Dear friend—How was your winter? It wasn’t too bad staying here on the island, but February was kind of rough. Days and days of temperatures below 20 degrees and a lot of wind.
Ferries seemed to be canceled one or two days every week. That was hard on everyone; both the boat owners and the passengers. You had to be flexible when trying to plan anything.
We were all set to meet up with Robin and Stephanie and the grandkids to watch Henry play in a hockey tournament in Bangor, a few weeks ago. We planned to stay one night at the Fairfield Inn where they were booked. An approaching storm turned that plan into a day trip.
I had been in a horrible mood all morning based on watching too much news. A dip was just the thing!
We saw each other for about three hours and headed back in time to catch the 3:30 boat while they set off to arrive in Quebec ahead of the storm. Unfortunately, the boat wasn’t all we caught that day.
Yuck! Here’s one of the most important things I’ve learned all winter: Hand sanitizer does not kill Norovirus! We had all used it to wash our hands before eating lunch at the game, but then Bruce became suddenly violently ill on Sunday night.
It’s quite contagious. No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, I came down with it on Wednesday. Believe me. They don’t call it the “two bucket disease” for nothing. Wash your hands with soap and water a lot. Especially before you eat!
That was probably the peak of our winter misery followed by a storm that left 2-inches to 3-inches of ice on just about everything but the trees. At the time we were both too sick to deal with it, but after a week we both felt tons better
Yesterday the temperature was actually in the 40s and it was sunny. A hint of spring at last! From inside I heard what sounded like a jet flying low overhead. I looked out to see Bruce in the driveway with a flame thrower! It took him two hours with flame and chipper to clear the ice. I took a video for the grandkids.
Today was even warmer. I still hadn’t done my February dip of the month, so I texted Mary to see if she was up for it. The sun felt strong and it was already 46 degrees. Malcolm suggested Gilley Beach and the three of us set off at 10 a.m. to get in the water.
I had been in a horrible mood all morning based on watching too much news and feeling too much disgust with too many things. A dip was just the thing! It always lifts my mood. (Yes, Cindy and I usually dip together, but she went on Monday because she was going away for a week on Tuesday.)
The air and sun felt great. The water, not so much. I learned from Mark Fernald that it was 33 degrees. We screamed and laughed and felt mighty fine afterward.
The warm air smelled and felt so good it was hard to stay inside. Bruce shoveled out a patch of snow by his traps on the road to accommodate a workbench. He happily started readying his first batch of traps for spring fishing. Want me to text you a photo?
Mary shoveled snow onto her beds in the greenhouse. They needed some moisture to be ready for the greens she hopes to sow. I’m inspired to get out the seed catalogues. I stayed inside for the afternoon to write this letter to you, but I had the window open wide in my studio as the sun streamed in. It was a nice change. The birds are starting to make more noise but I haven’t heard any owls at night, yet.
Our ground is still covered in snow in most spots. It’s been pretty unusual for us to have so much white on the ground for so long. I’ve liked it but now I’m over it and ready to start seeing a little more green.
Time to germinate some sprouts in a jar to quickly grow something fresh while I wait. It’s supposed to snow again tomorrow. Sigh.
Barbara Fernald lives on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island). She may be contacted fernald244@gmail.com.
