Off to see the blizzard…

Hey, I just shoveled. (Mar 14 6:34 p.m.)

It wouldn’t be winter in Maine without more accumulation in March.  And maybe April.

(Mar 14 3:32 p.m.)

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.

(Mar 14 3:33 p.m.)

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The last stretch of winter

(Mar 6 3:46 p.m.)

Through light rain and evaporation, the snow is gradually disappearing around these parts, uncovering brown leaves left on the ground.

A dusting so light that walking removes it (Mar 4 12:38 p.m.)

Precipitation this week has been very light.  The weather in March so far has been cold and occasionally drizzly, but okay.

(Mar 3 1:53 p.m.)

However, fallen branches in the above photo should give you an impression of the strong winds that came a few days.  With Thursday’s winds, I could hear the tree branches above knocking/clacking into each other; my daily walk that day felt a bit precarious.  Some days it can feel like spring— warm enough you could walk outside without a jacket, not to mention some flies out early; and some days the wind chill reminds you that it’s still winter.  (With wind chills like -18°F on Sunday… yeah, it’s best to stay in doors.)

Lazy, crazy days

The Maine Mall. (Feb 23 6:55 p.m.)

Every now and then, we see the world catching up with itself in little ways, in turbulence and neglect, overwhelm and falling behind— a cycle of too fast and not fast enough until things meet up, in resolution or not.  Because the world doesn’t live as one, and in my mind it’s not supposed to.  (Sorry, John.)

Seedy underside. (Feb 23 6:02 p.m.)

Life will find a way. …Even if placed or seeded in a completely artificial environment.

Same plant at USM Portland, near the library’s theft detection scanners, alternate perspective. (Feb 23 6:01 p.m.)

So much seems to just squeak by unnoticed

Snow canyons

(Feb 16 12:53 p.m.)

One day.  Just one day, and the height of the snow turned ridiculous.  (For us, anyway.)

(Feb 16 12:50 p.m.)

That object you see sticking out, inserted into a snow bank in the front yard so it’s hitting solid ground, is a yard stick.

It has arrived

(Feb 13 8:28 a.m.)

So much snow in one week.  An extra one, two… feet.  You know it’s a bit much when the banks get so high from the natural accumulation and artificial snow plow accumulation that the top of the mailbox popped off.  Luckily, my mother found the box (and a piece of mail).  And the box was filled with snow. …I used a bare hand (not so much my brain) to clear it out.

A bit of Nor’easter on a living room window sill. (Feb 13 3:46 a.m.)

It was a little exciting to see the progression of the weather.

Getting back to writing… if I can help it

(Jan 9, 2017 4:29 p.m.)

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” —Jack Kerouac

A man of few words — God, almighty, if I keep reducing myself like this, I’ll have nothing left to say!

…So, yeah, it’s 2017.  I know I’m late by the fact that it’s been so long that I need to cut my nails…

Holy crap, it’s been three days since I took these two photos? (Jan 9 4:38 p.m.)

If you could could say a year sucked, 2016 would be one of those years; so the the slide into 2017 has brought me some hope to start afresh— new work, if I can help it (but not too much stress); just a newness like a breath of fresh air.  The thing is, what makes things different than before is our own personal effort.

Holy s…snow

(Dec 30 6:04 p.m.)

It was so sudden. …Okay, so it took a day.  But the accuweather forecast suggested it would be a considerable amount snow over two days not one.

That time of year.

Ignore the stove pipe. (Dec 25 5:57 a.m.)

Christmas here was okay.  Some good food, some remarkable gifts, including jewelry (not for me, haha), but otherwise understated.  It’s been hard getting my mind working lately… And then the Breaking Bad marathon started, so it’s not hard to guess what’s been on the TV lately.  (Until this morning, when the finale aired.)

The was finally tree set up Saturday.

(Dec 24 8:28 p.m.)

The lights on the small, plastic tree this year are LED, white and battery operated.  And we’re talking a battery box with screws…

Tongue-tied

(Nov 22 3:03 p.m.)

I’ve wanted to get a post in, on what’s been going on with me, or on the start of Winter, etc.  But it hasn’t come together.  What I have written doesn’t meet my truth standards… I don’t know what I want, and my brain is just not working.  I’ve been holding my tongue until I literally put a tooth mark in it.  And I’ve gone back to the software; because that’s what I’m better at— a writer first in code.

I can manage a small update though.  It snowed twice since I last wrote here.  I shoveled both times.  My mother shoveled first, and I completed the job.

…Yup, still winter

(Mar 7 4:05 p.m.)

The temperature may have gotten into the 60s Wednesday—60s into the night (walked outside without a jacket well after sunset), but it snowed again twice prior.  The latest dusting took a few days to clear up.  (To see the most recent photo, click here.)  But the big picture of winter, 2015-16, wouldn’t be complete without the effects of the rain, the melting snow, and the dirt…

(Feb 22 5:41 p.m.)

Mud season.  Toward the end of February was a whole day of rain, some Wednesday snow, and then some more blanking rain into Thursday morning… with lightning.  (Yay, a thunderstorm! 🙂 )  Even lost power for a moment.

It was worse in other areas on the East coast, with tornadoes and blizzard conditions. …While India had a full-blown water shortage… which isn’t new for the country.  Sometimes it can appear as if we’re getting water that California and India need…

(Feb 25 2:00 p.m.)

The water in the above image in no way compares to the driveway lakes we sometimes get.  The rain may have cleared the snow, but… mud.  (Squish, squish.)