The new year begins where the previous left off. And where we live, that means winter is still lingering around, with snow (and ice).
Eventually, that white stuff clears up. Continue reading A Year In Photos: 2017 (Part III)
Partly blue skies, and just the right amount of snow on trees — sometimes the view in Maine is remarkable. And this shot is of the front yard to our house!
This one, the back.
Ice on the ground
hurts my knees;
wind gusts, around
shake ice from trees.
It shouldn’t have to be so hard
to walk outside these days.
But what can I say?
I can be stubborn
in my day-to-day ways.
It’s a winter wonderland
obstacle course
out there.
And it’s not officially winter!
For the second snowfall of the season, which happened over the last two days, we got around 4″. (And you can click here for the first snow, short-lived.) We’re expected to get more precipitation tomorrow, with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.
This time, on Saturday, I could somehow tell the clouds in the sky were snow clouds. Continue reading Second snow
So… I’m posting from the library again. (I’ll have to rush a bit again. WordPress is also not working properly— failing to add captions, Javascripts that hang— for some reason. Frustration galore.) The lights are still out at home. But at least with WiFi at the library building, I can send photos directly to the media library… which will be needlessly larger and lack color correction, but you can get a glimpse of what I’ve seen.
Well, we finally had a real storm in the northeast. Power was knocked out to over 240,000 in Maine alone. It’s mild compared to the recent hurricanes in the south. (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are still struggling.) But it affected us directly. I got to see, firsthand, not only downed lines, but the effects of the downed wires: dark traffic lights, a closed road, and a closed half of a road, with tree debris still hanging on several cables.
We lost power last night. In fact, I’m typing this at the library. I have no photos because I took the older phone (which is actually connected and needed charging)… and I can’t find the thumb drive for any other photos. If that drive is lost, I’m SOL for now.
The winds are rose again today, and the tide has been going out. The nearest clouds are visibly moving. The winds are harsh enough that clusters of wet leaves have been tossed around violently, into the streets as you’re driving, and some sea gulls in the air find the winds hard to predict. Entry doors to the library are slightly ajar sometimes, pulled open.
Metaphorically, the winds are high in the news as well. Indictments have been made in the Russia collusion probe, as you may have read. Paul Manafort and Richard Gates, 12 charges. Tony Podesta to step down from the Podesta Group. House of Cards, canceled after someone accused Kevin Spacey of sexual abuse (and then some), after the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo campaign that came with it. Plenty of guilty people in the news, and more resignations to follow.
Well, I gotta go. Time restrictions. Until next time…
So I’ve been falling behind on the blogging front again. I attribute it to the national news, the negativity and lack of confidence in my voice even though I have enough I’d like to say.
Gotta post some day, so here goes.
Last Saturday wasn’t particularly eventful… in Maine, I mean. I was invited to a BBQ, but declined because it entailed more sitting around doing nothing. It’s kind of funny because, despite not going, I saw tiki torches— something you’d see at barbecues— anyway, with the news. (Not much was funny about what happened in Virginia.)
Participation or no, I needed to get out of the house. And it goes without saying: most of the opportunities in life are not going to be online.
First stop… and without much choice (because I can’t drive): timely photos of Crescent Beach, and with the better camera. As you can see, the beach was populated. (With people.)
A park ranger at the entryway toll booth asked whether I was native to the state. Maine gets a fair amount of tourism.
I saw a few animals before I even put my feet onto pavement. (As always, click to enlarge a photo. …And sorry for the traces of bird poop on the windows.) Continue reading Summer update
The difference five months makes. This is the trail that runs next to the house.
Last time on this blog, the area was covered in snow; now, it’s green with vegetation. Or, as one commenter put it: lush. This Monday, I was a bit annoyed with the stagnation in the house— being unable to deal with the squirrel that’s in our roof, for one; I stormed out.
I soon returned to grab the iPhone to take some pictures of the trail for the day.
The bucket’s still there, as well as the chairs and collapsed table(s). Continue reading The more things change…
It’s a gray Memorial Day, so I’ll let yesterday and sunny days previous speak for the season. Summer is closing in now. The green leaves have filled the view of the windows.
And the front yard is filling up. …Over brown leaves that have yet to dissolve.
And to think, this is what these leaves looked like only two weeks ago. Continue reading Green light
It wouldn’t be winter in Maine without more accumulation in March. And maybe April.
The blizzard moving through the northeast hit Maine Tuesday morning. And according to a recent forecast, our county is apparently one of the few in the state to get the most snow. And so, after being in bed until about 3 p.m. (I needed the sleep), I began taking photos, and shoveling, and measuring, first measuring with the shovel itself.
