It has been a wild and wacky winter for much of the United States. Places that are usually warm were cold and had snow, places that are usually cold and snowy—well, not so much.
Our son and his wife, live in 
Maryland, close to Washington DC. I don’t need to tell you that they have had one of the snowiest winters on record. For a while there, every time the TV was on, we would see photo’s of the snow piling up around our nations capital. These kind of storms are really tough because most folks don’t have the snow removing equipment that we have up north. Check out this photo of our son after the second storm that hit the DC area. He didn’t have a plow truck or a snow blower to clear the driveway. He described the shovels that were left in the house by the landlord as about the size of a postage stamp. Brings a smile to my face every time I think of him digging out that much snow with a teeny, tiny shovel. Our daughter-in-law is from Guam and the last place they lived before moving to DC was Hawaii. Talk about a shock to the senses! I’m happy to report that they made it through the storms and just think of the memories that they will have when they grow old. They can talk about surviving one of the worst winters in DC while they rock in their rocking chairs, probably in a warmer place. 
We up here in Maine, fall into the latter category. We usually have LOTS of snow and cold but comparing this year to most, I would have to say that the weather here has been almost balmy! Last winter (and most winters up here), we couldn’t see out of the downstairs windows because of deep snow. The plow guy ran out of places to put the snow so the hubby was constantly on the tractor trying to push the snow back further to make room for vehicles to get through the driveway. Oh yeah, did I mention the cold that we had in previous years to go along with that snow?!
This year has been a whole other story. The last time that we had to have our driveway plowed was January 20. Since that time we have only had light amounts of snow that melted without the help of shovels or the plow guy. Some of Maine had more snow than we did but in our area, we had a measly 3″ of snow for the ENTIRE month of February. While the folks down south are getting cold temps, ice and snow in places like Texas, Florida and Alabama—we have had rain and temps in the 40’s during the day for a good part of the month of February. This winter has been a disappointment to the snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, and those that love winter sports but to many of us, this has been a GRAND winter. We just ended February with a rain and wind storm and tons of bare ground and ice melting faster on the lakes than ice fishermen would hope. The annual ice fishing derby on Sebago Lake had to be canceled after seven people and a number of automobiles, ATVs and snowmobiles went through the ice. The day before that a game warden went through the ice on that same lake. Click HERE for the full article in the Bangor Daily News.
On that same weekend at Nicatous Lake (further north from Sebago), this young lady found a sandy beach to tickle her toes while her mom is resting from ice skating. Like the young lady’s dad said when he sent the photo— “Only in Maine”. Thanks to these folks for sharing their photo. We hope that all of you had a great winter no matter where you live. Spring is almost here!!
