April nor’easter! Now, there’s two words that should never be used together in a sentence. It’s unnatural, but not unexpected. We’ve had such an easy winter here in Maine, we got lolled into taking our snow tires off and putting away the shovels, scoops, and roof rakes. But, Mother Nature had other ideas. What a kick in the pants! But, us Mainers hardy. We do what needs to be done to put things back in order. We bounce back, like the crocus and daffodils, all of us looking for the sun. Charlie had some cleaning up to do in the yard, as you can imagine. I’ll let him tell you about it.  Such Is April …

Sunday, Charlie and me were taking a late morning walk. It’s been hard for Cora and us to get motivated early in the morning what with the frigid temps. We all needed a little exercise and truth be told, we were hoping work off some of the bacon and Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls we had for breakfast. So, we’re walking ‘round our neighborhood, past a little wooded lot, when Orrin Libby pops out from behind some trees. Orrin must be in his late seventies, I’m guessing, and he has the walking thing down. He takes a jaunt downtown, about three miles ‘round trip, every morning to pick up the paper. Rain, snow, hot or cold, he’s …

Boy oh boy. What is it they say? If you don’t like the weather in New England, wait a minute. Ain’t that the truth. The Poet Laureate of Mahoosuc Mills tackles that very subject in his latest. Arctic Blast How about that arctic blast We got the weekend before last? Forty below with wind chill factor! How could any creature hack ‘er? January weren’t as bad As you’d expect, so we were glad Suddenly the temp’s, they fell And blessed us with this Arctic Hell T’wasn’t fit for man or beast We didn’t like it in the least, The dog and I, t’was just too cold To go out for our daily stroll So cold, …

Have you ever had a chore that just gets shuffled from one to-do list to another? Something that needs to be fixed or put away or thrown away, but you never to get to it. “Maybe tomorrow,” you say. But tomorrow never comes. And by the by, you don’t even notice anymore when you jiggle the handle of the pesky toilet. Or automatically bump your hip against that drawer that sticks when you come to shut it Well, you’re not alone. Charlie got inspired. Not to do his chore, but to write a poem about not doing it.  I’ll Get To It One Of These Days There’s a nail head that catches my shovel, it …

A mild winter in Maine? I’m all in. I’m sure we’ll get some big storms eventually, but I’m content right now with rain and the occasional light snow. 20 degrees one day and 45 the next. When I think back to my winters as a kid, it seemed like we had big piles of snow for months. Maybe the snow banks just looked bigger because I was smaller. Found this picture from the olden days. See my expression. Even then I didn’t look all that excited about snow. Charlie seems to hanker more for a real winter than me. He misses ice fishing and snowmobiling. Hard to believe he misses plowing, snow blowing, roof raking …

It started with this thought, I miss the smell of wet wool. And as it happens when you get to be a certain age, all of a sudden I was transported back to my childhood. I don’t know if I’ve told you this story before or not, but hey, if you’re like me, you probably don’t remember either. I miss the smell of wet wool. In a world before polar fleece, that’s what winters smelled like in Maine. Wet wool, wood smoke and beans slow cooking all day Saturday. Beans cooking still smell like love to me. And wet wool. From the mittens and hats Nana made for us and the socks that Meme knit. …

We’ve been having some wacky weather here in Mahoosuc Mills. A few weeks ago we had a snow storm that turned to icy rain. Then, we had a cold snap which left our driveway looking like Antarctica. Since then, we’ve been on a roller coaster ride of cold snaps and spring-like weather. So, about normal for winter in Maine, though so far, February is looking more like March. Go figure! Anyhoo, Charlie’s had a run for his money keeping the driveway up to par, making sure we don’t fall and break a hip. Yet, he did find time to write me a love poem. At first glance, I know it doesn’t look like a love …

Wow, we made it through January! It’s always a long, dark, cold month, and this year it gave us a humungous dumping of snow on the way out. What a kick in the pants! We usually get more snow in February, but it’s a short month, with a candy holiday smack dab in the middle. That’s doable. And if June, July and August are summer months, that means March, April and May are technically spring, right? In other words, we’ve only got one short month left of winter. Hey, that works for me! I know I should spring clean in January, but it’s a hard enough month as it is. I don’t want to add …

On our morning walk around our neighborhood, Charlie and me see lots of birds: sparrow, blue jays, crows, chickadees, of course, a few hawks and even a robin or two. Canada geese, in season. But every once and awhile we’ll see a Pileated Woodpecker. Not one of them little guys, but the Woody Woodpecker ones? That’s always a treat because they are spectacular looking. I mean, that red! The Pileated is a big bird and, boy, it makes a racket hammering away. You think they’d be easy to see, but they’re not. Most of the time you hear them, but can’t find where they are. Charlie and me must look like idiots, stopped in the …

Okay, buckaroos, we are over halfway through January. It’s usually a long, cold month, right? A good time for hunkering down, using the hell out of your slow cooker, and enjoying the beauty of nature (from inside your house, of course). But this year’s different (surprise, surprise). January is no darker than usual, but it hasn’t really been all that cold. Still, it sure has felt cold and dark, hasn’t it? And I don’t think I’m alone here. Like every January, I try to convince myself that now would be a perfect time to do my spring cleaning. It makes sense, especially this year. You know, do it now, while you’re under Covid house arrest. …