I suppose that asking who started the old saw that the coast of Maine isn’t cold like the interior of Maine would be like asking who’s responsible for the one that says “It’s not the cold, it’s the wind.”
We live 7/10ths of a mile from the coast of Maine (that’s mid-coast Maine –not northern Maine and not southern Maine – the radio always gives at least 3 different Maine weather reports – for the north, the south and the “coast” – that’s us), and it is cold. According to Weather Underground, it’s 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. When that last “monster” storm arrived in the northeast, the local weathermen said the coast would get only a couple of inches. They were right … and then they were wrong. First we got about 4 inches. Then a day later it snowed for 12 hours and we got another 8 or 10 inches. We don’t have a big yard or driveway, but shoveling snow is still hard work. After the second snow, we were shoveling when a guy in a pickup truck with a snowplow attachment (and a very cute dog riding shotgun) came by and asked if we wanted a plow. For ten bucks, he did the hard part – the bottom of the driveway and sidewalk.
Speaking of sidewalks, we know we live in a real city because we have them. Sidewalks, I mean. Sort of. Not every single street seems to have one, and the streets that have them – except right in downtown Rockland – have a sidewalk on one side of the road only. These aren’t concrete sidewalks like we had in Connecticut , but asphalt, as if the road lifted up 6-8 inches and continued for 3-1/2 feet. Come to think of it, the asphalt might be because it’s cold in Maine (even on the coast!). Even in Connecticut , cold wrecked the concrete sidewalks in a fairly short period of time. On the other hand, unlike in Connecticut here in Rockland at least, homeowners aren’t responsible for shoveling the sidewalk in front of their houses – that wouldn’t be fair since only one side of the street has a sidewalk. Instead, a day or two after the snowfall – perhaps depending on the street – the city comes by and more or less plows the sidewalks down to a level where they are at least passable on foot.
Besides all the snow, New Year’s was another milestone for us. After 3 months of living here, we finally programmed our thermostat. It has 4 settings per day for Monday through Friday and another 4 settings for Saturday and Sunday (or 8 settings, if you want different settings for Saturday and for Sunday). (Probably all you homeowners know all this, but I’ve been a renter for almost 40 years. In my experience, renters don’t have programmable thermostats; in fact, I haven’t always had any thermostat. In my last apartment, the landlord hired a cheap non-union electrician to rewire the building and he mis-wired the thermostats to our apartment and the one upstairs. When we turned up the heat, they got warm, and vice versa. To get them to turn up the heat, we had to turn ours down so they’d get cold and turn up our heat. You got to laugh.)
Since mid-October, our thermostat setting was 54 at night and 55 during the day. We could change the setting manually, and we did every day, several times a day. But whenever the next setting point was reached, the thermostat went back to 54 or 55. If you woke up in the middle of the night to pee, it was pretty darn cold in here. The upside has been that our fuel oil usage has been very modest and we’re way ahead of our “budget.” Nonetheless, 2013 is a new year and we resolved to read the book on how to program the darn thermostat. Resolution achieved! Our thermostat settings are now: 5:00 a.m. – 66 degrees; 10:00 a.m. – 62 degrees; 4:00 p.m. – 66 degrees; and 10:00 p.m. – 60 degrees. It has made a big difference; at least I think it has.
Tonight we may go to the local food co-op, The Good Tern, to hear a local author, Eva Murray, speak. Likely she’ll talk about or read from her two books. One is about life on Matinicus Island , a small island 23 miles off shore from Rockland . Eva Murray moved there something like 20 years ago to teach in the one-room school house. She got married and stayed to raise a family. Her new book is about one-room schools, not just on Matinicus and other Maine islands and communities, but throughout the U.S. She also writes a column for the Free Press, our local weekly paper. David and I went up to Camden in November and heard Eva Murray speak. She’s a very good writer with a unique point of view and I highly recommend her column to all – not just Mainers. I haven’t read her books yet but am sure I will.
Well, I guess I’ll go put on a sweatshirt before the 62 degree setting is reached. By the way, can anyone recommend where to find really warm gloves/mittens?
Peace.
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