I found some of the photos!  So I can complete my bus trip around America with you.

For the last nine days of my trip, from Philadelphia on, I spent every night in a new bed.  It was a whirlwind.

From Philly I took the bus to New York City, stayed one night with my daughter, then took the bus to Boston, stayed one night with my brother, then took the bus to Portland, Maine for one night.  On the way to Portland, the bus stopped briefly in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and I knew I wanted to go back and explore.

In Portland I took the ferry to Peaks Island and back (above), then stopped by Occupy Portland and attended my first general assembly.  I was so impressed at how the meeting's "leader," chosen by group conscience, was careful to acknowledge everyone who wanted to speak, even the people that, if I were the leader, I would want to discourage because they tended to repeat themselves.

Remarks became heated and hands went up rapidly, and the leader kept up with it all.  She was the tiniest young woman in a knit hat with earflaps and tassels.  It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving in Maine, and the weather at 7 p.m. was milder than usual for Portland, but still chilly.

Occupiers planned to stay the winter in Lincoln Park.  Imagine winter in Maine in a tent!

Portland officials were not banning occupiers from the park, but they were putting some restrictions -- some that occupiers chaffed at -- around the occupation.  Officials told them they had to get rid of the blue tarps that they put around their tents for insulation.  The blue tarps are flammable -- I didn't know that.  They had to get Tyvek tarps instead.  They also had to move their tents and space them at least 10 feet apart, to create fire lanes in between.

It was fascinating to watch the orderly exchange of ideas and comments in an Occupy general assembly.  It is a true democracy -- everyone gets heard, everyone who wants to votes.  Kudos to the occupiers for taking a self-sacrificing stand against the ridiculous level of greed exercised at the top levels of business and government in our country today.  The greed will kill the American Dream for everyone else.  Do you agree?