Tis the season for MUD

Now that the snow is melting, the next season here in Maine is the famous MUD SEASON. This is the time of year when the snow starts to melt and turns everything all around into mud. People up here love the love snow, I know its crazy, but there are plenty of places south of here with less snow-naturally. But what is the fun of all that? All winter we trudge out to the cars early in the morning to heat them up and brave the mountainous trek to where we work. On the way the mountains are lit up with freshly packed snow that we can't wait to get home to ski on or snowmobile on-or whatever-make snow angels? This season of freezing subzero temperatures and warm cozy wood stoves has to end sometime-which it does and is outside. Outside the days are below freezing and thus the snow is melting. Now you may ask-probably not-but it works with what I'm writing..."Where does all that snow go?" Well, I'll tell you..... It slowly melts and ends up everywhere-leaving mud all around.

The roads up here are steep and very mountainous-beautiful granted-but treacherous all the same. On the side of the roads there are not sidewalks like in the suburbs-or anywhere else on this planet it seems-but huge ditches. Now, this might seem odd if one were to visit for the first time. I wondered what that was all about when I first moved up here. Then I found out. There is so much snow on average each year-often with banks of snow way over the tops of the average cars in height. The ditches quickly fill up and then pile up to the sky from there. People who live here are always talking about past memories of the times past when they snow banked their cars-this happens often up here due to ice under the layers of snow and curvy and windy hills. My minivan which was in beautiful condition when I first moved up here quickly fell prey to the lure of the ever present snowbanks that one would meet while trying to navigate down or even up hill most evenings on the way home. I mistakenly took of the comprehensive and collision on my vehicle's insurance and as if that added license-it fell a victim to the climate here and met lovingly each snowbank as I careened my way home on a few occasions. Thus, I was able to add my stories pridefully to my neighbors who only smiled knowingly in response. I tried in vain to hide those initial blunders by taping it with the infamous duct tape (again the reference to the most common staple here)-but alas, it still was not good enough. I then just drove on and was thankful that the van still got me from point A to B.

When the snow melts, the big mud that takes hold of everything up here-seems to be everywhere. During the height of the winter the snow banks are so high that you pray each time you get to an intersection when you can't see past the banks at the corners of the road-that it is clear. Most of the times it is-sometimes you can hear them-if you roll down your window (in my current car-a 1990 Chrysler Le Barron that I inherited from my great Aunt-that is not an option).

As the snow melts, you eventually can see at intersections and don't have to pray that a logger truck is not barreling down. Now I can see past them and cross safely, only now to notice the rivers of water all around. Those huge ditches once filled with piling snow are now bare from the melting snow and are fast gathering with small raging rivers of melting snow from the foothills and mountains.

Nature up here is made very real and not hidden behind the safety of suburbia with sidewalks and storm drains under street lamps.

Most driveways (dooryards) are now filling with mud as are the more secondary roads. This is the deep country or the last of the territories that it seems and it is all rural here. Most of the main roads in town are still dirt. Some of them are closed this time of year to logging trucks and main traffic due to the very real possibility of getting struck in some massive mud ruts. My own dooryard is filled beyond repair with huge ruts and I hold on while entering it as I skid over to where I usually park. Most people park on the actual yard-easier to get out of. This I have adopted as well, having gotten stuck in the past in the main driveway.

Gone is the ice pit driveway-thankfully. However, now in its place is the scary mud pit. This is equally scary! My littlest daughter who is nine loves it. She proudly puts her snow boots in the closet and pulls out her new mud boots and runs outside to squish in it! She loves the mud and so do my cats and dogs-who are endlessly bringing it in with them. My floors have seen brighter days. There is a rule that everyone must take their shoes and boots off if they even want to think about entering this house! For good reason! I would have to mop five times each day-if not! Yikes!

This is also the time of year when I can wash the blankets and hang them outside in my yard to dry-washing all of the winter wear off of them and adding the crisp mountain air! I go through all of the winter clothes and boots and get rid of those that fast become worn up here. I take the plastic off the porch screens that had been put there for wind blocks. I heard the wind chimes today for the first time in months.

I air out as much as I can now-though it is still cold and freezes at night. There is still a lot of snow in the yard so my efforts are limited to the area around the house and the garage-now I can almost pull my car into it (the garage was buried all winter and I had to park at the end of the driveway for most of it-whenever it snowed!) and the barn.

The barn doors are still frozen and I had to put some ice melt there to open them out to let my sheep out.

I have caught up on all of my wool work from the winter-the bags of wool waiting to be spun is put into the back room. There is also a lot of wool that has been washed and is waiting to be carded to add the the many bags all carded (those waiting to be spun at the spinning wheel).

This is also the time of year when I prepare my sheep for their time soon to come. Next Sunday they will be sheared. They have grown beautiful wool all year long and they are waiting anxiously for their new Spring freedom where they can romp in the field in all their naked glory. I will add before and after photos of the sheep after this event to this blog. They look gorgeous with all of their many bright colors and long wool. When they are sheared-they look awful silly and I tell my daughters they must be sensitive to this and not laugh-though it is hard!

So now I watch as the snow melts and my driveway fast becomes a part of the mud season. this season seems to not last long, because soon is will be the arrival of the dreaded black flies and mosquitoes! However it will also be the season of the fire pit-I have a huge new one in the back yard and one on the side yard for this and we all canit wait!

:)