Living In Maine

The last fan was picked up this morning.  Even though we were down to one since Friday, this was the loudest one.  It got very old having fans and dehumidifiers running 24 hours a day, to dry out walls and subfloor.  Of course we wanted them here, rather than mold problems later, but ugh, living with the noise was a challenge.  We did get the home owner to pay for Friday night in a hotel, just needed a break.  

We aren't the only ones in Maine and New Hampshire who have suffered damage from this last ice storm, so we won't see contractors until mid-week, for estimates, and then repairs can't start for another week.  Great timing, as Kelli and Jared and boys are moving in with us this weekend.  I still don't understand how an interior heating pipe freezes, then splits. Estimated repair costs are $10k to $15k, glad it's not on us.  It will be over at some point, and be part of the our memorable start to the New Year.

Yesterday and today the temp got up above freezing, so we went out and chipped ice off our driveway, which unfortunately is sloped.  That, combined with the rain we had before the freeze last week, resulted in a two-inch thick layer of ice in our garage.  Ugh, lots of work clearing that out.  

My physical two weeks ago uncovered hypothyroidism, severe deficit for vitamin D, and 'low T.'  Geez, no wonder I've been feeling in a funk the last several months!  It's nice to find out there are reasons, and that the fixes are easy.  I'm hoping the meds will not only chase the funk away, they will also kick up my motivation to jump on the elliptical each morning.  

Maine is an interesting place.  Alaska was too.  In Alaska, Alaskans make much of the fact that it is not 'part of the Lower 48.' They are very proud of this fact.  People are also very surprised when I tell them it's much colder and snowier here in Maine.  People, including me, pre-Prince of Wales, picture Anchorage and north when they think Alaska.  According to Wikipedia, 

Anchorage:  Average January low and high temperatures are 11 to 23 °F with an average winter snowfall of 75.5 inches.

Klawock:  Average temperature in January is 37°F, and 58°F in July; yearly precipitation is 120 in.

So while our adopted village was colder, it's no where near Anchorage cold.  We had moved from the desert of San Diego, which averages 10 inches of rain a year, to the Tongass Rain Forest, with it's ten FEET of rain, and the accompanying cloud cover.  Ugh.  

So while our adopted village was much colder than San Diego, it was no where near Anchorage cold.  The biggest adjustment was the rain, and clouds:  from 10" a year to TEN FEET of rain each year!  Ugh, the lack of sun was too much.  Maine, however, IS in the lower 48, and part of New England, otherwise known as Red Sox Nation.  So, my expectations were different.

One ready, non-weather example comes to mind.  We needed to buy a car, and decided to drive down to Portland to see what was available. By the way, nearly 40% of Mainers live in or close to Portland, similar to Anchorage, where about 40% of Alaskans live.  Keep in mind that, even though we lived in Alaska for 18 months or so, I still make comparisons to where I spent five decades, namely San Diego.

                          City of San Diego         State of Maine
Population:          1,322,000                   1,329,000      
Area:                            327 sq. miles         35,385 sq. miles
Density:               4,000/sq mile                43/sq mile

Maine is also the whitest and oldest state in the Union, and, one of the poorest, and growing older.  94% of Maine is privately owned, as opposed to California, where federal and state-owned land amount to over 42%, or Alaska, where state and federal lands make up 89%.  (A new thought:  the 1.329 million Mainers are represented by two US Senators, while the ~34 million Californians have only two US Senators.  Something very wrong here.  One solution which makes sense from a variety of angles, create six states out of present day California.)  

Okay, back to the story.  We decided to call on our way down to the dealer, to see if we could grease the skids.  The problem was, we couldn't get the dealership to answer.  I looked it up on my phone, and found it was closed on Sundays!  What, a car dealership that is closed on Sundays?!  Well, I would never have expected that, anywhere, even in Alaska!  Crazy.

I listen to a "Today's Hits" radio station, 92.5 The Moose (no, I'm not making this up), and every day at 12 noon they play a different person or group singing the Star Spangled Banner. Nothing wrong with this, could even be seen as a refreshing side of country pride, but it is very different than what I'm used to, despite living in a military town for decades.  If you think I'm making this up, click here. I'm not kidding!

I'm not a flag-waver, but still, it's kind of nice to see people show their US pride.  Another thing very common is to fly American flags on city light poles throughout towns, hung up for Memorial Day weekend, and stay up until after Labor Day.  It really is nice to drive through each and every small town and see the many flags waving.

The Chargers just lost their playoff game, ugh.  The Patriots, however, won their game last week, so we will be treated to a Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady contest next week, which could be epic, er, (guess I need to get my regional vocabulary going) wicked!  

So, we are off to an interesting start to the New Year.  At this time last year, Kathy and I were living in a village of 800, on an island, far, far from Henry and parents.  Tomorrow, Henry and Sullivan and parents will be living in the same house with us, quite a change! We can hardly wait!