Everybody’s Heard, About The Word…

[Sorry about the title, a take-away from the chorus of “The Purple People Eater”]

Life continues apace here in Maine by the lake. Leaves are starting to turn, while the ten days of rain have convinced the super-early swamp maple that turns a month ahead of everything else in the cove to drop its crimson leaves in disgust. The Arctic Snow Geese have been through and got out just ahead of the bad weather when it was still hot, muggy and 90 freaking degrees out the first week of September. That was when our second generator died, preventing parallel operation which translates to no air conditioning. The Canada Geese have been bitching and moaning at night in their little floating rafts out in the middle of the lake while awaiting a return of good flying weather. And of course, yours truly has got itchy feet without the means to go.

Came across these in my memory the other day while standing in six inches of water refueling the Honda e2000i generator. Thought I’d share…

The one thing that the Autumn brings to these parts – most of these are grounded:

As one wag put it, they come with FAA-issued tail numbers, too.

Wicked. No, really.

In a copyrighted story in the Bangor Daily News back in April this year a collection of words that may crop up here on occasion and their meanings. I don’t even think about them, but some may cause shaking of heads and furrowed brows atop wrinkled heads. So be it…

About a month ago, we ran a story on the Dictionary of American Regional English, a collection of the colorful and varied words used in Americans’ everyday lives, across the country, organized by region — including Maine and New England. We included a short but eclectic list of some of words specific to Maine, and asked readers to submit their own suggestions for Maine words.

We received an excellent response, and have since compiled them all and done a little research (to the best of our ability) to weed out the words used elsewhere in the country from the more strictly Maine ones. We’ve come up with our own, revised list of Maine vernacular words and phrases, a little dictionary containing words ranging from the obvious, well-known “dooryard” and “wicked” to lesser-known gems such as “laury” or “sprills.”

 

See y’all on the flipside.

A Wild Night

(No, not that kind of wild night – I’m well past the point of any wenches giving me a side-long glance, except to check out my prodigious belly.)
Last night I put the slide-outs in three times as line storms roared through with high winds, lots of sky-2-ground lightning and deafening thunder claps. The final instance was at 11:00 PM and was just in the nick of time -- as I was bringing in the third slide-out the winds tried to rip the slide off the trailer. It was the scariest storm yet, as the warning I read online said it was approaching at sixty miles an hour!

Image Credit: hdwallpapers4desktop.com

Usually, SWMBO and I watch the lightning out the window in the bedroom with the light off to get the full effect, but on that last one, she left the lights on and pretended to read as it was a particularly violent storm, flattening the waves in one moment and then thrashing them into three foot combers the next. Mind you, we’re parked 10’ from the water’s edge. A wild night, for sure.
A walk-about with Iggy as he performed his constitutional this morning only showed a handful of small, dead limbs down. My wife had left a house dress on the back of a folding chair when she scrubbed down to get the day’s toil and grime off in the afternoon (our shallow bottomed lake is neither cool nor hot, so no point heating water at great expense to bathe) and it was where she’d left it, sodden but no worse for the wear, despite 60+ MPH winds.
To end an already too long entry, we survived, none the worse for wear, except the button pushing finger on yours truly sustained a devastating strain.
And So It Goes.

April Fools Indeed

 

SWMBO* and I tied the knot on a sunny, balmy noon fourteen years ago today. She was just shaking off the flu, I was coming down with it. By mid-afternoon, we were both sound asleep in our sick bed…

Ten and four years later, the morning dawned gray and wet, slushy snow flakes interspersed with rain while temps never left the thirties all day. SWMBO gave me a hat pin which reads “Excellence In Service” with a tiny bit of bling and the number “14” in the center. All attempts at photographing it with my phone have failed to resolve focus issues. I am such a Neanderthal – I prefer manual focus like my old SLR to these digital screen devices with AF.

We have managed to survive the March of 2013. For most intents, winter is over. We have had almost 79 inches of snow this year, about three inches more than our 30 year average during my tenure here.

Ice is now gray on the lake. The evening news is replete with tales of ice fishermen and others falling through the rotten ice with four wheel drive vehicles, ATVs, snowmobiles and Snow Cats. Those who haven’t gotten their ice houses off the lakes and rivers by now are doomed to lose them AND receive a fine from Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (each shanty must have a permanent placard with name, address and phone number of the owner). The dooryard has a large hole, once a puddle, which a year of turning with dual rear-tired axle has dug. The mud is about six inches deep where the sun has melted the frost while early morning is reminiscent of traveling the old “corduroy road” of my childhood.

Most of the snow is gone from the fields and woods. Iggy has been ranging much farther afield, out “covering” his territorial markers in the never-ending battle with the coyotes and foxes. Speaking of coyotes, a rare, white coyote came out of the woods down in West Kennebunk, crawled under a family’s porch and up and died moments later. It did not appear to be starving, so the COD will have to await toxicology tests.

I hope all of you who commemorate the Ascension had a good one. For the pagans amongst my friends and readers, hope you had all the Peeps(TM), hard-boiled eggs and chocolate bunnies, gum drops and other sweets you can stand.

 

*SWMBO – She Who Must Be Obeyed – my wife.

 

Addendum: I composed the above on the 1st but ran out of juice for the laptop before I could post the entry to Blogger. So now I’m once again up against the battery limit after reading other’s blogs this morning, so time to hit the SEND button.

Home a week now. Weather has been wonderful, for the most part. Daytime highs in the 70's or low 89's and nighttime low's in the 50's. It is scary, how nice it has been. Somehow, I suspect we will pay.

No luck finding any temp work, but haven't been looking as hard as I might.

The light pole in the camp dooryard has snapped off at its base from years of little buggies boring their little teeth off. This poses a problem as the transformer on the powerline is also off. Can't very well ask the faceless bureaicrats at Bangor Hydro-Electric Company to replace the busted transformer when it'll just short out again from the lines coming in contact with the trees the yard pole is leaning against. Need over a grand to replace the pole. THAT isn't going to happen any time soon. That's like a weeks wages around here, assuming one can find a job that pays anything close to $25 an hour. And So It Goes.

Rain, rain, go away...

Had a good, uneventful run to Fort Worth on Sunday night - Monday morning. A thousand miles in 18 hours, with a lunch stop and three fuelings. No photos to share as when I wasn't driving, I was sleeping. Here, today, we got rained out with over an inch this morning and many more to follow. The PTB's at the FEMA yard are saying it will likely be next week before anymore trailers can come out -- they've shut the yard down for the week due to the flooding. That pretty much means the end of it for us -- time to head North. Just in time for that heat wave y'all are having. It only managed to get to 81° here while up home it got to 90°! Something is wrong with that...

Leaving out for our last trip to Texas (there aren't any more trailers ready to go) in a few hours, then we'll see.

Stay cool and hydrated, my friends. This (heat wave) shall pass.

Things that go bump in the night

As many (most?) of you know, I've been residing in an Airstream trailer since late 2008. Here for your edification is one of the things that keep me awake at night. Ouch!

Happy Spring musings

I got a little bit of a sunburn today while watching some of my grandkids practice T-ball. Seems it didn't occur to this old duffer to apply sun screen until after the damage was done. And they say you can't teach old dogs new tricks...

Bangor, Maine was (considerably) warmer on Sunday (68°) than it was here in Baton Rouge (44°).

There was freezing rain in Shrevesport, LA on Sunday morning. Darn funny weather we'all've been having lately.

Leaving in a week for the desert. Next Sunday forecast for here is 89° ... imagine how hot it'll be in Death Valley!

Snowmageddon? No, Sneaux Day!

Baton Rouge, LA:

Y'all heard the one about the Louisianian quitting and moving to Hawaii? He'd only read the opening line of this news story.

I come here to the Sportsman's Paradise State every winter not for the fishing, but for the lack of shoveling. The absence of icy driving conditions and power outages due to ice and snow are the cherry on top.

Not so, yesterday. A heavy, wet, icy blanket covered the outlying parishes and the roads were sloppy as hell as I made my way to the clinic so my SIL could have a steroid injection in his back to relieve the pain of severely strained muscles caused by a woman deciding to make a left turn in front of his ambulance while he was responding Code 3 to an emergency.

Admittedly, it was all over by the time we exited the clinic. Roads were clear and temperatures were edging towards the forties. Still, it was a very unpleasant reminder of why I no longer choose to make my home in Maine during the winter.

For those of you digging out of the monstrous snows across the middle of the country recently, you have my sincere sympathy. Do try to squeeze out an alligator tear for my predicament. There isn't enough snow left to cool my ice tea...


Sneaux Day: The Baton Rouge Advocate's slideshow of scenes around the area yesterday is here.

Departure Delayed...

I'm alive and able to take nourishment. Plans to get the heck out of cold country for warmer climes earlier this year than in the past have come to a screeching halt. The culprits are bureaucracy and procrastination. Due to a rescheduled mediation concerning my wife's claim for workman's compensation, it is looking like it will be the end of November or early December before being able to depart Maine. Ouch!

Did you know that the earliest snow around here is October 6, while the average date for accumulative snow is October 19, according to information provided by the forecasters at NOAA/NWS in Caribou, Maine to the local TV Weather Weenie? Well, I remember plowing on October 9 once. Had to stop butchering a hog to help my step-monster put the plow frame back on the truck (we'd had a camper loaned to us and needed to mount the spare tire carrier on the front). I know I said it back then, but once again a sincere "Thank you, Matt" is in order for the effort he expended on my behalf that night.

Anyway, I thought I should let y'all know what is doing in "Vacationland" with the Old Dog and his SWMBO. See you soon. Just not as soon as we had hoped.

Now, where did I put the monkey wrench? I have to pull the pump and the waterline strainer out of the lake before it freezes -- they're forecasting freezing temperatures for tomorrow night. Cast iron may be strong -- but it is no match for the power of water freezing solid.

A final note -- you'll love this funny tale by Ken Futch explaining how he shot himself and the aftermath of that action. Wonderful story-telling. And a special tip of the hat to the Bayou Renaissance Man, from who's blog the YouTube video was first viewed by Yours Truly. Get well soonest, old man...

Enjoy!

Dis 'n' Dat

Heard from my neighbor, yesterday. They're having a helluva winter in Maine. SO glad I am not there...

It's Mardi Gras time here. Of course, now my arthritis in my hip and leg chose this past week to go into high gear. Big time pain that NSAIDs don't touch. So much for watching the various Krewes do their thing either in New Orleans or Baton Rouge and vicinity. Standing for more than a half hour is excruciating now.

The dogs are loving it here in Louisiana. They have a fenced yard to play in, four other dogs to play with, and they even get to have a kid or two to chase in fun, now and again.

Another soldier dies in Baghdad. The new kid on the block doesn't seem able to convince the military-industrial establishment to loosen the reins of the war wagon, does he?

Speaking of his presidency, Obama is not going to be the "Great Black Hope" supporters made him out to be, pre-election. This economic depression won't allow that particular legacy to survive. It is going to be very bad for a long time. I suspect I won't live to see a recovery...

A shout out to NZforme who has recently bought herself a house! When's the move date -- my chiropractor has me scheduled for back therapy that day... (actually I am envious - sun, warmth and a built-in cocktail shaker - what else could you want in a home?)

SO, in closing, as they say down here:

Hard Driving Seventeen Inches...

No, Silly. Not me. The blizzard!

Yep, still stuck in Maine. Up to my knees in snow after enduring 30-40 MPH winds driving 17" of the white stuff. It wasn't fit for a flea on a South-fleeing mule. Temps in the teens and the wind chill in the negative numbers.

I know how cold it was . I worked out in it for several hours trying to get ready to leave.

Everything takes four times as long as normal and exhausts me.



Anyway, still here. Still cold. Very, very broke.

Bah humbug.

Autumn

Heavy raindrops plopping down upon the living room air conditioner outside my window. The "zzzippp..." sound the satellite receiver makes when the digital signal is deflected by those selfsame drops of rain. The "plop, plop, plink" of dripping water accumulating in the bucket on the stairs (no, I haven't even a tenth of the $20,000 it'll take to replace the leaky roof). High, wild winds are approaching. You can hear the pines east of the house moan in anticipation.

It is Autumn in Maine.

We, too, have lost all of the deciduous leaves and the Juniper needles have turned their sickly, pale yellow, so their drop en masse cannot be far away now. Snow flurries are in the forecast for tomorrow. It is time for this grasshopper to make provision for a return to a warmer clime. I have sworn off ever shoveling snow again...

And so it goes.

WX: Bullet Dodged.

Kyle, you slimy blowhard. Drew a direct bead on me this morning, didn't you?

I zigged, I zagged, I cooled your jets.

Now you're withering, like the limp-dicked NASCAR driver of the same name.

So long, Kyle.

You're all bluster and pissing and moaning but when it comes down to hard realities, you AREN'T the real deal.

Just a crybaby, weeping your foot of condensate on my sopping life.

So long. Glad I missed the opportunity to meet you in person. So pleased you wimped out.

Thank goodness ... 'cause the creek, she did rise.

Oh No, Mr. Bill ... Say It Isn't So!!!

The Air Conditioner on the trailer died this morning. Now a balmy 99 degrees - the highest our thermometer in there goes to. Outside ... it was 97° F in the shade at 3:00 PM.

Brrr.... It's Almost Cold (And the promised update)

Blew a gale here on Saturday morning. Picked up 2 1/2" of rain with the heavy winds. Interesting driving -- seems like it never occurred to the local road builders to crown the pavement sufficiently to allow drainage from the inevitable ruts created by the heavy traffic, particularly on the concrete roads so prevalent here. Some really impressive hydro-planing results. Fun ... not.

Cleared out about mid-morning and started getting colder. Hit a low of 29 overnight. Ground surface still too warm to freeze, but standing water puddles froze with skim ice - some Louisianians are now convinced that global warming is a myth cooked up by freezing Yankees to extract oil price concessions from Southern refineries. (Not so - we all want cheaper gas!)

Back up to the low 30's after the sun came up, but I'm sure the damage was done - muy mucho frozen and/or busted pipes. Stopped by the Flea Market of Louisiana (no link available) yesterday afternoon and the venders were absolutely miserable. We ended up having to put the kids back in the van after 20 minutes -- they were approaching hypothermia.

So far, the repairs are satisfactory, so I'd give the RV Service Center (new name on Jan. 1st - formerly Family RV Center, LLC) of Walker, Louisiana, a qualified 3 out of 5 stars. The repairs were performed in a workmanlike manner. They used factory manufactured parts whenever possible. The quality of the part(s) manufactured on-site is fair to good (they really aren't skilled cabinet makers). The negatives have to do with failed promises and unrealistic estimates of what the work entailed, resulting in having to request supplemental funds for the work done from the insurance company. (My cost remained the same. If there hadn't been an insurance company footing the bill, I suspect the results would not have been as satisfactory -- an additional 10 days and over a thousand dollars above the original estimate for nearly double the amount of labor originally estimated. And then there's the cost of motels for an additional 10 days over the original 4 working day estimate, some of which is attributable to weekends and sickness of the employee doing the cabinetry. Still, it means an additional grand in motel and food costs and the possible loss of my wife's job due to the likely miss of a mandatory return-to-work date. All collateral consequences of the delays in completion of the job.)

Damned Yankees

Here's a forecast you don't see very often in Baton Rouge:






Today

Chance
Snow
Hi 46°F

Tonight


Mostly
Clear
Lo 27°F


Today: A 50 percent chance of snow showers before noon. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 46. North wind between 10 and 15 mph. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 27. North wind around 10 mph.


Can't blame me for bringing this with me, either -- I've been here for over two months!

Picked up the trailer on Thursday afternoon. Of course, the better half is getting sick again, so I've been doing all the packing and setting to rights. Repairs effected and complete. It survived the monsoon rains we got last night -- now let's see if they did the insulation right (heh, heh, heh - not likely. It's Louisiana after all -- they put their bloody pipes above ground, for Jack Frost's sake!).

So this is what the inside of Hell feels like...

Friday was hot. HOT. Bloody hot for Maine. Notched a high of 96° at the house yesterday, and 91° at camp and officially at the airport. Then the front started pushing into the region and the collision with the hot air spun off thunderstorms with significant storm winds, hail, severe lightning, and even spawned a funnel cloud in northern Maine. I swear, we picked up a couple of inches of rain in the space of a couple of minutes, even though the airport only lays claim to half an inch.

Today hasn't been AS bad. Hovered at 90° at the house and camp all day after a really foggy start this morning and pretty miserable humidity all day. But better than yesterday. These are the days I need to remember in January when it's -32° F with a forty knot wind.

----------------
Listening to: Skilda - An Nighean Dubh My Girl
via FoxyTunes

John M. Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #163: Weather With You

John roused himself from his travel-induced torpor to say, "Wow -- finally just made it in to where I was going after spending all day at various airports, and now I have just enough time to pop this out before I go to my reading. A busy day indeed! Fortunately, this is an easy Weekend Assignment, proposed by Rap4143:" Weekend Assignment #163: "Take a Picture of Your Local Weather."

Saturday Morning, May 5, 2007

Looking North as a high pressure cell chases the last of a week of rain away.

Hard to believe it was such a deadly night in the Midwest. (unretouched)