Awaiting a winter storm is like watching bread rise: You know it will happen, but when exactly depends on the ingredients. For me, my bread formula (which is actually passed down from my Irish grandmother) generally behaves better in a warm kitchen. The dough rises, gets kneaded, then rises again. Patience is paramount,  just like waiting to see what shows up in a winter storm. All preparations don’t guarantee results. In both cases, with bread and storms, the finished product is the final measure. Sometimes my bread takes forever to rise and sometimes storms arrive when they are good and ready, or bad and ready, as the case may be.

By the time this issue of the Boothbay Register hits the “newstands," we will all have a better idea about the weather. My bread will wait to fight again another day! What I can say for sure via updates from our daughter and family in Brooklyn, New York, is that their bread has baked! Visuals from their neck of the woods are pretty grim — quiet, but grim! Snowfalls in the city really lower the decibel levels as traffic is limited and activities outside in general, diminish. It’s an unusual lack of sound as everyone waits. 

Here, prior to whatever turns up at the end of the tunnel, last week we enjoyed several magnificent sunny days of clear skies and bright sunshine. It was a string of lovely winter weather, chilly but bright with the brightness extending until just past 5 o’clock in the evening and turning on a bit earlier in the morning. At Ocean Point, parking, pedestrians and dogs cluttered Shore Road as local folk got out to enjoy refreshing strolls and socializing. There was not the slightest indication of impending crisis, unless and until you consulted your preferred mobile device or tried to pick up some pre-storm groceries at Hannaford — a social event of sorts as well.

For me, it was a nice break from plowing and shoveling and a chance to catch up on some photo adventures. Nature did not disappoint. For a while, the snow clung to trees and shore rocks with plenty of transformational scenes. The road crews had done their job, so getting around was less complicated. The sun was super strong, which is interesting this time of year because of how it illuminates differently spaces otherwise hidden. Patience, again, waddles into the picture, encouraging a different look at common vistas. The light on the water was spectacular.

I hope everyone will come through whatever lies ahead in good shape. All the TV and online weather people seem to be cautioning us. Better safe than sorry. More time to stay inside and watch the bread rise!

Be safe.