Community, Nature

No Lifeguard on Duty

28 Comments

Last night I had a snake dream—unfortunately,  I have recurring snake dreams. It was summer, and I was somewhere high, overlooking a field. Along came the snake, very long and whipping so fast, so fast through the grass. I have no idea what kind of snake it was, but with its brown coloring and huge size, it was probably what we Mainers call a milk adder. Then in my dream, the snake disappeared into the edge of the forest, and, lucky for me, that was that.

Funny to have such a dream because it is January in Maine, and all the snakes, great and small, are sound asleep beneath the snow.  We have had a week of wintry mix, where at times the sleet has tapped, tapped, tapped against the house and windows. Fortunately, the sleet did not leave much of a coating on the trees, and no branches fell to make us lose our power.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the public beach in town, to take some pictures, and I learned that there was no lifeguard on duty.

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The ducks didn’t seem to mind.

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I admired the bare branches of a tree against the sky,

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the weather vane on top of the gazebo,

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and the ice-fishing shacks on Maranacook Lake.

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Soon January will slide into February. One more month of deep winter, even in this time of climate change.

28 thoughts on “No Lifeguard on Duty”

  2. I so admire those ducks swimming in that cold water. The days are getting noticeably longer. It won’t be long before the snakes are sunning them selves again.

  3. Love your winter photos. So different than summer, eh? Couldn’t resist sharing this: “What Does it Mean to Dream about Snakes?

    To get started interpreting what dreaming about snakes means, here are the most common meanings associated with snakes in dreams:
    A snake is a symbol of the unconscious
    Snakes or serpents indicate you’re in the process of healing and resolving issues
    The snake is a symbol for an untamed part of yourself or an untapped resource
    Snakes could represent your intuition or spiritual aspects of yourself; your instinctual drive, what moves you from the depths of your soul
    Snakes or serpents tend to show up in dreams in times of transition and transformation”
    Interesting food for thought! 🙂

    1. Thanks so much for sharing! It really made me look closer at that dream, and today I’ll be adding a “Snake Addendum” post.

  5. Love the ice fisherman houses. Lake Erie is not frozen over this winter. So far it has been too mild for ice to form. I haven’t decided if I’m happy or sad about that. Of course, there is still February to get through and a large part of March.

  6. I don’t like snakes so you have my sympathy. I’m not even keen on seeing them in my Reader feed – I always double check whether a nature lover seems likely to post picture of them before following.

    1. I might write about snakes—very rarely—but you won’t see any pictures of them on my blog.

  7. Ahw, and you so wanted to go for a swim! ;o) great photos! I once had a milk snake in the house, of course in the spare room when we were expecting guests. I quickly scooped it on a shovel and released it outside. Later I looked it up online and it said in a description:” they are the dumbest amongst the snakes.” I thought it funny and unkind at the same time ;o) Dream spirit animals say snakes represent change, because of their ability to shed their skin. Every time I saw a snake we moved…last spring we saw a big black snake but so far no move (phew) xo Johanna

    1. Oh, Johanna, you are so brave! The one time I saw a snake in our house (the basement), I started yelling while hyperventilating. My husband had no idea what trauma had befallen me & just started yelling “breathe, Jodie, BREATHE!”

      1. Well I knew this one was harmless. But I did frighten the daylight out of all nature life in the woods last spring when I saw a black snake imitating a rattle snake: it was “run, ru run” and sirens on full blast…

  8. I don’t know where my picture went – My family got me a new computer for my birthday and I have not yet mastered it. . . . Lovely photos, Laurie. I am terrified of snakes, despite my nature -loving tendencies, but have never had a dream about one. My bad dreams are either I am very high in the sky, swooping around out of control, or all of my teeth fall out. It’s a wonder I can sleep at all. lol

    1. Our dreams can be very odd sometimes. Swooping around out of control or having all your teeth fall out must be very unsettling!

      1. Luckily they only happen a couple of times a year – those terrible dreams. And I have learned to wake myself up – so I never suffer for long. AND – I think my picture is back – so I am learning how to operate my new computer. : )

      2. Jody, I wonder what this could mean for you. I have heard of height dreams, but never dreams where teeth fall out of the dreamer’s mouth. Anyway, sure glad you don’t suffer for long.

      3. Jodie, until you wrote about your dream of all the teeth falling out of your mouth, I had never heard of such a dream. Then, last night, as I was reading the YA novel “Saving Hamlet”—time travel AND Shakespeare—I came across a list of the main character’s bad dreams. One of them was all the teeth falling out of her mouth. What a funny coincidence! And you are not alone.

  9. I’ve been telling myself the same thing about one month of deep winter left. Didn’t know you had snakes in Maine, I thought you were snakeless, like Ireland.

    1. We do indeed have a wide variety of snakes in Maine. (I only wish we were like Ireland.) Fortunately, none of the snakes are poisonous.

  10. The title of this post is particularly apt given our current political situation. As far as the snake in the grass, I won’t go there …

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