Weather

What is so rare as a day in June late September or October, for then if ever come the greatest days to enjoy and breathe in the great outdoors. Here in Maine we’ve been having the greatest days the past several days. I’ve gotta get back out there and do some real walking/hiking. (I just got through putting up some Lee Goldsberry signs; Lee is running against Ralph Sarty for State Rep for District 99 here in Maine.) There are NO FREAKING BUGS out any more — no mosquitoes, no black flies, no ticks, and great visibility. You can see everywhere, the distant hills and mountains, the colored (or beginning to be colored) foliage, you name it. I’ve gotta take a little break from politicking even in this critical election year. Anybody else wanta go hiking?

Yes, the last ten days have seen a major decrease in the level of snow. Our well head first became visible again just a few days ago and now most of it can be seen. Well, it’s not in this picture below but if you compare this one with the April 7th picture you can see the big difference in snow levels.

I had fun walking up and down our dirt road this afternoon poking around with my walking stick. The temp was in the upper sixties and there was this roaring current under the snow on the shaded side of the road. The stream broke through in a few places but clung to the side as it roared down the hill. The sound of the roaring water can be heard for quite a distance away.

Here’s a shot I took today (April 7) out the window over our front porch. Hey, you can see some bare ground!

OK, here’s approximately the same shot taken back on Feb. 16. Nice clean snow, huh?

Has there been any progress made in getting rid of the snow? Hard to tell. They almost seem like two different worlds, yet the same. Or not.

Here’s a picture looking out of a window in our house onto the driveway and road in the distance. See the hills and valleys of fields of snow! The latest storm, ending as it did with freezing rain, polished the snow fields and now in the bright sun they glisten nicely.

Here’s a shot looking at the house from the end of the driveway. The window from which I took the previous shot, suggested by Cynthia, is to the left of the door. Dramatic?

I wonder what the rain and 47 degree temperature predicted for Monday will do to the piles?

Yup, another five or six inches drop in overnight. Soon I’ll be out again with that trusty snow thrower doing our driveway yet again. At least it’s not snowing now. I’ll be able to get out and take my neighbor, who doesn’t have an AWD Subaru, to work down in Bridgton, fifteen minutes away on a good day.

This is a shot of the corner of our driveway (to the right) as of last Friday. As you can see, the road has been widened with those heaping piles of snow, thanks to the Town of Denmark. Today these piles are five or six inches higher due to the new snow we got last night and this morning. I ran the snow thrower over our driveway once again this morning and managed to get out OK with our Subaru Forrester.

So, this is the big Super Tuesday. It finally came. Twenty-four states will be voting but Maine won’t have its Democratic caucus until this Sunday, the 10th. It looks like Hillary and Barack are neck and neck at this point. I favor Barack but will support Hillary if she gets the nomination. John McCain I think is insane in that he’s totally succumbed to warmongering, not that he ever was anything but a warmonger. Whoever becomes President, Hillary or Barack, had better start cutting back on our over-bloated Pentagon and Defense Establishment.

Yup, ten more inches of snow. That’s what we got yesterday to usher in the year 2008. Here’s a shot of our driveway just before 9am. The tracks of the meter reader man can be seen in the snow. The meter must be read when it’s time.

A couple hours later and we’ve cleaned off the driveway, mainly with the snow thrower but we had to shovel next to the street.

Here’s a shot of the turn around space for our Subaru and the start of the path to our front door. Lotsa snow, huh?

We got seven or eight more inches last night. Here’s a shot of our driveway from this morning around 9am. That’s the car of our son Nat (aka nash, the son, not the car). Doesn’t look like all that much, huh? Still, it’ll be a pain to shovel, especially since the snow’s probably wet. Maybe I’ll get help from Nat and Nye?

Nat fixed the snowthrower! Yeah! He replaced the two sheared off pins with bolts. Here he is over at Kate and Don’s place after he had finished doing our driveway:

Here’s another shot of him with Kate pointing to “the man”:

Finally, here’s our driveway around 11am after Nat finished snowthrowing it:

Looking out toward the road. See sand barrel covered with snow.

From our driveway looking west. See top of water well.

Looking northeast. See mountains. Deer camera was on edge of garage.

I was out again this morning with the snow thrower clearing out the driveway. We got another three inches of snow last evening. We’re beginning to build up quite a snow pack. Now the big one is due Saturday night and Sunday. It’s supposed to be a strong Nor’Easter.

Cynthia is very worried about my going to Llanda’s party Saturday night in Northborough, Massachusetts. That’s because after I stay overnight at Nadeem’s I might not make it home in the morning. I’ll have to let her use the Subaru with its nice All Wheel Drive to get to church which means I’m stuck with our two wheel drive light truck which doesn’t like snowy hills. I can’t make her use the truck because she might get stuck.

Well, tonight will be a test for the truck because I’ve been invited by the Gillinghams to have supper with Chet while the women of the church have their annual Christmas dinner together in Harrison. The Gillinghams live part way up the Hawk Mountain road so that ought to be a good test for the truck. I’d better make it or I won’t have any supper. boo hooo

Ain’t Christmas fun in the snow? I always threaten to fly to Aruba but never do.