Mother Nature is messing with the state of Maine and a few others on the side.
Tom Gyger of South Bridgton works with his tractor to clear a path down Route 107 on Jan. 9, 1998, as he spearheads a rescue effort to help Mac Gillet emerge from his remote home at Moose Cove after the ice storm. On Highland Lake, the storm snapped the phone line of the Jenni family. David A. Rodgers/Staff Photographer, File
Doesn’t she have something better to do? My lawn and back field are in utter chaos. You can hardly see the grass where she has pruned everything that was available. One nice project she accomplished is a lovely skating rink on our front lawn. I’m sure I’m not the only one who suddenly has waterfront property by the road. (It is entertaining to watch wild turkeys take a spin or two on the ice. Surprised they don’t knock on the door and ask for music.)
Mother Nature seems to have lost her glasses. She’s been pulling levers on her weather machine, willy-nilly, having a blast. The weather machine may be in need of a shot of WD40, maybe an oil change.
For us in Bridgton, 18 inches of recent snow was followed by downpours of torrential icy rain taking out roads and byways, whether paved or dirt, hitting the ice lever to watch us try to get in or out of the car without sliding under it. She is having way too much fun. The scary part is it is just the beginning of winter.
As a sideline, she messed with the power. During the snow, she tested the tensile strength of our phone and power lines by loading up the branches of the nearby cedar tree and pushing as hard as she could to remove them from the side of the house. It didn’t work this time.
I will always remember during the ice storm of 1998, standing by the kitchen window as my husband said: “Well, at least we still have the phone line,” and at that moment watching the phone line snap off in front of our eyes.
Haven’t mentioned the ongoing chaos in the back field. When I wasn’t looking, good old Mom Nature ravaged our poor old apple trees, snapping limbs and splitting one right down the middle. What a show-off! Could be she was punishing them for not producing the usual winter supply of food for our local deer herd and flocks of turkeys?
Deer are very clever and pretty flexible. They sometimes enjoy a new entrée of our juniper bushes. One year, they pretty much devoured most of the one by the bird feeder. The birds didn’t like to lose their special hiding place while they wait their turn at the feeder. My husband was equally annoyed and, spying the deer down by the apple trees, he decided to take action.
Grabbing my best pan and a piece of firewood, he charged out to the back porch, banging away at the pan. The deer looked up at the guy making the noise and calmly went back to eating. So much for being in command. (Do you know anyone who can take dents out of a pan?)
Whether we like it or not, Mother Nature rules. We hope she has time to visit her optometrist. Could be an interesting winter.
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