Summer Begins in Maine
June 1 was an eventful day here in Maine. In the early hours of the day, springtime happened but by noon it was summer. I realize that might sound a little bit strange, but May was one horrible month this year! At our house we have been keeping a wood fire going in the stove nearly every day and most nights because winter would not let go of its grip. We have had cold, flooding rains repeatedly. Farmers have not been able to work their wet fields and wouldn't really want to if they could since the ground has not been able to warm up enough to start most crops. My lilac bush hasn't bloomed yet. I don't remember a year when it has bloomed this late. I've seen apple blossoms, but further south in the state, not up here in the highlands. It has rained nearly every day for the past three weeks.
All of a sudden, everything has changed. June 1 and 2 were both brilliantly sunny days. Yesterday, the 2nd, the temperature was above 80, some reports even of 90! It doesn't get that hot on most summer days here! I tilled the garden yesterday and mowed the lawn for the first time this year. Although I have not yet been for a swim, I did do some sunbathing which was fantastic! I even have the sunburn to prove it.
Everybody keeps saying the blackflies will be bad this year because of all the cold rain. I know they're bad further east of here, like around Howland, and they are out here too, but they don't seem that bad to me yet. Maybe they are and I just haven't noticed it. I take a mega-B vitamin this time of the year to keep the bugs from biting me. And I do have quite a few bug bites on my arms along with scratches from brush cutting and a wee bit of sunburn.
I used my chainsaw yesterday to cut up a couple of pines that blew down in my racetrack field this winter. I broke the saw but not before getting a couple of nice big scratches on my forearm from handling the limbs. Nathaniel and I did some mowing up on the farm where I would like to set up a few rustic campsites for anyone who might wander in and need a place to pitch a tent. That is one of my plans that seem to get pushed back to the next year every summer. Maybe this summer I'll make some progress on it.
The moose are out on the roads now. That happens every year at about this time of year. I think they are moving around looking for places where the flies won't drive them crazy. But they also are drawn to the salt on the sides of the roads. Salt is used to melt the ice and snow buildup in winter. Come summer, the moose linger and feed on the sholders and ditches of the roads. They'll be back in the woods by late July when the flies are gone.
Today looks like another warm day but more humid than yesterday. There's a huge storm front south of New England that may or may not mess up the weekend. We're all hoping it'll pass to our south and leave us on the sunny side of things for a change.
Let the summer begin!
All of a sudden, everything has changed. June 1 and 2 were both brilliantly sunny days. Yesterday, the 2nd, the temperature was above 80, some reports even of 90! It doesn't get that hot on most summer days here! I tilled the garden yesterday and mowed the lawn for the first time this year. Although I have not yet been for a swim, I did do some sunbathing which was fantastic! I even have the sunburn to prove it.
Everybody keeps saying the blackflies will be bad this year because of all the cold rain. I know they're bad further east of here, like around Howland, and they are out here too, but they don't seem that bad to me yet. Maybe they are and I just haven't noticed it. I take a mega-B vitamin this time of the year to keep the bugs from biting me. And I do have quite a few bug bites on my arms along with scratches from brush cutting and a wee bit of sunburn.
I used my chainsaw yesterday to cut up a couple of pines that blew down in my racetrack field this winter. I broke the saw but not before getting a couple of nice big scratches on my forearm from handling the limbs. Nathaniel and I did some mowing up on the farm where I would like to set up a few rustic campsites for anyone who might wander in and need a place to pitch a tent. That is one of my plans that seem to get pushed back to the next year every summer. Maybe this summer I'll make some progress on it.
The moose are out on the roads now. That happens every year at about this time of year. I think they are moving around looking for places where the flies won't drive them crazy. But they also are drawn to the salt on the sides of the roads. Salt is used to melt the ice and snow buildup in winter. Come summer, the moose linger and feed on the sholders and ditches of the roads. They'll be back in the woods by late July when the flies are gone.
Today looks like another warm day but more humid than yesterday. There's a huge storm front south of New England that may or may not mess up the weekend. We're all hoping it'll pass to our south and leave us on the sunny side of things for a change.
Let the summer begin!
posted by Bill | 7:22 AM
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