Southern Maine dodged the snow bullet this winter with only a few insignificant storms here and there.
Northern Maine…?
Not so much.
Every time we got an inch?
They got a foot.
Personally, I think that kind of snow is a hoot.
Snow banks?
Yeah, baby.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Snowmobile trail?
It’s there…
Somewhere.
Well, I wouldn’t go that far.
Two years ago this was our driveway –
And yes, that’s a ruler.
Ah, winter.
You make life interesting…
Have I mentioned it’s been cold?
Well, it has.
(If you don’t have WTForecast on your phone, you should. It makes bad weather bearable.)
And if we still had cats, yes. I’d do that too.
Bitter temps and high winds make me want to hunker down and hibernate…
And drink.
But come to think of it so do warm weather, humidity, fog, wind, rain, hail and thunderstorms….. so make of that what you will.
It’s still winter here in Maine.
But that didn’t stop my husband from shopping for a lawn mower.
He wants one of these –
Which they practically give away for the ever so reasonable price of $5,500.
To which my reaction was…
He shopped around for the best price…
(spoiler alert, there isn’t one)
And made this poor guy dig one he promised to buy out of the solid ice and snow. Then he ordered it somewhere else.
Thanks husband.
Now I can’t show my face at the local Tractor Supply without fear of reprisal.
Did I mention…
This new tractor won’t fit in our shed slash (yes, there used to be a horse in there) barn?
Center post, 4 push mowers, patio furniture, wheel barrows, a generator, an extra truck tailgate, 2 old safes with no combinations, chainsaws, weed whackers, a plow, and 3 doors he brought home from the dump.
It won’t fit in the garage.
(2 cars, 2 motorcycles, a snowblower, 2 bed frames, a sink, an antique cash register, trash cans so filled with stuff there’s no room for trash, a fax machine, bicycles, paint, tools, shovels and at least 100 empty boxes.
Because you never know when you might need one.
Or thirty.
There could be a dead body. How would I know? I haven’t seen a wall, or parts of the floor in years.)
It won’t even fit in the new giant barn.
Husband has filled that with floor to ceiling crap treasure as well.
When he needs to work in there? It looks like this…
He’s my husband, and he’s a pack rat.
(He also refused to build the ramp I wanted out the front doors and would have no way to drive the tractor up in there anyway.)
So…
When the new toy he ordered comes in?
I have no earthly idea where he’s going to park it.
Men.
You never plan ahead.
Since it took me a month and a half to post vacation pics, it’s time to get you back up to speed on the dreadfully boring fascinating tidbits that are my life.
You may have heard the government had a shut down during our trip. Luckily this caused us no financial hardships, but it did mean the husband’s paychecks were delayed. And being the federal government, you know they had to make something simple ridiculously difficult.
The husband gets paid the same amount every 2 weeks. Same amount of pay, same amount of deductions. You would think they could just deposit the 2 missing paychecks.
But no.
Whaaaat?
It shouldn’t surprise you that as of today, his pay is still hosed up.
Now to the weather…
Yeah.
It’s been cold.
And yeah.
You did.
The back yard deer are hungry.
And so are the turkeys.
We love the deer. The turkeys? Not so much.
They’re comical… but they poop. A lot.
Enough said.
Valentines Day came and went…
The husband sent me roses.
And I gave him a framed shot of the night sky from the exact location of our wedding day.
I know.
We’re so special it hurts.
Of course the really wonderful thing about Valentines Day is the day after….
When chocolate is half price!
That’s the definition of true love right there.
Is it strange that one of my favorite parts of the Grand Canyon was the section where we couldn’t see a damn thing?
Our last stop was the Desert Watchtower, and by the time we got there at the end of the day….
Everything was touched by frozen fog.
It was like walking into a sub zero fairyland.
Misty.
Quiet.
And utterly enchanting.
But also cold AF.
Inside as well as out.
Seriously, you could see your breath in there.
Hello?
Large fireplace…
How about filling it with those overpriced books you’re trying to sell in the gift shop and lighting those babies up?
Tourists be shivering!
As you can see, we couldn’t see.
Anything.
The canyon is right there, outside the windows… but you’d never know it.
And thank you once again government shutdown for interfering with our vacation, we couldn’t even climb to the top.
While the husband went outside to document some info on a plane crash…
I found a reflectoscope….
And more psychotic squirrel warnings.
Leaving the tower…
We walked back through the frozen fog…
And marveled.
At all the sugar coated flora..
Still freezing…
But glad to have experienced it.
While winter may not possess the gentle pastels of spring, the bright greens of summer or the glorious burning of autumn….
It does have it’s own unique color.
These pictures were taken out my winter windows.
And to me……
A Mainer….
They’re just as beautiful as any blooming garden.
Of course I say that from inside the nice warm house….
Not braving the elements like this little guy.
Right hand cold…
Left hand cold…
To hell with this…
Both hands cold.
