Day 18.021: Snow on snow on snow

It started snowing again as the work week came to an end. We’ve got an inch or so now, with likely another inch or two to come overnight. This is the third batch without a significant thaw in between and it looks like we may get some more on Sunday night. For me, I can do without the bitter cold, but snow is the good part of winter, so I say, bring it on. 

Day 17.318: On the fourteenth day…?

It was a bird counting day again today and we did well enough that we’re unlikely to add much to our tally tomorrow. At one point, we were just spotting our first mourning dove of the day when suddenly more and more of them descended. Our highest count was fourteen, although I suspect there were more. Many of them stayed around for quite a while including the nine you can see in this photo:

Or maybe you can’t - they are quite well camouflaged and it’s not a great photo. Maybe this helps a little:

Counting birds of the same kind (optionally in trees) reminded me that the days of Christmas and their associated song are rapidly approaching. First Thanksgiving next week, then it will be December and Advent and the counting (down) will begin.

Day 16.145: Exile #2's Sunday Column #439

Exile #2 writes...

E5N1 was expecting to spend the afternoon playing in the school band for the graduation ceremony that was due to happen at his high school football stadium. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and so he will be on duty tomorrow evening instead, possibly indoors if the weather is bad again. It made us very grateful for the pleasant weather we had last year for Exile #4's graduation and for Exile #3's sort-of-graduation, which took place in small groups of eight or so socially distanced students a couple of years before.

The band traditionally plays while the students process into the stadium. We were somewhat amused to discover that the music of choice for this is what is best known to us as “Land of Hope and Glory”. We have managed to resist singing along so far but it causes us similar amusement to “My country ‘tis of thee” which, owing to its rather familiar tune, runs in our heads something along the lines of, “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, God save the Queen…”!

The band in action at last June's graduation ceremony (not rain affected)

Day 15.221: Nerd school for nerds

Exile #3 refers to Exile #4's college as "nerd school for nerds". She's not really wrong and Exile #4 takes no apparent offense. This is a mug I saw in the campus store when we were dropping them off last weekend - solve each equation to realize you're enough of a nerd to go here - or something.

The chants for sporting events are not like other colleges either. This one, known as the "Fight Song" is painted on the wall of the cafeteria we used while we were there:

E to the X
D-Y, D-X
E to the X
D-X
Cosine, Secant, Tangent, Sine
3.14159
E-I, Radical, Pi
Fight ’em, Fight ’em, WPI!

Day 14.229: Five random things near the Erie Canal

Somewhere between Albany and Buffalo...

We were actually in the town of Niskayuna and here the Erie Canal is also the Mohawk River, but here are - as promised five random things.

A scruffy blue jay:

a heron:

a cardinal:

a wasp nest:

and some wildflowers:

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 13.187: Some birds are smaller than others

I managed to grab some photos of a hummingbird visiting our runner bean flowers today. Not as dramatic as the photos when they visit the window feeder, but they do give a better sense of the scale of these tiny birds.

Afterwards, it had a little rest before flying off:

It is most welcome to the nectar and the perch - especially if it pollinates some of the flowers along the way.

Day 13.098: Altogether now: feed the birds...

Our bird feeder has been languishing in the garage since we moved to Maine six years ago. I'm not sure what triggered it, but Exile #2 suggested putting it up last weekend - so we did. It took until yesterday to put some seed in it and today we had our first feathered visitors (including this goldfinch):

Day 13.022: York County Junior High Music Festival Band

...we enjoyed the show.

He's there somewhere - short and back-row doesn't make for great photos!

This afternoon, we went to see E5N1 play his trumpet in the York County Junior High Music Festival. The first half of the program was a choral performance and the second half was the band. Selected 7th and 8th Grade students from seventeen schools across York County made up the two groups and both halves of the show were great.

Day 11.334: The dark parade

Here are some more of my pictures from Saturday night. I'm too tired for anything else even though tonight was the one day out of seven with no performance (the girls had a rehearsal for their concert that is tomorrow and Wednesday nights).

Day 11.240: If you like it then you should tie a knot in it

E5N1 has been getting more adventurous in his food choices recently - hot sauce, pickles and other strong flavors have gone from "never" to "always" foods in the space of a few months. I'm still not sure how he feels about onions, but he was quite pleased to have tied a knot in this one:

(and I like this photo of him - even if it is a foreshadowing of clothing thefts ahead when he is closer to my size!).

Day 11.072: The Chainsmokers

The day 3 entertainment (that's Wednesday for those keeping score) was a choice of two musical acts - The Chainsmokers or Train. This was my view at The Chainsmokers at the MGM Grand:

They didn't let us down!

Day 10.314: Unseen shells on empty beaches

On Saturday morning I ran to the beach. It's beautiful all year round, but I particularly love it when it is empty which is really reserved for the cold months. In the summer months, as well as having to share the views, we will rarely find an interesting shell on this stretch of beach as there are so many treasure hunters around. Not so at this time of year. I saw these surprisingly big mussel and snail shells (it was cold enough for me to run in two pairs of gloves - but no so cold I couldn't take one off for scale!) in fact I saw several of each about this size along a short stretch of the sand.

All of which reminded me of this - one of the first songs we wrote about life in coastal Maine:

Day 10.195: I don't mind; I don't mind

It's business travel time, but where in the world am I?

I approached the coast over the water:

I saw the skyline:

It's a place that doesn't mind having two different stations with the same English-language name on its transit system:

Day 10.051: Proof in the day

I would say the fog lifted overnight, but it's more like it was blown away. Today was colder and very windy. It nearly took out the US flag flying outside my workplace:

Fortunately it was still there later when someone was able to find the key and lower it.

Day 10.039: Clear the decks

We decided that today was the day to remove the considerable weight of snow from the deck. Although we are not expecting any more snow for now, either that or some rain which would likely just add weight to the snow is not hard to imagine, so a bit of a workout was required.

The first task was to get to the deck:

Then to dig enough find the steps (well the top two steps anyway):

Then the heavy lifting started, but eventually we got the job done (we are immigrants* after all):

* Except for E5N1, as he would be quick to point out, who did more dodging the snow we were throwing and collecting icicles than actual snow moving.

Day 10.010: This accumulated poison

I'm sad today for this country that we have called home for the last ten years. Not because a Republican has won the presidency, or because of who he is, or because they have control over Congress or even because of what they will do with that power (although much of that scares me especially for my friends who are black or gay or immigrants or poor or sick or several of those).

No, I am sad because we have come to this because of lies. So many lies. Lies told by candidate Trump to people to get them to vote for him, lies told by his supporters about his opponent(s), lies told by his opponents that gave openings for partially truthful attacks on them...

Each acid drop sours the sweetness
A little goes a long way
How much will be needed to dilute this accumulated poison?

And if what is broken can't be mended
What is left of us?
Every piece is broken further until it turns to dust

I am also hopeful.

We could keep each other bright
Pass the glow to one another
As the breath keeps us alive
I will warm you when you grow cold
If you'll warm me when I'm tired


Incidentally, Exile #2 wrote those words in italics, but they capture my feelings perfectly today. You can download the whole album here.

Day 9.177: Swan, Swan, ... Hoorah

We had a last-day trip with my parents to WWT Welney today. We had a great time - here is some of what caught my eye (with apologies to R.E.M.):

Swan:

Swan:

H..., Hoorah:

And now it's time for us to turn our thoughts to home.

Day 9.107: Nah to the ah to the no no no

Sure enough, we had snow. More than a shower, but the temperature did not dip below freezing so it was relatively easy to deal with. Except psychologically that is.