Maine in March is not pretty… the snow melts, leaving brown thatch. The roads heave from thawing. And in general it is just really awful looking.
The norm for March is temperatures that rise and fall, leaving mud from all the grit that has been spread on roads all winter long. The snow may be leaving, but one still needs boots. Dogs track in a mixture of snow and grit, and children do the same. Housewives go nuts trying to keep up with it, and everyone longs for a bit of warmth and color. March in Maine tends to grey skies and rain; it is dreary.
I call it waiting on spring.
This year things looked truly bad. With all of the freezing and thawing, and high winds, there is winter kill and debris everywhere.
But, just as the ponds were thawing, and willows were beginning to show yellow, and the snowdrops were up 1″ out of the ground, the temperature suddenly dropped to 9 degrees F ( -12.78 )!
And then it snowed. We got a fresh 8″ of snow on 19th. While it made everything look tidy, hiding the March uglies, people were not happy. I actually love snow days- things slow down, one gets to catch one’s breath!
The next day it started out cold, but soon warmed up, and the thaw set in. Spot goes to Doggie Daycare on Wednesday’s, so I was able to get some pictures!
The Noreaster on March 19,
dropped a lot of wet heavy snow.
Birds flocked to the bird feeders.
Being on granite ledge, our feeders are set in Christmas tree holders,
which get filled with gravel, and weighted with large rocks
to withstand gale winds in the winter.
On the way to pic up Spot at the Daycare
I was able to get some pictures.
THE TOWN of SHEEPSCOT
A large flock of seagulls
was hunkered down in a field up the hill
from where the South Dyer Neck Road meets the Sheepscot Road.
They flew upward in a whoosh of wings.
They settled back down soon, all facing the same way, all carefully spaced apart.
As it was time to get Spot I drove off.
A stream’s snowy edges
shows the softening a spring thaw brings.
As I passed the cape with the lilac door
I realized there were sap buckets hanging on a tree!
Sap buckets are a sure sign that winter is ending.
As the March temperatures rise and fall,
the sap in the trees does as well.
Climbing during the warmth of the day,
it falls back into the roots at the cool of the night.
Though the snow is still with us,
seeing the sap buckets means that soon warm air will be moving to Maine,
the snow will go out, the mud will dry,
and soon there will be the beauty of spring.