Punxsutawney Phil...

We made it through Winter Storm Juno (the Blizzard), after which Winter Storm Kari was more or less a non-event.  Now we are looking ahead tomorrow to Winter Storm Linus (I think that's the name the media have assigned.) A few photos.  First, a photo from mid-storm.  The blizzard winds - up to 50 mph - kept piling snow on our back porch.  We shoveled it three times during the storm.  This is right before one of those times.

Next, David shoveling his car, which the drifting snow buried.  It turns out the blizzard blew snow INTO his engine compartment.  His car wouldn't start that day.  He had to open the hood the next day and let the sun dry it out.

The scariest part of Winter Storm Juno was BEFORE it, when I got home that evening from a synagogue board meeting and David pointed out that although our thermostat was set at 66, the temperature was 57 and going down.  I couldn't believe we were heading into the storm with a malfunctioning furnace.  I called the emergency line of our fuel oil company - with which we also have a service plan on the furnace - and a human being answered.  Amazing.  More amazing, they said they'd send a technician.  About an hour later, he showed up.  He did his thing, worked on the furnace and bled all the radiators (the one radiator we have upstairs is now working - for the first time since we moved here!), installed a new thermostat that David had bought just that day.  Amazing - actual customer service on the night before a blizzard!

It's February 1st, and the forecast is for 8-12 inches of snow tomorrow during the day, with another 1-3 tomorrow evening.  That would be okay, but I'm not sure where we are going to PUT it.  When I thought about moving to Maine and specifically when we bought THIS house, I knew we would get cold weather, I knew we would get snow, but I didn't really think about where we would pile the snow.  Anyway... the mechanics of living in Mid Coast Maine in a house on a SMALL piece of land and getting multiple 12 inches snowfalls. 

A few photos from around the neighborhood:  First, my next door neighbor's back porch with the snow drifts.   Next, Maverick Street, the main street leading from our street, Birch, down to the water, where Ella and I walk every morning, at dawn the morning after the blizzard.  The sidewalk with a wall of piled snow on the right.  Finally, the sun coming up over the water that same morning.

I know anyone still checking in to this blog from time to time just has to be waiting to hear what's going on in Mid Coast Maine, so here is your sample for the day:

•Search for Snowy Owls, Scoters and Other Waterfowl, Mid-Coast Audubon's annual all-day field trip to south coast of Maine. Meet at Damariscotta Hannaford 7 a.m. FMI: 563-8439.
• English Civil War Game in Belfast, 12:30 p.m. Game Loft, 78 Main St. Players and spectators are invited to a miniature battle gaming event using miniature soldiers. Limited to 10 players, for whom registration is recommended: 338-6447.

• "Portland's Black Abolitionists: The Story of the Abyssinian Meeting House," 2 p.m., Maine Irish Heritage Center, Portland. Historian Amy Smith gives the talk. $5. FMI: 780-0118 or MaineIrish.com.

• Talk on Edible Sea Vegetables, noon, Tuesday Talk series at Merryspring Nature Center, Camden. Talk by expert Sarah Redmond. $5/members free.

I wish the Black Abolitionist talk was in Rockland and not 90 miles away in Portland.

Well, that be the news for the day.  Keep your fingers crossed for us tomorrow.

Peace.