So the blizzard that hit Maine, of Grayson, the bomb cyclone or bombogenesis— whatever you want to call it— that stormed through North America? Yeah, southern Maine got snow. However, the amount we got appears smaller than the last snow storm. Last time, snow drifts were visibly high, filling the path to the driveway; I estimated about a foot. This time, I got out the yard stick and measured: 10.5″.
The snow on this can may seem high, here. But when you see it cleared…
…you see the top isn’t flat.
Conditions certainly didn’t look good during the storm. It was still a bit much for one day of precipitation.
After the storm, snow will fall from the trees and snowbanks around plowing/shoveling areas will grow further in height. It adds to the (unpaid) job of shoveling the driveway that the banks at the end need to be low enough to see the road from within the car.
Clearing the path and driveway was time consuming, but otherwise not a problem; the white stuff was— and still is, remarkably— soft. However, winds picked up and temperatures plummeted. You can see a gloved finger in this photo. It was too cold to hold the phone with my bare hands.
A small tree I (somewhat) dug out of the snow was still encased in ice. I regularly heard ice falling from trees due to the winds.
The winds got high enough to blow brown leaves off trees that had ’em into the path. One thing about the winds is that they test the strength of the trees.
According to a local program on the ice storm of 1998, accumulated thick ice ends up wounding trees. If you’re not familiar with tree wounds, it’s damage that leaves a tree vulnerable to the elements— in this case, holes that give access to fungi and pests. These trees would, essentially, rot over years, and branches under strong winds would break as they did during the late October wind storm. Ice storms, it turns out, cause lasting damage. Closing these wounds takes the work of a tree pruner.
The icicles grew to new lengths, this weekend, despite breaking them, recently.
The thickness of the ice on the front porch railing sure grew.
And on Monday, someone decided to plow the driveway. We know not who plowed, and more slush, it seems, got into my shoes on my daily walk as a result, but… it’s something to appreciate— someone in the community plowing someone’s driveway without (presumably) asking for anything in return.
Now, about the “heating up” part of this post. According to AccuWeather, temperatures are going to get into the thirties and forties (Fahrenheit) in the next four to five days, yay. It’s not nearly spring, but not literally freezing my toes and fingers off is a good thing.
Well, that’s it for now. I may do a “best of” photography in 2017, including some that didn’t make it in the year. Or I could do a post on how I’m scared for my country.
Until next time…
The Dependent Independent 
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