Winter Wonderland

I've been having some trouble with blogger and haven't been able to upload pictures for some time. Because of this, the snow in these pictures has been melted by a rain storm we had this Monday and unfortunately, the ground has become brown and muddy. We got a soft dusting this evening and are supposed to get even more this weekend, but I already miss the tall drifts!









It reallly is amazing how beautiful it is here when there's a layer of snow on the ground.

We haven't had the opportunity to go cross country skiing yet this winter, but Joe and I were able to go ice fishing last weekend on Long Pond. We huddled around a fire on the side of the lake and kept an eye out for the flags to snap up. It was certainly more luxurious than the ice fishing we did last winter, but it was also a lot more fun with a crowd of people and a bonfire to warm my fingers and toes.

Work has been keeping me significantly busy lately. It's feeling much more like a newspaper office now, with people around every day and police station pagers going off a few times each afternoon. There's never any overly exciting news, but it's kind of nice to have your top headline for the day be one about a woman getting trapped in an elevator for all of 5 minutes. Or like Tuesday, when the big story was that a pair of thick mittens had been found in the middle of the street. Can you imagine living somewhere that is boring enough to make you call the police when you find a pair of mittens in the street? It's pretty crazy, but it's also kind of fun! The winters here are such a nice balance with the crazy summer life.

Hunting for Hunter's

When I went back to Michigan for Christmas, I was stuck in the airport with a family from Maine. We talked for a while, discussing our favorite places on the island. The mother told me about a favorite beach in the park called Hunters Beach. She said it was covered in perfectly smooth stones, and was almost never crowded with tourists. About a week or two ago, Joe and I decided to try to find it.

The stretch of the park loop road we were heading for was of course, closed for the winter. Thankfully, the park road crosses under the main road. So we parked near a bridge and climbed down onto the snow covered park road. It was a bit of a hike to the beach, but it was a surprisingly warm and sunny day, so it wasn't all that unpleasant. We even came across these bikers. I can't say they had a good idea, biking down the snow covered road, but judging by the looks on their faces, I can't imagine they knew what they were getting themselves into either!



When we got closer to the beach, we were surprised to see snow start falling. The sun was shining, it was actually warm, and snow was still falling! If you look hard, you can see it against the backdrop of the dark trees.



The beach itself was beautiful. It was exactly as the woman had described it. The entire shore was layers and layers of perfectly smooth stones. Walking across the beach, you can hear the echo of the stones extending a number of feet below you. It's a bit unnerving thinking that you're standing precariously on layers and layers of stones. When you walk closer to the water, you can hear the stones shuffling and scraping towards the shore and back out to the ocean as the waves roll in and out. I could have sat there all day if the sun hadn't started to trade places with some dark looking clouds.

So This Is What They Call A "Noreaster"?

It's been snowing on and off all day. We got around another 10 inches on top of the snow that was already there. This is ridiculous. It's borderline stupid. There's nowhere else to put the freaking snow. The snow pile is now as tall as joe. Stupid. A giant tree branch fell down in our back yard and is about a foot away from having smashed our back window. It's still attached, just weighed down beyond its capacity. Stupid. Power lines are weighed down with over an inch of snow and ice. Stupid. There's somewhere around 10,000 people without power in Maine. Stupid. I just heard on the news that the governor of Maine is declaring a state of emergency in Maine due to the weather conditions. Stupid.

Okay, I've re-evaluated the situation, and this amount of snow is officially stupid. I've never seen so much in my life. And while I think it's beautiful, it's becoming unmanageable. Maybe if I were a kid getting snow days out of this situation, building snow men and igloos, I might be a bit more tolerant. But seeing as how I still have to go into work and carry on with my daily life and schedule....my patience is being tested.

Winter in Full Force

It's been snowing like crazy the past few days. The trees are weighed down to the point they've created archways over all the streets. The mound of snow next to our driveway is now as tall as I am...

Can it be spring yet?

Weekend Getaway

Again with the 'holy snowflakes!' The weather out here is crazy! Joe and I narrowly made it back to Bar Harbor tonight after our weekend trip to Boston. We woke up this morning to snow falling outside our hotel window and spent 8 hours driving through a storm that traveled with us all the way back home. Enough snow had accumulated to force us to shovel out the driveway in order to park the car!

Traveling aside, the trip was a really nice break from the quiet lifestyle we've been living on the island. We were in the financial district in Boston, so it was still a bit quiet since it was the weekend, but it still had some great things to offer. Joe and I visited the aquarium and the Museum of Fine Arts during the day and then hopped from bar to bar at night. We ate oysters (surprisingly tasty!) at Ye Old Union Oyster House, which we found out is actually America's oldest restaurant--Joe just found out it was built some time in the 1700s and the King of France actually lived above the restaurant at some point. We also found a really great market out behind one of the streets. Even with the freezing temperature there were tents and tables set up, covered in fresh fruits and vegetables and along the back sides of the store fronts in basements there were small markets filled with all sorts of meat and seafood. It was really refreshing to see such a traditional event in a well built up city.

All in all, it was a really nice getaway. I ate some weird food -- for the record, never order sea urchin, ick! -- I found a new creature to love -- sea horses!!! -- and I got a pretty good taste of a new city. I would say it was a success! yay!

Holy Snowflakes!

We got hit with a whopper of a blizzard last night! It snowed all day and all night and I woke up to over a foot of snow!!! I can't remember the last time I've seen this much snow! Of course the little kid in me was beaming with glee at the thought of enough snow to cancel school, but unfortunately the same rules do not apply to jobs. Thus I was left with the daunting task of shoveling myself out of the house and then proceeding to my car.

I have to admit I was rather pleased with my shoveling skills. I managed to dig out my car in record time! yay me!



I would like to point out that the snow is three steps deep. THREE STEPS!!!



On a side note...look how pretty the neighbor's house looks so pretty!

It's a Tree!

I got my snow!
Yesterday morning brought a nice layer of snow and even a blizzard in Franklin, where we got our tree!







I'm still waiting on the ornaments I ordered from Target (how sad that I have to order some because the nearest store with a selection of traditional ornaments is about an hour away...), so the tree is a bit bare. We did our best with garland and candy canes and few ornaments we got in town. I think it looks rather nice either way...

Where's the Snow?

It's December and I feel like it's October. The leaves are still on the ground and there's not a snowflake to be seen. I thought that moving to Maine was going to bring on a whole new level of winter, but I have yet to see it. I can't say I'm complaining all that much because let's be honest, I don't like the cold. But Joe and I are planning to cut down a Christmas tree this weekend, and I can't quite get in the mood for that if unless I'm bundled up in a scarf, hat and gloves. My winter accessories are being seriously neglected. Maybe I'll just have to blast Christmas music in the car and turn on the AC. Don't think I won't do it...

My Apologies

I have been extremely absent. (Really, Michelle? You don't say...)
I know I know...shame on me. But I've been a bit busy, running here and there. I went home to Michigan for a few days, then came back and had to take back up a few days of working at the gallery, and now here we are..

I promise I have some pictures to upload, but I can't quite do that yet. I finally went out and bought the camera my parents gave me money for back at graduation, and I have yet to install the software needed to upload my new pictures. But before I can install that, I need to get some space on my laptop.

My poor laptop.
Once again, I have managed to suck up all of its extra space. My previous hard drive is now full of video footage and I am left with no space for the thousands of pictures I have accumulated. I ordered a new hard drive today, but sadly, I must wait for it to get here. So here I sit, with nothing more than photos from my quick trip to Michigan to offer. So here's one to tide you over.

Oh wait! I completely lied! I have a few pictures from Saturday morning's bed race, courtesy of Evy. That's right. I said Bed Race.

Here in Bar Harbor, they have an annual Pajama Sale. Every year, late in November, everyone crawls out of bed at 6am (nuts...I know) and runs around town, shopping for extreme discounts, in their pjs. This year, the chamber of commerce added a new tradition: Bed Races. Teams of 5 enter, build a bed on wheels, and race for prizes. I have a few pictures of our friend Bryon, racing with his team of fellow firefighters. We had our first snow fall that morning, so it added a whole different feel to the event. It was a bit of a magical morning, wandering outside in the snow in my bathrobe.

So here's a small smattering of Michigan, the Bed Race, and a promised photo of our new sofa! (I have a better shot on my new camera, but you've already heard my excuses for that one)