Day 13.325: Stormy night

It's pretty wild (and wet) outside this evening. We're waiting with some trepidation to see whether our decorations will survive intact. At least these ones should be able to weather the storm:

Day 13.324: Exile #2's Sunday column #324

Exile #2 writes...

Today, we added our contribution to the neighborhood light display. Our house is not as lavishly decorated as some but I think it looks pretty. Now we’re just hoping it will survive the gusty winds that are forecast tomorrow!

We also decorated the Christmas tree indoors. Gone are the days when all of the decorations used to end up on the bottom half (now that bit is more likely to be missed). Gone also, it seems, is the desire to put absolutely everything on the tree. Instead, the young(er) Exiles opted for a colour palette, which they mostly enforced - although they did allow me to go a little rogue and introduce some red.

Day 13.323: One stress avoided

Although I may have been indulging a little hyperbole when I said that the trip back home with the Christmas tree is my most stressful fifteen minutes of driving each year, there is definitely a degree of truth to it. With the tree tied to the roof (often by me) and completely out of sight I find myself trying to read the expressions of passing drivers to know if all is still well up there.

Today, we went a cut down a tree at our favorite local spot and since only Exile #2 and I were there, we put the tree inside the minivan instead of on top of it and avoided that particular stress altogether.

Day 13.322: Nearly Advent

For many of our neighbors, Christmas decorations go up after the Halloween ones come down. For most of the rest, post-Thanksgiving seems to be the trigger. This arrangements usually aligns roughly with the start of Advent (there is sometimes an intervening week).

Exile #2 decided to make a start today - constructing a new wreath for the door and this little Advent corner:

Not pictured - all the stuff she moved to make this look so beautifully organized. But since I mentioned it here it is:

Day 13.321: Thanksgiving

For many Americans today was about what could not happen - large family gatherings of people eating and talking together.  For us it was about what could happen - a Thanksgiving dinner together.

Last year we spent Thanksgiving on a plane to the UK on a slightly crazy but happy jaunt to celebrate my parents' 60th wedding anniversary and the previous year Exile #2 was in the UK for a less happy reason. So it has been a while since we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving all together.

Some Thanksgivings over the years have involved invitations to larger gatherings, but we have on several occasions spent it at home like this. Our turkey dinners are probably more than a little influenced by Christmas dinners from our pre-Exile days, but we did hit some classic Thanksgiving notes including dessert!

We also reflected on how much we have to be thankful for even in this surreal year.

We also managed a walk, some games and started watching a new series for our family TV viewing. It was a lovely day.

Day 13.320: Beach at dusk

I brought Exile #3 back from college yesterday evening, but she decided not to join us on a just-in-time walk on the beach in the fading light this afternoon.

The rest of us enjoyed a cool walk in the greyness.

It was a bit dark for wildlife photography. The only moment of excitement coming when I tried to catch these fast moving birds skimming over the water (I'm actually quite pleased with how it came out):

and as I was doing that a very large bird caught my eye. I couldn't tell what it was except that it was unusually large, so I took a few photos hoping that we might be able to work it out. Indeed we can, the photos aren't very good (not surprisingly) but it is - unmistakably - a bald eagle - not a common sight for us here by any means:

Day 13.319: Saco Riverwalk (renovated)

Our walk in downtown Saco on Sunday included a little detour along the Saco Riverwalk. We discovered the much improved conditions underfoot provided by the extensive walkway and stairs.

As usual it was rather peaceful - the only sounds were the running water and the squawking of a couple of suspected ravens.

Day 13.318: Saco sights and signs

As well as the retired scarecrows, we did see a couple that were still standing. I also took the opportunity to see the social distancing signs. The Saco Main Street slogan, "Saco...It's Happening!" gained, "Just 6 Feet Apart!" and then there were several signs with quoted or misquoted song lyrics which I enjoyed including - attributed to R.E.M. - "Stand in the place where you were"!

Day 13.317: Exile #2's Sunday Column #323

Exile #2 writes...

We donned our masks for a stroll around downtown this afternoon. There is plenty of evidence of local businesses adjusting to the times. Bits of road and sidewalk have been claimed and roped off for dining, with patio heaters and even a small marquee in one case.

I almost hope it continues. I always like it when people claim back some of the space usually clogged up with cars. Traditionally the Main Street is closed for some annual events: an art fair, a fall festival, a vintage car rally, but of course none of these happened this year. Still the Main Street Committee have put their energy into keeping things cheerful . In the summer there were painted Adirondack chairs, and this fall there have been sponsored scarecrows. It seems the scarecrows’ time is up, however, as yesterday, the Christmas lights arrived!

Day 13.316: Hanging-out pandemic-style

E5N1 spent some time today round at his friend's house. They sat outside and ate their own separately prepared lunches, then played in the yard for several hours wearing masks.

It's fortunate for them that the middle-of-the-day temperatures were in the low 50's today. It will not be so for long. 

Day 13.315: The key is british love

I'm sorry to say that I don't know the story behind this message on a scrap of paper attached to our fridge. All I know is I spotted it recently and decided that it needed to be preserved!

Day 13.314: A large pole

This happened yesterday and Exile #2 was kind enough to capture it for me - so I can share it with you!

The next phase happened today - the transfer of some of the hardware and the slight reduction in the length of the old pole:

My assumption is that what is left on the now shorter pole belongs to the phone and/or the cable company. Whether they are coming to move it is as yet unknown!

Day 13.313: Squirrel baffled

When we last regularly had a bird feeder stocked at our house in New York, squirrel defenses were a very important consideration. However, we haven't seen much interest from our Maine squirrel neighbors - maybe the glut of acorns this year has kept them occupied. Recently however, at least one squirrel has started paying attention:

Our feeder is not defenseless however - I don't have a great picture, but we have this torpedo-shaped squirrel baffle (you can just see the top of it here):

And it's just as well, as I watched a squirrel (quite possibly the one pictured above) climb up the pole and disappear entirely inside the baffle before realizing (presumably) that there was no way to get to the food from inside there.

For now, the defenses hold.

Day 13.312: Horton Woods

A few more pictures from our trip to Horton Woods including our matching masks, a tree that stands on its own two feet, a shy nuthatch and another picture of the adorably hungry squirrel:

Day 13.311: Music in the works

We're recording some new music and it's reached the details stage, so apologies if I become a bit obsessive for a while.

Day 13.310: Exile #2's Sunday Column #322

Exile #2 writes...

Now that the clocks have changed, we’re finding that we need to remind ourselves to get out early otherwise, before we know it, it’s dark. This morning we did just that and went to nearby Horton Woods for a stomp. It was a popular choice but as usual, once we’d left the parking lot, we mostly had the place to ourselves. There were some very intriguing bird and animal calls that we didn’t have the skills to identify, but we did enjoy watching a red squirrel refuse to be put off his meal by our presence. I guess there’s no time to lose in putting on those ounces for winter.

Day 13.309: Take-out hold-outs

We've never been a family to eat out much compared with US families like ours, but usually summer brings a few excuses - day trips, vacations, visitors. Not this year.

As far as any of us can recall, today was the first time we ordered take-out since lockdown started in March (and for some time before that). We had a gift card for Yeto's in Biddeford and we had a very nice meal from there as a result - with very efficient curbside pick-up.

Day 13.308: Dining disagreement...?

Feeder furor?

Birdy brouhaha?

Titmouse tiff?

Seed-store set-to?

Avian altercation?

Fantastic photo-op?

Day 13.307: Late-walk surprises

I took these four photos as we approached the car at the end of our walk at Fuller Farm - farm animals across the road, the tree that always catches our eye and some dried milkweed pods. All pretty satisfying for the last few minutes of a lovely walk.

Day 13.306: Fuller Farm (five)

Before we took Exile #3 back to college after a weekend at home, we spent an hour or so on Sunday morning walking at Fuller Farm.

It wasn't the best nature-spotting event, with the honorable exceptions of the bluebird and red squirrel pictured below along with the kids:

Day 13.305: Accidental invitation

I spilled a bit of birdseed on the deck while filling up the feeder. I removed most of it, but what was left was enough of an draw for this to happen: