News, Snow-Gauge Clif

One Heck of a Nor’easter

76 Comments

Last Thursday, the predicted nor’easter hit Maine, and it was every bit as bad as the meteorologists had anticipated—lots and lots of wet, heavy snow, the kind that breaks branches, which, in turn, fall onto power lines. The storm blew in early Thursday morning, and by 5:00 a.m., our power was knocked out.

Up came the folding table and the camp stove. We might not have had power, but gosh darn it, we did have hot tea, a soothing drink in a cool house. Temperature: 55°F. Clif started a fire in the wood furnace down cellar and brought up a bucket of water for the toilets.

It was chilly, even with the wood furnace, but at least it was up to 60° by midmorning. Settling on the couch, I wrapped up in a blanket and read the delightful A Vicarage Family written by Noel Streatfeild. Published in 1963, A Vicarage Family is a semi-autobiographical novel about, well, growing up in a vicarage in an English village in the early 1900s. Teenage Vicky, a stand-in for the author, is difficult, moody, and intense, a writer in the making, and the episodic novel revolves around the challenges, many of them self-inflicted, that she faces. As the snow fell, I read, glancing up occasionally to stare out the picture window at the white landscape.

Dee, who works from home, is prepared for power outages, which have been all too common this winter. She bought a big battery, which allows her to use her computer for the whole day. In this era of weird weather, those who telecommute must be prepared.

Fortunately, the high winds that came with the nor’easter did not make it inland, but Facebook friends who live on the coast reported that the wind was gusting at 50 mph. Because of the heavy snow, along with the wind at the coast, there were widespread power outages from central Maine to the midcoast to southern Maine. By 1 p.m., half of Central Maine Power Company’s customers were without power—330,000 out of 675,000.

When it came time for lunch, we were all chilly and ready for canned soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, which Clif prepared on the camp stove.

Even though it was canned soup, it tasted pretty darned good as my Yankee husband would say. (A shameless self-promotion photo, I know, featuring a mug advertising my third book.)

Here are more pictures of this snowy April day.

Behold our driveway. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas, don’t you think? We got about twelve inches of snow.

A closeup of the trees.

Now to the backyard.

My poor clothesline took a beating. Clif had already repaired it once, and the way he bolted it now prevents us from being able to fold it down for the winter. Clif feels confident he can repair it again. Fingers crossed.

With such widespread power outages, we were sure we were going to go for days without power, but we were one of the lucky ones. Our power came back on at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, and it stayed on. Oh, were we happy.

Other folks have not been so lucky. Despite the crews working tirelessly since Thursday, there are still 9,000 customers without power this Monday morning on April 8. As the title states, this was one heck of a storm.

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Snow-Gauge Clif

All this snow provided Snow-Gauge Clif with opportunities to measure snow. (Was it only a few weeks ago when we foolishly wondered if we were done with snow?)

By Sunday, when the pictures were taken, the weather had become so warm that much of the snow had melted. Snow-Gauge Clif measured three inches of snow.

For readers who live in places where there is little or no snow, here is the giant curl of dirty snow plowed by our kind neighbor next door. When the town’s snowplow goes by, it leaves a wall o’snow at the end of the driveway, a formidable barricade when the snow is deep and heavy, the way it was after this nor’easter.

Now, let’s hope the weather gods are done playing tricks on us. Please, no more snow until next winter.

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Listening

Moon Shadow by Cat Stevens

In honor of the solar eclipse, whose path goes right over Maine today, here is a classic by Cat Stevens. I listened to “Moon Shadow” many, many times when I was a teenager. Somehow, the song seemed appropriate for today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

76 thoughts on “One Heck of a Nor’easter”

  1. I love that Moon Shadow song by Cat Stevens. It brings back memories of long ago.

    I had a feeling you would get more snow in April! I am sorry so many lost power.

  2. Oh, Laurie, so sorry you got hit badly. We were so lucky; we got plenty of rain and wind, but the heavy snow stayed in the north of our province. The good thing is that it’s warming up, so the snow can’t win. Heavy snow is no fun at all. Thanks for the Cat Stevens song. Love it. Happy eclipse!

    1. Thanks so much! Very glad the snow didn’t hit your area. That heavy snow was no fun at all. I was a huge fan of Cat Stevens when I was young. Still like his music.

  8. Oh my goodness! You got that storm much worse up there!! Great idea to listen to Moon Shadow today! I will play it on my mini-speaker, when we set up in the backyard later🌖

  10. Cat Stevens was a favourite of my BIL and he was particularly fond of this particular song. Thank you for including it. We too use our camping stove during power outages – good on Clif for providing you with warm sustenance!

  12. Talk about a sting in winter’s tail!! From one who doesn’t live in an area that often gets snow, it all looked very pretty …until the snow plow/wall o’ snow bit. But Moon Shadow and Noel Streatfield…wonderful blasts from the past!

    1. A sting is right. The snow was pretty. But also destructive. Falling branches caused a lot of damage. Have you read Noel Streatfeild? If so, which books? I really liked A Vicarage Family.

      1. I vividly remember discovering her in my school library in that awkward gap between Famous Five, Bobbsey Twins and “teenager books”; they were deemed very old-fashioned even back then. My first one was Ballet Shoes but A Vicarage Family was my favourite. I so wanted to own that book!!A quick google tells me that a couple of her short stories were recently (2018/19) discovered by her nephew and published.

      2. How cool is that? In your school library! Yes, old fashioned. Somehow I seem to be drawn to that kind of book. I would love to own A Vicarage Family.

  13. We had 10″ of that heavy white stuff, and the end of the driveway was piled high. Applause to your neighbor for being a good guy. Glad the power came back on sooner than later. We were so grateful ours stayed on this time. We had so many branches come down that I hauled some on Saturday in the truck, and today I picked up and hauled for about two solid hours. I am impressed that Dee has a battery that lasts all day. I’m going to have to google that because I didn’t know there was something like that. Take care, and may we be done with the white stuff for the season. 🙂

    1. So grateful that our neighbor plowed the end of our driveway. Dee’s battery was pricey, but it took her through the day with extra left over. Plus it can be hooked up to a solar panel. Yes, begone snow until next winter!

  14. You did get some late snow, and am glad your power cut was not that long. I am also impressed with Dee’s battery and feel we should investigate that as part of our emergency planning (which we need to redo now we have moved).

    I have not forgotten piled up dirty snow….the reality of the weather!

    1. A late nor’easter is right! What the heck. Dee’s battery is a little pricey, but it works really well. And, it’s designed to charge from a solar panel.

  15. My goodness, so much snow in April! So sorry that you lost power, and lucky you are all well prepared. We lost power once during a summer bushfire, and it sure made us appreciate the power when it came back on!

    Best wishes to you and your family.

    1. In Maine, you have got to be prepared for the weather. Those weather gods throw a lot our way. As they do in many places. I remember reading about those horrible bushfires.

  16. Listening to my favorite Cat Stevens song as I write this. Thank you for the link.

    Glad your outage wasn’t too long this time. I relate to all the things you need to do to get through. Your guys are pros.

    I had never heard of Noel Streatfeild except for in the movie “You’ve Got Mail” when Meg Ryan talks about the Shoe Books. I didn’t even know if it was real until I saw you mention her and looked it up. And it’s the same person. Very cool.

    1. Thank, Jodie. Moon Shadow is such an evocative song. I did not realize Streatfeild was mentioned in You’ve Got Mail. It’s been a long time since I have seen that movie. But what fun! And Streatfeild is very much worth reading.

      1. Meg Ryan’s character was brought to tears talking about her. It was lovely. It was the scene where she went into the FOX BOOKS store (her competitor) just to look around. And patrons asked a young worker about the “Shoe Books” and the kid had no idea. So Meggy just popped in and answered all the questions. I’m sorry . . . big fan of RomComs. lol

        I will definitely look Noel Streatfeild’s books up!

  19. Wow, what a storm. I’m glad you weathered it well, being prepared for power outages. Whenever we lose power or water, it’s a reminder to be grateful for all the times when everything is in working order.

    I hope your skies were clear enough today to experience the eclipse.

    1. A terrible storm that did a lot of damage. We did indeed experience the eclipse. I will be writing about it for next Monday’s post. Pretty cool.

  20. Those cold weather power outages can be terrible. I’m glad you had power restored when you did. And it stayed on. I hope it won’t be long before you move onward to spring.

  21. We had a power cut last night here in S.W. England due to very high winds. It only lasted 20 minutes but that was enough so I think we might invest in a camping stove so we can at least get a cuppa. At least you managed to get a bit of reading done.

    I have the ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ album in the loft somewhere waiting for me to invest in a turntable if the vinyl has survived its decades of dodgy storage places. 

  22. That camp stove saved you from a day of unimaginable misery, methinks (a day without tea is just too horrendous for this Brit to contemplate!) Thank you for the Cat Stevens track…oh, those were the days, weren’t they!

    1. Even though we differ when it comes to peanut butter and jelly, I am with you all the way about tea. Yes, Cat Stevens brings back memories. Those were indeed the days.

      1. Cat wrote one of the most beautiful love songs I’ve ever heard. Brings tears to my eyes every time:

        “My lady D’Arbanville, why does it grieve me so? / But your heart seems so silent / Why do you breathe so low, why do you breathe so low? … I loved you my lady, though in your grave you lie / I’ll always be with you /
        This rose will never die, this rose will never die. “

  24. Very pretty snow but not h§elpful! I am glad your preparations stood you in good stead and that your power was restored quickly.

      1. It always amazes me how much more complicated life becomes when there is an outage!

  25. Thanks for letting us know you’re all okay, Laurie. I was watching the weather radar and noticed how much “blue” covered Maine, and I figured you were getting more than your share of the white stuff. Thank goodness for the power crews (and for a camp stove and good book to read!)

  27. What a storm Laurie with so much fresh snow! So glad you have your camping stove and the power returned so quickly. Thank you for sharing ‘Moon Shadow’ 🎶 I had ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ on vinyl as a teenager and got it on CD later in life – it’s such a lovely album 💜

  28. The snow is so beautiful but I am glad it is not here. We had only one snow this year and that is always enough for me. It sounds like you guys were ready for it and made the best of it.

    1. Yes, it was pretty, but it was also destructive because it was so wet and heavy. We did make the beat of it, but we were glad our power wasn’t out too long.

  29. I’m a little late getting here, but I really am glad you didn’t suffer any more than you did. In fact, that photo of Clif playing chef at the camp stove is downright cozy looking. I remember loving being snowed in, although getting out of the mess always was a chore — especially after the snowplow had come through!

  30. I’m having the stangest momet of de ja vu: I thought I had written a reply yet it’s not here. I think I read it on my phone, meant to get online to comment and now I’m unsure. Anyhoo…I’m sorry about the brutal, late-season storm and all the misery it caused. You two are so well prepared, but doing without power is the worst, especially during cold days. Great photos, Laurie.

    1. Thanks so much! No fun, but we were prepared and got off easy compared with some folks. A week later, the snow is almost gone excaet for the huge curl of snow at the end of the driveway that our kind neighbor plowed.

  31. OMG !!! So much snow !!! It is lovely to see andthe pictures are awesome but….I’m getting cold when I see snow pictures. We didn’t have much Spring either so far, once in a while a lovely warm and sunny day but the next day it is rainy and cold again but no frost. Take care !!

  32. While I absolutely loved your snowy photos and any chance to curl up on the couch with a good book, I do hope the weather gods listen and you have no more snow or power outages!! Love how prepared you are for weather events and your lunch sounded delicious and looked great in your fabulous mug!!🙂

  33. I’m worried that I’m jinxing you by wishing you a beautiful spring and declaring each storm as the last. Oh my, you got hit hard (and fared well despite it). Once again, I hope that fair weather finds you soon, Laurie. Happy Spring (when it arrives).

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