Excitement, anticipation builds as right on time, the seed catalogs for spring garden planting show up in Maine. Healthy, Large Helpings Of Garden Fresh Home Grown Food You Produce. Priceless.
One by one the mail carrier delivers from the leather heavy pouch he totes the here and there, food for thought in the what to plant. The Troy-bilt rototiller is parked. Waiting, thirsty to be gurgled with gas. Fired up and put into action.
To push the lever forward, to make the tines turn. To till the dirt. Smooth, churn, break up the ground to prepare it for whatever was started for seedlings on the kitchen table. On the glass sun porch window sill.
The card table unfolded and layered with old newspapers. When the time is right and the sun’s angle of its powerful rays tell you it is time to think about spring garden planting the contents, green chutes from the peat pots.
So do you have the tendency to make the flower or vegetable garden you plant bigger and bigger?
Ignoring the “easy does it” temptation to keep it expanding? Knowing all too well that chaos happens if you don’t tend to the weed, feed, water and guidance along the way. To the rich, satisfying harvest time. To cash in on the fruits of your labor for veggie production of good, wholesome, nutritious home grown produce. You can sell what you don’t place on your own family dining table right? Or give away the bounty, half the fun of sharing the fruits of your garden labor, dedication.
Maine Farmer’s Market Video
Gardening tips from Mother Earth News, an old companion, friend that gives you the skinny. The straight manure on what works, why and where in the backyard gardening roll up your sleeves. To dig in the prepared, stone and grass free dirt and produce the most bountiful harvest ever. Sometimes it is not about the food you will reap, but being on your knees in your spiritual garden that feeds your hunger best.
So what are you going to plant in your garden this year you never have before?
Do you grow Kale? Where to plant what in the garden. Knowing use of the real estate, space is key. Planting early varieties of this there. So late arrivals to the gardening party spread out and use that vacated space like squash, cucumbers do. Like cooking a meal and making sure all the pots on the stove, meatloaf and baked potatoes in the oven come out on time, in synch with harmony when the supper bell triangle is ding ding dinged. For the come and get it.
So seed catalogs for spring garden planting? Is that a highlight in your day to browse through, dream about and get your motor running to get down on your knees in the dirt?
What are the Maine snow sled, snowmobile ITS trails like in Northern Maine?
The Average Snow Sledder In Maine Spends $150 A Day. Win Win, Big Fun & New $$$ Happens For Small Communities.
It is no secret Maine takes how it grooms Maine snow sled trails pretty serious.
And the local towns, folks all pitch in, roll out the red carpet. To make sure you feel like a VIP when you trailer and drop or snow sled into their Maine town. Looking for a place in the region to eat, places to stay. To spend some time exploring, discovering a part of Maine so so different than just the sea coast towns that get all the splash. Most of the spotlight attention. Find out what was left out of the Maine tourist information brochures. Come visit the “Crown Of Maine”.
The Official Snowmobile Trail Report 1/8/2014 From The Desk Of:
Kathy Mazzuchelli Caribou Parks & Recreation Department
55 Bennett Drive Caribou, Me. 04736 207-493-4224
“Everyone is feeling the wrath of the Polar Vortex and I am not hearing anymore global warming theories…. Although…..how the heck can you get rain one day and have it minus 20 sandwiching the showers. Maine Snowsledding, Hop On, Have Fun, Get Off The Couch. Stop Hibernating. Fortunately the rain didn’t hurt the snow sled trail system which was awesome over the weekend but check out some of the cautionary notes….. Frozen ground doesn’t absorb water, running water goes downhill, running water is warm and as long as its running it doesn’t freeze so if it looks like a puddle…..well it probably is and it will take a few days to freeze over.
Water from recent rains has been collecting on rivers and lakes so you will find a lot of slush please use extreme caution. Pretty near everyone noted some water holes in low lying areas that are not freezing too quickly despite cold temps so be alert and try to avoid them wherever possible.
Deer and moose have been sited everywhere so please use extreme caution especially riding at night especially on 83 and 83 B in Caribou where there are significant deer.
Keep in mind that there are some long distances between gas stations so look at the reroutes and plan accordingly.
There is an active logging operation on ITS 81 the border trail on the Limestone section so please proceed slowly and with caution.There will be plowed sections on ITS 85 near Ox Bow, north of Ashland on the reroute and north of Wallagrass most of which will be remedied with snow.
Trail Info …
ITS 85 Now open from Shin Pond north to Ft Kent and Madawaska. There is active logging still on the Ox Bow end with 3 sections about 1 mile each. Ashland was able to complete their reroute but they need snow so you will find plowed road for a bit. Also the section north of Wallagrass is now open but needs a bit more snow. 71D is not open.
ITS 83 All the reroutes on the southern end have been completed but remember to watch for signs. Also there are three active logging ops between Linneus and Dyer Brook so follow signs, keep right and slow down. Sledders will have to use caution. Also there is a considerable reroute between Bridgewater and Mars Hill that is well marked but you will leave the railbed. From there on it is clear sailing but you will come into logging as you approach Madawaska.
ITS 81 This trail has not been groomed from Squa Pan to the ITS 85 intersection but Mars Hill has coming to Squa Pan. Heading north from Mars Hill everyone has been out but there is a logging operation on the Limestone section of the border trail section of 81 that is very active so USE EXTREME CAUTION.
ITS 92 This trail is in good shape with all projects out. Just a reminder that 92A out of St Francis to Carter Brook is closed until the end of January or mid February due to logging. Also Allagash is grooming a trail to Glazier Lake and that does connect of ITS 92 even though it doesn’t show up on the Northern Maine map.
ITS 90 Everyone groomed early this week and will be out by Friday. Watch for deer !!
ITS 88 Ashland was out on this week to open their section so this trail is now open through to Ft Fairfield. Remember there is a reroute on the section in Ft Fairfield Maine so watch for signage.
ITS 86 This route is open east and west with good conditions but again there may be plowed sections on the Ox Bow end so use caution. And remember sadly the Ox Bow Lodge burned down earlier this winter and the Masardis Trading Post also burned down……both represent a huge loss to the area. 71D is not open yet.
ITS 105 Is open to the 81 intersection but may have limited grooming on the Squa Pan end.
ITS 120 Now open all the way through from Eagle Lake to the 92 connection south of Allagash.
Rt 100 Now rerouted back to the old route between Caswell and Rt 89.
Rt 89 Now open between ITS 83/90 in Caribou north to the Rt 100 intersection only. It is NOT open to the 94 intersection.
Rt 94 Van Buren is grooming through a logging op so watch for signs and PLEASE stay off the road.
Daigle and Soldier Pond both have been out but remember. Rt 73B between Ft Kent and the 83B intersection in Daigle is closed so use 73C to get into Ft Kent Maine.
Connector 61 is groomed from the ITS- 83 intersection on Sam Drew Mt in Oakfield to the Railroad crossing near the Oakfield- Smyrna town line.
From the Oakfield/Smyrna line north to the intersection with Trail 81, Trail 61 has been packed but not groomed.
The 1/2 mile section of Trail 61 that uses the Brown Rd in Oakfield has been plowed and is currently being used by logging trucks. This is a very narrowly plowed road and extreme caution is necessary.
Trail 64 on the Smoki Haulers end has been groomed.
On The Social Side …
Meduxneakeag Ramblers Breakfast Saturdays 6-9 a.m. at the clubhouse.
Washburn Trailrunners Breakfast /Lunch Saturdays 7 a.m.-3p.m. Sunday 7 a.m.-noon at the clubhouse.
Presque Isle Snowmobile Club Stew Nights Fridays 5-7 p.m. at the clubhouse.
January 12 Fort Fairfield Club Breakfast 7-10 a.m. on the Strickland Rd $7 adults/ $4 kids under 12.
January 19 Portage Lakers Radar Runs Registration 9 a.m.
January 25 & 26 Long Lake Fishing Derby…..7 lakes and $12500 in prizes !!!
February 8 10th Annual Andy Santarre Sno-Run call 207-498-6431 for more info.
February 8-9 Caribou Downtown Ski Festival.
February 15 Caribou Snowmobile Club Hot Dog Roast ITS 105 Stockholm starting 10 a.m.
February 15 Portage Lakers Pie Auction 7 p.m. at Deans.
Who was following the original reality day to day life programming was pretty apparent in earlier days.
Working The Land In Maine, Less Idle Time To Gossip, For Drama.Look for the guy or gal that had purple ears, got their news on the grapevine at the watering hole.
Gossip, misinformation and other times deadly accurate details were part of the social banter.
And if a person wanting to be in the conversation know spotlight was in the dark on something, ah here comes the embellishment. Added to the dialogue like seasoning standing at the cook stove. Into the supper skillet of what tastes so juicy, tasty and at someone else’s expense.
Maybe some folks thrive on the gossip, missteps, plight, perils of others so readily because their own existence is painful.
Life just not going, headed in the direction they wished so park it. Put your nose where it does not belong, your eyes on the paper of another. Other times sheer boredom is the culprit. Not enough going on to occupy the person and hand me that wooden spoon will you? Let’s stir the pot and enjoy what it generates. With the currents of a community where all the personalities, hopes, dreams and ambitions mix so marvelously. Or like oil and water depending on the day.
My Mom like lots of other housewives in the 1960’s and beyond watched The Guiding Light, As The World Turns, The Young And The Restless. Her soap operas, where you could miss a few weeks, while ironing, watching and listening. Not be following the episodes, out of the loop and then “ta da”. Tune in.
Suddenly back up to speed quickly when you found out Victor was headed to prison. Sophie that trailer trash two timer but easy on the eyes tart was the cause in the frame, set up. That alley cat that the majority of the housewives in the audience did not trust. Were not so fond of Victor, a lady’s man who was no prince, saint. But did not deserve to go to the crow bar hotel for three hots and a cot at the expense of this stylish little witch. That could turn it on and off to suit her Jezebel motives, needs.
Reality television is cheap programming.
Find an virtually unknown, low compensation character in a small location. Watch his or her exploits at the storage wars, moonshine still, pawn shop or in the kitchen / bar of a very poorly run establishment. Expose all the tension in those settings for a few episodes in the series, and you have an instant following.
The ups and downs of another’s life. To take your mind on your own life roller coaster ride part of the reason for the following? Or just it’s fun to study others, why they do what they do when this or that happens. Whether you were a political science or marketing major or not in college. Or enjoyed all the psych classes you got credit hours for sitting through.
Maybe watching someone unfoiled, getting what you or I think they deserve appeals to the judge holding the scales of justice in all of us. To seek what is fair. To right the wrong, to attempt to make everyone wear a white not black hat. Or to inject a little spin because agendas needing addressing, attention to somehow come back to benefit yourself going on in the background. Never liked the process called huckstering where a smile is flashed, platitudes exchanged when deep down inside the exterior gestures did not match the inner emotions of the person playing the game.
I think that is one more of the attractions to buying a forty acre property, land in the middle of nowhere in under populated Maine.
Ker plopping a cabin in the center of it all for a simple living away from others existence. I see lots of new to the areas but from larger population centers too hemmed in, tightly crowded all their life doing that.
For too long they have been knee deep in other people. And nothing anti social about it. But just want their own space, to keep others with long beaks out of that personal buffer boundary area surrounding them. And will return the favor. Too much reality programming exposure on and off the tube part of the reason? Causing the I got to get out of this concrete urban jungle, the walls are closing in and have to bust out. To relocate, move to Maine, some off the beaten location with none many people.
A don’t bother me, I will leave you alone let’s shake on it agreement for the later years taking place? Just wanting to avoid the drama, soap opera in real life with dysfunctional family, social, work, church or whatever groups that make them have to ask “what is wrong now that needs to be dealt with like it or not?” This is one theme I hear from the moving to Maine relocation group wanting to avoid a steady diet of drama, altered reality and spin in their life.
One of the number one New Year’s Resolutions is losing weight.
How to do it without a lifestyle change means get off the couch. Turn off the television, shut down the computer device.Go Over Hill And Dale Winters In Maine Wearing, Floating, Flying On Snow Shoes.Put on some clothing layers. Stop wandering out to the kitchen looking for a snack. Hibernating inside. Head to the woods of Maine, out over the fields. Wearing shoeshoes. Lots of neat places in Maine to snowshoe.
Snow shoeing in Maine. More calories burned than running, skiing.
That what happens with snowshoeing. It all depends on your terrain, the length of the snowshoeing adventure or ritual like any exercise.
But access to areas that you can not drive to, get to without a Maine snow sled or cross country skis. Like any outdoor recreation, seeing wildlife, hearing the wind in the pines, birds singing, seeing tracks of other furry animals. Under a cobalt blue ski and feeling better as you fill your lungs with clean Maine air. You don’t have to be in church to pray. And many will freely admit they feel spiritual outdoors in Maine. Close to the creator.
So pick a season but in addition in winter in Maine to snow sledding, skiing down hill, cross country, or ice skating, strap on some snow shoes.
Go tramping without fear of sinking to your waste in drifts. Up and over banks, down into gullies and over drifts of snow in Maine. Terrain gets eaten up, you can tramp anywhere but still need to tread lightly. Have respect for the land owner that is nice enough to share the property in Maine you are exploring. Carry in, carry out applies and if there is a trail, stay on it.
Snow and ice in a Maine landscaped transformed by winter weather artwork means snow shoeing tips is something new to try, consider if you never have. Or this whole blog post is preaching to the choir if you already do.
Winter in Maine, one more excited season with lots of options.
New ways to stay outdoors. Just like when you were a kid and Mom had to remind you a couple times, time to eat. Time to come in now when you were playing with your friends. Building a snow foot, digging tunnels or sliding down a hill. Fresh air, nothing like it especially in Maine.
I have an old pair of hand made, leather, wood, rawhide lattice stitched set of inherited snow shoes. But look around, lots of lighter weight versions to be had no matter what level, amount of time you plan to devote to Maine snow shoeing. A sport where you feel like you can float. Almost fly over terrain. Covered ground quickly with new found powers. To go where you always sank before without the winter footwear.
The lead in headline for the Me In Maine blog post from singer Billy Joel’s “The Entertainer”.
Shortening a great song that was just too long. I liked Billy Joel better before he became big, well known. Maybe the raw, new, fresh is the reason.
Refreshingly different. And not being everywhere on the dial before he hit it big. Or because with success, comes polish and commercialization.
As the art evolves into finely tuned, cleverly packaged and slick, tight. Sometimes predictable. You do what you have to be accepted, fit in, be popular. Go along. Sometimes to survive. But taking a stand, letting others warm up to you and what you represent. Not the other way around.
Cold Spring Harbor, the first Billy Joel LP was mastered a tad too fast. But take a sea cruise and when you slide up on a stool at the piano bar, watch the expression of the guy or gal at the ivories. Sitting on the bench when someone wanders in and asks, no shouts, pleads, demands “play Piano Man!” Even if it’s the fourteen time, sure, why not?
Maybe the mystique of any musical artist is what is happening in your life as the tune spins.
In the background of your day to day life. Or sung along to or just from an earlier era that takes you back instantly. Transports, reminds you of your bearings, perspective at the time. Where you younger like the song, the artist, the group making it. When it was top of the charts. Climbing up, peaking and falling off.
What musical artist, group did you hear, see perform, have experienced more than once, followed for years and were made to feel the same way?
Liked better before discovered by the masses. But still enjoyed plenty with the swell, the here we go increase in notoriety. Any in particular come to the front of your brain? Roll around inside and once heard after a lull, long period of absence the kick start happens quickly. Powerfully, deeply wherever it left off last?
New Year’s Resolutions… what is your batting average?
Oh. (Pause.) Really? How come so low? Maybe you need one of the ten apps for keeping New Year’s resolutions. Many of us have never kept a New Year’s resolution for more than a few weeks. Lots don’t make the list at all. Used to and gave up. Or just missed the memo.
Old habits just die hard? Or listening too much to the Doobie Brother’s album “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits” part of the problem? Why the slippage, temptation to keep doing what we tell others, say we don’t want to do and are going to stop, quit for good? But why don’t we? Why the easy sunshine light and bright making the list, but quick storm clouds rolling over to foil, destroy the A to Z?
Turning over a new leaf, taking a new direction means will power.
What is the horsepower behind what you say you want to do and steps you are taking to make sure you are successful?
Like winning, you have to want to was explained by an Argentina shrink who was in the office a month ago.
Looking for a multi family rental house to buy, move to in the year ahead. The conversation came up out of concern about smoking. Loved ones you want to help, wished they could stop but struggle and don’t kick the habit for good. Often you can not stop for yourself but out of love for another, that is the direction taken. Like hockey goals, there are no ugly ones. Take the route that gets results for the healthiest outcome right?
I shared with him a tale of one woman who had chomped on the Nicorette gum, had the holes to prove the acupuncture treatments. Been under the spell of hypnosis. Applied the patches that gave her weird out of this world scary dreams. Attended faithfully, weekly herded into the classes with other support members. To quit smoking in group, buddy system fashion.
But despite wanting to, taking the steps could not. Strong willed and determined lady, feisty but how come smoking so hard to stop? For the reach for the long white skinny cylinders of twenty. Packed with the expensive Turkish or Kentucky blend of tobacco. And a few other added ingredients the side panel says, no strongly warns is a no no?
Without anyone in the room laying on a leather couch, no fifty five minute session, Doc said there is a reason you keep doing what you know is hazardous to your health.
Nothing bad will happen to you Superman thinking that just unlucky other people will get the down side whammy. And that the gain seems to be in your brain worth more than the pain, the side effects. He plainly, no bluntly, without sympathy of any sort stated my friend does not want to stop smoking. Period. Reformed smokers are like that when it becomes crystal. Whoa. Need A Cat Nap, I’m Stuffed. Looking For A Sun Spot. (Note to blog post readers… she has quit smoking… been a month now and counting! Please cross those fingers, toes, say a little prayer for her. Thank you. We now take you back to your regularly scheduled blog post now in progress.)
The ten best new year’s resolutions for 2014 in one doctor’s opinion. Who says this new year’s resolution habit, ritual started back in ancient times. Another blogger says new year’s resolutions are bad for you. Only eight percent of the wishers are successful or stick with it. She figures you damage your self worth from failures.
I say make the New Year’s resolution doable, obtainable and realistic.
For example, you want, won’t settle for anything less than winning the Boston Marathon next year may be too lofty a goal. Just finishing it would be grand and not the do or die edging out at the wire, the ribbon the tall, well tanned runner who does win in record breaking time. Is nicknamed “The Wind” or “Lightning” in his home country for a reason.
Keep the list short, close to your ability and don’t be afraid to ask for help, or avoid expecting overnight success. You can do it starts with do you really want to bad enough to actually make it whatever it takes sink or swim? It is not a matter of being weak. Do you want to add or subtract this from your lifestyle?
The South American head doctor in the office lobby with the free medical advice about smoking said he quit. It was all about asking the guy he brushed his teeth with each morning why he does it. To examine his thoughts, motivation when he steps outside to light ’em, smoke ’em if you got ’em. What is rolling around in your head before you torch one. The thoughts developing after you flick the butt, snub it out. There are the answers to why you do the bad habit you want to break and why there is a problem Houston.
Happy New Year and hope your list of resolutions pan out, stick. That you get what you want to adjust in your life for a healthy, richer, full one loaded with quality. My resolution to you would be move to Maine if you are an outside reader. I can help line you up with a professional wearing the gold and dark blue “R” pin.
