Dreary March has come to central Maine. We are in a no-man’s land between winter and spring, a time of dirty snow, fog, and gray skies.
On the other hand, northern Maine, the land of my ancestors, is still in winter’s firm grip. Last weekend, they got a foot of snow, and the drifting was so bad some roads had to be closed. Ah, winter! However, in a few weeks, March will come for them, too. In Maine there is no escape.
Behold the end of our driveway and across the road, both of which scream March.
Dirty snow or not, Snow-Gauge Clif must do his job.
In the front yard, the snow measured 17 inches, only 1 inch down from last week. The front yard is very shaded, and the snow melts slowly.
On the other hand, the sunnier backyard measured 7 inches, 5 inches down from last week. More sun, quicker melt.
To cheer myself up from the March blahs, last Wednesday I headed to the little town of Wayne—population 1,189 and named after Revolutionary War General Anthony Wayne—to A Small Town Bakery. On Wednesdays, a group of women meets to discuss matters big and small, and it’s so nice to get together with like-minded folks. Plus, I seem to be addicted to the bakery’s blueberry muffins. (Sorry, no picture! Next time.)
The bakery has a funky, mismatched, comfortable look that reminds me of bakeries in the 1970s. It’s a look that I’m fond of and brings back memories of my teenage years.
And I absolute love these chickens.
If my house didn’t already have an—ahem—abundance of ornaments, those chickens would be coming home with me. I can almost hear them clucking to each other.
But fear not. I didn’t come home empty handed. I brought back a loaf of the bakery’s utterly delicious anadama bread, a New England specialty. I could have a slice right now. Toasted, of course.
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Last week also brought something not quite as pleasant as bread and blueberry muffins. I had my annual sinus infection that for some odd reason usually arrives in March. It’s as though my body is mourning the end of winter and the beginning of purgatory. The infection begins gradually with the aching of teeth and then progresses to a painful throbbing that comes and goes in waves. No fun, but as it always goes away by itself in a week or so, I don’t bother with antibiotics. Don’t want to overuse them.
I mention this because I inadvertently found a method to relieve the pain, and I thought I would share it here with those who might not know about this method. (Took me sixty-seven years to figure it out.)
One night, when the wave of pain was bad enough so that I could not fall asleep, I decided to to do some deep breathing to focus on something else. To my astonishment, the pain went away. When the pain came back five or so minutes later, I did some more deep breathing. Again, the pain went away. I did this off and on until I finally fell asleep.
The next day, I thought, what the heck. Is deep breathing really a solution to the pain brought on by sinus infections? To Google I went, and sure enough, it is. Also, headaches, too, which fortunately I seldom have.
So there you have it. An easy and natural remedy for sinus infection pain. Obviously, some infections must be treated by antibiotics, and it’s up to individuals to decide if treatment is necessary. But for me, who has a history of sinus infections and know that they go away on their own, the deep breathing method is a godsend. I only wish I had known about it sooner.
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Listening
What better way to say a sad farewell to winter than with Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”? (Remember, I’m a child of the 70s and a huge Led Zeppelin fan.)
I come from the lands of the ice and snow…where the harsh winds blow.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Ah, yes, sinus infections…… They do seem to come and go, and deep breathing does seem to help. I’m glad you are feeling better.
Many thanks! Good to find a simple way to deal with the pain.
Hope you are feeling better. That bread looks and sounds delightful.
Feeling much better, thank you. The bread was delicious.
And of course good to see the snow gauge!
Nice musical choice!
We got a surprise dusting of snow, but it has already melted. I can see a lot of the fields, but my backyard is an interesting combination of dirty snow, ice, and mud.
Glad to read you like Led Zeppelin. Dirty snow, ice, and mud sound about right. Ah, March!
Yes, but it’s starting to smell like spring!
And, oh, what a smell!
March is definitely meant to challenge us. A little bit of everything and you never know what’s coming next. Thank you for this deep breathing recommendation, Laurie. I’m going to try it.
Hope the deep breathing works as well for you as it does for me. In the meantime, March marches on…
Glad you’re feeling better. A sinus infection is no fun. Mother Nature created a pond for us on our driveway. There was so much snow piled on the sides that now that it is melting, it is just sitting there. I may add some koi. 🙂
Yes, glad to find a way to relieve the pain. Hope that pond soon goes away. Not the thing to have in your driveway.
If I remember my Revoutionary War history, wasn’t he known as “Mad” Anthony Wayne? I grew up in northern Ohio, which was the Northwest Territories. As for sinus infections, I used to get terrible sinus headaches (not infections), and since I’ve been taking CBD oil every day, I rarely get them. It’s fairly inexpensive, noninvasive and I think it helps with all-over bodily comfort.
Have never heard of mad Anthony Wayne. Will do some checking. Great that the CBD oil is taking care of those sinus infections, which are certainly a pain.
Know what you mean about the bakery; an echo from my past, too. And those chickens are cute! Glad you found a way to relieve the sinus pain; being kept awake is no fun. And yay for The Immigrant Song – love it!!
Many thanks! So glad I stumbled across deep breathing as a way to relieve sinus pain. The Immigrant song is one of my favorites.
Sorry to hear about your sinuses, but glad you discovered a way to ease your pain, yay!
Glad to see less snow this week, we’re heading in the right direction. Today was the first day it was warm enough to sit out front in the sun and read… a treat I’ve been dreaming about all winter. 👏🏼
Yes, good to find out that deep breathing relieves sinus pain. Not that warm in Maine yet.
I’m glad you’ve got a good group of like-minded people to get together with. Meeting in a bakery is even better!
Win-win!
it’s almost 7 p.m. and it’s 62 out!!! I will send this weather over to you. We are, of course, sure winter is over even though we know better.
Deep breathing, huh? Well that’s good to know. When I can’t sleep I know if I concentrate on breathing I often am successful at getting back to sleep.
Very warm! Deep breathing is good for many things.
Oh, slow deep breathing seems to help quite a few things 🙂 ! These days, if I find myself in a ‘funk’ for any reason – stop, stare out of the window and deep breathe . . . it always seems to work! And – that loaf of bread definitely calls out ‘me, me, me’ !
I was thinking exactly the same thing about deep breathing.
Take a deep breath!
One after another. 😉
So you’re a fan of Led Zeppelin! I pick and choose a bit, but I never can have too much of “Fool in the Rain,” with John Bonham’s drumming stealing the show.
I recently learned the story behind “Boogie with Stu.” Stu” was Ian Stewart, the Rolling Stones road manager and piano player. When Led Zeppelin was set up in Headley Grange using the Stones’ mobile recording unit, Stu stopped in. There was an out of tune piano that he began playing, then Jimmy Page tuned his guitar to the out of tune piano. Tape was rolling and everything was improvised from there. There’s a fabulous Joe Bonamassa cover of the song at the British Blues Explosion. If you crank this up loud enough, it might melt the rest of your snow!
Didn’t melt the snow, but it sure lifted my spirits and got my morning off to a great start. Magic in that music! Thanks for sharing.
I enjoy the idea of meeting in a bakery! The music is fun too 🙂
Yes, a fun place to meet. And hard to beat Led Zeppelin.
You have my sympathies on the no-man’s land between winter and spring. We had some lovely spring sunshine last week, which really lifted my spirits, but now we’re back to frosty nights and cooler days – for the next few days at least!
Spring in many places is a back and forth event. Certainly true in Maine.
I know all about sinus episodes. For me the most worked procedure is “take a walk” and of course taking steam to relieve sinus passage.
I love bakeries with informal settings. Blueberry muffin sounds so tempting.
Glad to read taking a walk makes you feel better. Those blueberry muffins are so good.
Good job, Clif. I used to get a lot of sinus pain. Reaching my eighties seems to be a good cure.
Excellent!
An addiction to blueberry muffins sounds like a good deal to me!
I do love them!
I am sorry to hear about your sinus infection but glad you have found something simple to help. I am sure relaxing makes most pain easier and deep breathing is a good way to relax. I hope it clears up totally soon.
Your Women’s group sounds fun and interesting and I love the look of that cafe!
We are having some dry sunny, days with Spring flowers but the forecast is that Winter isn’t done with us yet.
Many thanks! Much better now. Early Spring is certainly temperamental.
Hi, Laurie – Winter seems to be reminding us all over that it still possesses the month of March. Richard and I just left the land of -22C and snowing (where we had an absolutely fabulous time). We are now back home in the land of +6 and raining. That’s a bit cool for our area at this time of year, mbut somehow it seems incredibly warm, and I was able to instantly lose a couple of outdoor clothing layers! 😀
Yes, I have been following your cold adventures. As a woman of the north, I approve. 😉 Like time, temperature is relative, isn’t it?
I will bear your advice about breathing in mind. It sounds very sensible.
Amazing to me that it works so well.
I love the chickens !! >Hope Spring will come soon to your garden !!
We are at least a month away. We have got to get through March first.
I have become a great believer in meditation and deep breathing, Laurie. The mind is powerful and I am already learning how to control pain and pins and needles one doctor gave me powerful mind alterning drugs to control. I showed it to my GP and she was horrified. So good on you for discovering the power of healing and pain management through an alternative method. I swear some doctors are in cahoots with the drug companies.
As for LEd Zepplin I was a great fan in my youth. Do you remember this song. Whole Lotta of Love
Yes, indeed! Sometimes medication is necessary, but I was amazed by how well the deep breathing worked.
Another fan of Led Zeppelin! I sure do remember that song, and I gladly clicked on the link you sent. Many thanks!
Sorry to hear you’ve been under the weather, Laurie, but thanks for the info about deep breathing. Antibiotics and I don’t get along well, so any natural healing cure is something I’m interested in. We’ve been in the upper 60s and low 70s this week, and Monk and I are loving it! Of course, it won’t last — winter will once again rear its ugly head — but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Hang in there!
The deep breathing works amazingly well. Still amazed that such a simple solution works.
Beautiful in Mass. today. I’ll take it
Being in-between is often a challenging state. I hope you will find comfort in the promise of approaching spring as well as in the more fresh-baked bread and blueberry muffins.
Amazingly enough, spring is on its way.
Good to see the snow melting and great to hear deep breathing helps relieve the pain of your sinus infection. Hope you continue to feel better and better 🙏 💜 xxx
Feeling much better! Thanks.
I remember Anadama bread. There was a little bakery called Good Bread Bakery on a side street down by the river in Mystic, Connecticut back in the early 70s. They made all kinds of wonderful breads.
I love the chickens, too! 🙂
Such good bread!
I love the bakery and those chickens!!🙂 I’m glad you made it through your sinus infection with a new cure and I will definitely be trying it with my next headache. Great song!🙂
I was amazed that the deep breathing worked. Now that I know, I will be using it for the next sinus infection.