Valentine's Day salutations, everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!!

XOXOX    ;o)

First skate

This is for Allison over at Under a Shady Tree You and Me. 

(Thanks for your kind words , Allison!)

   First skate       

Happy Valentine's Day Eve, everyone!

the view from my window

The sun was rising as we left this morning on an almost empty plane.

As the day brightened, this is what I saw out the window.

*     *     *

Then, for quite a while there was a grey/white blanket below, until:

Doesn't this look like frost on a window does early in the morning?

I love the way rivers wander.

*     *     *

Then, more grey-white blanket outside for awhile.

And then the patchwork appeared. 

and the contours

and the 'ferns.'

And this, just as we started to descend--surrounded by miles of open fields.

Is anything more beautiful than nature?

*      *      *     *    *

Well, maybe.  

This is my grandbaby.  Isn't she dear?

this morning down at dyer's cove

We have left town.

We're on our way out west to see our sweet baby grand-girl.  Which means Pokey got to go to the kennel this morning.  She loves it at the kennel.  All the dogs there get to go outside and play in the yard together.  Pokey starts wiggling about a mile and a half away.  She knows where she is going!

Here is the view.  Only the best for our dog...

As the tide goes in and out, and the air warms and cools, beautiful things happen to the iced salt water.  I love these lines below.  Somebody could probably explain what makes them.

I'm content just to look, and wonder.  

a poem for today

Wage Peace

Wage peace with your breath.

Breathe in firemen and rubble,

breathe out whole buildings

and flocks of redwing blackbirds.

Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children

and freshly mown fields.

Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.

Breathe in the fallen

and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.

Wage peace with your listening:

hearing sirens, pray loud.

Remember your tools:

flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.

Make soup.

Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.

Learn to knit, and make a hat.

Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,

imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty

or the gesture of fish.

Swim for the other side.

Wage peace.

Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.

Have a cup of tea and rejoice.

Act as if armistice has already arrived.

Don't wait another minute.

Mary Oliver

the local municipal snow ballet

Many of you have told me you have visited Maine in the summer, or you hope to one day. 

Ever wonder how we cope in the winter?

A few days ago I said that in Maine we know exactly what to do with snow.  Today I took a trip to the library and lo and behold, the snow ballet was in full operation. 

(Warning:  these are not art shots, or anything close.  I was doing my best to stay out of the way in the midst of monster trucks and bucket loaders.  Plus, my fingers were falling off left and right in the cold.)  

We are looking at one of two 'main' streets in town.  Usually, traffic on this street is an orderly procession of two lanes of one-way traffic, which yields obligingly to cars parking or leaving spaces after they visit the post office, library or shops.  (In the winter, anyway!)   Today, the dump trucks hogged the right lane, and parking was allowed only on the left side of the street.  I have to say we all coped gracefully, probably because this dance makes our lives so much better in the end.  The trucks don't even parallel park.  See how they kind of kitty-corner?

And then there is this guy.  He does most of the dancing.  I want his job.

He drives in to a good big pile of snow, then digs.   Look at  his wheels off the pavement.

After he takes a good big bite, it's down to the waiting dump truck.

Lift the shovel, and dump!  Then go back for more.

 A big bite,

back up a bit,

and deliver the load again.

See why I couldn't be too picky about exposure or composition? This all happens FAST.

When the truck is full, it pulls out heading for the snow dump, and another takes its place.

From the line at the snow ballet bar here:

  While the trucks wait, the drivers greet folks they know as they pass by.  

This is Fred.  He's been doing this for years.

I fled up the church steps to get this shot, as the driver kept advancing....

He's doing a special move.  He's "backwards plowing", so that the snow bank by the side of the street will disappear.  

This makes it once more possible to get out of one's car on the sidewalk side!

Before:

 ...and AFTER!!

So, do you wonder what happens to the snow?  Most every town in Maine has a 'snow dump' somewhere.  Ours is a little out of town, near the vocational school.

All day long, these guys and their machines move the snow around.

  

Here comes a new load---beep, beep, beep!

 and, dump!!

I don't know if you want to see a shot of an empty dump truck, but I liked this photo.

So that's the truth about the snow ballet, and I'm sticking to it.

Now, I am going to read one of the two books which were waiting for me at the library.  Should I start with St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, or should I read the Irish novel Ghost Light?  

Decisions, decisions.

Have a good night, everyone!

without good words

Wow, you guys.

I don't know what to say.  I am "getting" the spirit of the blogging community--support, encouragement and an abundance of kindness.  I am so tickled.  I'm  grateful for all your messages, and for my new followers, and, well,  just plain happy for your just being there with me on this new adventure.  

I was up half the night because I couldn't tear myself away from the incoming comments from all of you.  So I am going to keep this short.  Thanks, Kate, for starting it all.  Thanks to all of you for stopping by and for taking the time to contact me.  Keep visiting--I know I will be visiting you!! 

Night night.  ;o)