Back to Maine

We had an incredible time in Hawaii. We saw beautiful things in every direction we looked, went on amazing hikes, ate delicious things, swam and snorkled and sailed, and just relaxed in the sun. Claire loved it just as much as we did. We did have a bit of trouble getting there, and its quite a story. It definitely deserves to be told, but not today. The time change and sleeping on the plane are starting to catch up with me. It was quite the trip home. Not stressful, but very long. I haven't even loaded my pictures yet, so you'll have to wait for that. And when we got home we found out we weren't completely untouched by the huge storm that hit New England earlier in the week. We lost a bit of roofing, a bit of fencing, and we have some water in the basement. We'll probably need to get the ceiling in at least one room replaced. Its hard to tell now how much damage there is (I'm a little afraid to look in the attic), but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, hopefully tomorrow morning. We were, however, very lucky. Our next door neighbor had much more damage, and other areas of the city are still without power. We hear it was quite the storm. We picked a great week to be in Hawaii!

Welcome Back, Winter

So the 'Picture of the Day' was actually taken today (04-05-07). Overnight we got 10 inches of snow. I'm sure it won't stick around long, the snow already looks to be melting off the roads, but it doesn't exactly feel very much like April anymore. On the other hand, we'll soon be in Hawaii, so I can't complain at all.

In the mean time, we are having an incoming resident and her husband (Sadie and John) stay with us for a few days while they job/house hunt. They drove up from Washington DC last night, and a trip that should have taken 8 hours lasted 14 due to the weather. Then today they found out that a number of John's interviews as well as some showings were canceled because of the weather. Seems like its been a rough start for them, but hopefully they find something they like in both searches. If not, I really think John is all set to just move right in with us.

A Northeaster!

Its coming! Our first big Northeaster* of the winter. Actually, its the biggest since 2000. We are suppose to get 10-15 inches of snow and 70mph winds making wind chills of -40 degrees possible and waves up to 20 feet! I would love to get out to the Portland Head and see that, but I doubt I will. Its suppose to start with ice sometime overnight, and at its peak tomorrow afternoon, we could get up to 3 inches of snow per hour. Everything is shutting down, dentist offices, doctors' offices, banks, even some schools already know they will have a snow day tomorrow. I've heard many warnings about having fresh batteries, flashlights, candles and blankets ready because wide spread power outages are not uncommon with these kinds of storms. We have all that stuff and a pile of firewood, so we should be fine if there is a power outage. Its really kind of exciting!

Claire's take on the whole thing is: "I guess we'll have to put on our snowshoes if we want to go to Dunkin' Donuts". She's probably right!

*The correct way to say it is 'Northeaster' (as opposed to 'Nor'easter'). This pronunciation is used on ships because 'Northeaster' is more easily understood than 'Nor'easter'. People who say 'Nor'easter' are thought of as trying too hard to be 'authentic' Maine or New England, but that doesn't keep the tv weathermen and papers from using it.