“Punxsutawney Phil” made a gross miscalculation, at least for us Mainers. The hog didn’t see his shadow. If he had looked for it around here over the last week I believe he would have run the risk of a fatal appearance! We took another big hit and shadows were rare if available at all. There was not much sunshine.

The weather people had tracked the recent storm for a long time. I will admit that I have become a bit skeptical about the weather predictors and their far reaching, and often annoying, stirring up of expectations. But this time, sorry to say, the system that landed on us was very predictable and serious. I believe, at one time when we listened to reports on our wind-up shortwave radio, there were some 300,000 without power. We, as were many in the region, could be counted in that number. At this time, as I share my thoughts with you, there are still locations without power. And it’s not for lack of trying! The native CMP crews have needed help dealing with all the damage and outages – a thousand additional line workers and many additional tree crews have helped, some from out of state! All this coming on the tail of two very significant storms for which repairs are still under way.

We got lucky here at the ranch, for the most part. Many years ago we bought a small Honda gas-powered generator for situations just like this. It has come in handy many times, providing just enough power to run the refrigerator and the well pump, along with a few outlets in the kitchen. Our interior house space looked like a spider web on steroids with lines running this way and that – an OSHA nightmare I’m certain. Fortunately the ambient outdoor temperatures were not below freezing long enough to be a factor. And the wood stove roared continuously.

Many trees around the property were not so lucky, as was the case throughout much of the area. The heavy wet snow and frequent gusts took a toll. One such toll was a large mature poplar which broke in an unusual way, cracked at the base while many trees just flopped over with root ball in tact. This one leaned precariously toward the roof of my office, inching closer by the hour. It was just a matter of time, with a precisely placed puff, that we’d be in big trouble! 

So I sent a text to a dear old friend we have known since his youth, Donnie Clark, who now lives in Edgecomb. We were neighbors on Barters Island back in the ’70s, and have kept in touch over the years. I knew he’d be busy but I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. I was certainly not going to be able to prevent the inevitable. Donnie texted back and came over. I’ve included a view of our “leaner” and described the landing zone!  

After helping a little by securing a heavy line from the leaning tree to an adjacent tree with a come-along, for stability, Donnie proceeded to gear up for the project. Snaps and buckles, lines, climbing gear, a chain saw dangling from a tool belt of sorts, and a rather matter-of-fact attitude regarding the task at hand, surprised me. Donnie set about climbing, snatching off extraneous limbs as he made his way to the upper most (dare I say) spindly, top of the tree. The branch upon which he perched in this photo could not have been more than 4” across as I examined it on the ground after being cut. Our roof and significant damage had been avoided.  

It was a big relief and a generous moment from an old friend. Others may not have been so fortunate as trees fell suddenly creating damage and loss of power.  We were lucky, and grateful. I hope all among us will recover in time to enjoy what has become known as “spring.”