Out and About

By Rachel Morin

Our first snowstorm of winter started Saturday afternoon, Dec. 5, with big snowflakes melting immediately upon hitting the ground.

I watched diligently between checking off items on my To Do List. We had periodic TV announcements of an anticipated snow drop of 10 inches.

As the afternoon wore on, a wind picked up and snow started accumulating. Towards 8 p.m. or so, we lost power. Looking out my backyard window, with the aid of a flashlight, I could make out my tall scarlet flowered rhododendron bush swaying back and forth under a strong wind.

The wind increased and I went to bed and was lulled to sleep by the wind whipping around. I slept all night. Waking the next morning, I looked out the window to check on the rhododendron. Yes, it was there standing, tall and straight, as usual. And a beautiful thick carpet of white snow covered the back yard and draped the beautiful trees in the thick woods beyond.

The accumulation did fall short of the 10 inch prediction, but I don’t know the actual amount that fell.

Seeing the neighbors walking by later, they advised me that the power came on at 1 am. And I thought of the dedicated CMP workers, always there in times like these, working on the lines to restore power to as many customers as possible, in numbing cold weather.

I am a Mainer and love the four seasons of Maine. My least favorite season is Winter. It starts the year in January and ends the year in December. It seems to be the longest season! My favorite season is Autumn. The fall flowers last in my garden through mid- November many times.

When December comes, I think of my favorite winter poem by Oliver Herford—

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December.

We are nearer to spring

Than we were in September!

I like the beauty of the first snowfall and appreciate the finality of the last snowfall.

The very next day after our storm, I dressed appropriately and toured the grounds of Schooner Estates Retirement Community, camera in hand, to enjoy the beauty of the grounds, and the quietness and solitude everywhere. No one was about. The Maintenance Crew had long completed clearing away the snow from the roads and were busy inside the buildings on other chores.

A lone shoveler, Bob Lindahl, was touching up the parking lot and walkways at the Memory Care Building. He was the only person about that morning and said he took care of what needed to be done at The Memory Care Building.

I took a few more days to take more pictures and was pleased to notice the return of the wild turkeys in back of the buildings. We hadn’t seen them around in ever so long. It was like seeing old friends as they paraded out back next to the thick woods. I think you will like seeing their pictures.

I also returned at night to capture a few night scenes and the Christmas lights on campus.