tamarack

They're largely responsible for my no longer growing corn in the garden. Our dogs have kept the coons away, but those winged robbers ate more corn than we did.

Our is on a clothesline, about the same clearance. Nowhere near the bird variety here that's being reported upthread, though the most blue jays we've seen there. Red squirrels doing the high-wire act, too.

Just under 400' here, maples are about 1/3 full size, probably 1/2 by Tuesday, oaks barely breaking bud, ash still asleep. Only aspen/willows would be past the halfway point by the time that Euro goes crazy, and we're not getting 6-8 here (unless it's 6-8 catpaws.)

I've read that oaks can harbor the chestnut blight fungus without taking damage; hence the inoculum remains in the forest waiting for its real food. Tough roots for sure! On the state lot (gifted by Gov. Baxter's nephew in 1969) near Merrymeeting Bay in Topsham, there are several American chestnuts. A white pine plantation was established in 1959 on 15 acres that earlier had been a market garden for about 20 years. We thinned the plantation early in 1989, and that fall I saw a 5' tall American chestnut growing in a skid trail. After 50 years (at least) under a plow layer, the roots still had sufficient vigor to sprout 5 feet in one growing season. 22 years later the tree was 11" diameter and over 50 feet tall, but now it's been blighted - dead above 15' and soon down to the root collar as well. Welcome to the regulated world of gas cans. they are designed to prevent you from catching on fire from spilled gas. and they suck And the irony is that I've spilled far more gas using the crummy thing that I ever did with the old "unsafe" ones. They're evidently designed so that one needs to employ both hands to use them (unless one unscrews the entire spout, which I'm tempted to do.)

Dumped 0.18" from the gauge at 7 AM, but the heaviest was still to the west. At this point we'd need a 3-4" RA to threaten even moderate flooding, and that's not in the picture.

That's only valid for elevations above 5,000'. Gorgeous full sun day, and mild enough that the breeze isn't a problem.

Aspens showing some green at home, sugar maples in Augusta in full flower - looks like a good seed year for them (assuming tomorrow morning's freeze doesn't hit too hard.)

Thanks again for the work you put into this. Looks like the new version will add useful info in an easily accessed format. Good stuff!!

Agreed. The gray fur sprouts greenies.

Maybe -depends on lawn size. 32 yards will put 2" on 5,000 sq.ft.

Kennebec still in the parking lots in Augusta, St. John a bit above flood in Fort Kent, probably isolating a few places east of where the Fish River enters.

Watched a short video on FB of Small's Falls, headwaters of the Sandy River, up towards Rangeley. Roaring in good shape, and still a significant amount of snowpack there. Going fast, but should keep waters fairly high for a few more days.

Some near-green on the south-facing field across from the house. Our lawn was fully snow-covered 3 days ago, so still brown (with about 99% fewer molehills than last year - yay.) Aspen catkins full length - at a distance look like mud-colored foliage. Wood frogs began "quacking" last evening, along with a few peepers.

But it's a dry cold. The town's major "industry" has been fox farming - good market for fur in that climate. They may have the greatest temperature span of anywhere on the planet, as they approach 90 in the summer. I don't think the southern cold pole, where it's approached -130F, ever gets much above freezing (if at all.) One might expect that the record temp span would be in an inland location within the largest continent.

Start with Ojmjakon, where temps have plunged to near -100F and hit -70 just about every winter.

Typical as one moves north, though respectable for low elevation near salt water. Farmington co-op is 13° colder in Dec than Nov, and 36° colder than Sept. High plains temp descent is much steeper still, and Siberia probably leads the northern hemisphere in that department.

3 years younger than me. Watch it!

That proves that "scents sense" can vary hugely. I find the aroma of both foliage and wood to be quite pleasant, though eastern redcedar is even better. I'm no fan of some of the weird arborvitae cultivars sold by the nurseries, but as a forest tree (Northern white cedar) it's a critical component of deer wintering areas and makes great shingles, too. (It's also the siding on our house - 3-sided "logs" that add 3-5" insulation.)

Dry suit and surfboard?

Long Pond (Belgrade) ice was taking a beating yesterday from the wind - beaucoup whitecaps. Still about 75% covered this AM but some ice is darkening. Weekend RA should finish the destruction. (And probably my snowpack)

Yup. Treetop skiing has been terrible for weeks. Today marks the record for most consecutive days with 1" of snow on the ground at Caribou. Pretty impressive. Today marks 156 consecutive here, 14 more than any previous winter. Of course, my records are 60 years shorter than at CAR. After yesterday's 4" drop in depth, only 1-2" today despite temps only a few degrees cooler. The core yesterday showed 8.88" from a 19" pack (where sampled - stake had 20".) That's well over 40% water, so today's loss was all melting, no settling.

Completely agree - beaucoup snow and no lift lines. However, I'd be surprised if places competing for latest closing make a profit between April 15 and when the lifts close for good. The real payout is the reputation gained.

Ice is still tight white on Long Pond in Belgrade. Season opened there April 1, but have seen very few anglers at the dam in the village. Usually there's 3-4 or more each day casting into whatever water that's been kept open by the dam outflow. Cold, wind, and pike now dominating the fishery there may all be dimming angler interest.

VV had a weird layout, as the easiest top-to-bottom trail did an S-turn with the two main intermediates crossing/re-crossing it. Grooming was sometimes less than ideal - most painful fall I ever had while skiing came on that beginner trail. Came to a series of steep-sided linear "moguls" running at right angles to the trail with skiers close at hand on both sides and happened to be on the steepest-highest part of those "waves." About halfway thru them, both heels popped simultaneously and I crashed chest-first into the upper side of a wave. Nearly ripped the chamois shirt I was wearing in half, splitting it right across the seams. 1st of several very painful rib-area injuries I've sustained, teaching me that there was 4-6 weeks of pain incoming.

Only big mountain I've skied was Glen Ellen - a ski week back in 1971 (half price in January, only $22.50 ) when I learned parallel, then a Fri-Sat visit the next year, partly because all the beautiful pics I took in '71 failed because the shutter spring had broken - didn't find out until all the black slides came back from the developer. Started on the slopes when I lived in NNJ - great Gorge/Vernon Valley, have no idea if or in what form those 2 exist today. Have not skied since my broken leg in Jan 1981 - passenger in pickup that went head-on with a log truck near the Maine-Quebec frontier, results predictable.