tamarack

More than 95% for me, and it's almost always hot DD hazelnut, black - usually 2 cups/day. The few times I buy at the store, it's usually quicker to park and go inside than to pollute the air while waiting in line.

On our trip to southern Japan, we noted that 10-15% of pedestrians wore masks. In 2016

Little/no pack near the coast when the Feb Arctic blast blew thru. My low forsythia opened 5 days ago while the taller one next to the driveway has zero blossoms. 4th straight cloudy day here. April has had AN sun so far despite that spell, but this coming Sun-Wed may repeat the mank, also might include enough qpf to be interesting. It's a rare April that features neither days of promise nor days of crud. It's when the latter hits in May that hurts more.

Nice mottling below the knee. MY ablation last year involved equipment entering each femoral vein and thence to the heart, where the specialist zapped the rogue electrical sources. Afterwards, half of my right thigh turned that deep purple then eventually spread to below the knee and went thru the usual purple-to-ghastly-yellow sequence over several weeks. Oddly, there was none of that on the left side.

Our forsythia is supposedly an extra hardy variety, but -20 or lower (which occurs in 80% of our winters here) generally kills all the exposed flower buds. Fortunately, there was 4 feet of snow, much of it from the snowblower, atop the forsythia during the early Feb howler. I don't remember when they bloomed in 2010, the only milder late winter/spring, so the 4/14 blooming might be our earliest.

Shingrix #2 gave me moderate soreness around the injection site, which is a big reaction for me. Had a COVID booster and another pick (Prevnar? can't recall) in the opposite arm at the same time, with the usual no issues.

With the lone exception of 4/9-10/2020, SNE has done better than here for April snow during the past 10+ years. (Of course, other than events like 1975, 1982 and 2007, April snow is no big deal.)

Mid 40s and dank here, more like Aprils past than last week's treat. Two days of this hasn't quite reached the 1/4" mark yet. Probably the gentlest ice run and snowmelt on the Sandy in my 25 years here - all the drama was the jam in Farmington Falls from the pre-Christmas deluge. Runoff this spring hasn't gotten within 5 feet of the river's level back then.

Had 0.05" overnight - man the boats!

Cloudy all day here, though thin enough in early aft to get temp up to 60. Driving to Farmington late aft for evening service, I could see the distinct edge of clouds, with clear blue sky <10 miles west. Black cherry buds have opened, red maple and elm blossoms out full. Maybe 10 days ahead of avg - now can we avoid the dreaded May freeze/apple blossom killer?

My favorite wildlife experience was seeing multiple bears in trees chomping beechnuts. In late Sept I was scoping a spot for firewood cutters 10 miles west from Allagash Village when I heard rustling and went to sneak mode, hoping to see a moose. Didn't look up until I was only 15 yards from a tree with a bear and instantly froze. Soon I saw bear #2 in a tree farther away. After 10 minutes of watching/listening to breaking branches and beechnuts being crunched, my awkward position led to a slow sitdown. But not slow enough - bear #1 came down at top speed and I was confident my only danger was being trampled, but the bear headed the opposite way - she wanted OUT and her crashing thru the brush lasted surprisingly long. There was a 2nd bear in tree #1 which backed down slowly and followed mom, but the bear in tree #2 went south instead of west, climbing onto a maple limb about 15 ft off the ground. I walked over to that tree but soon left, as that bear was sniffling and whimpering piteously. It was mom and 2 second-year cubs. Sow bears in Maine usually breed every 2nd year and will chase off cubs if she's bred and approaching hibernation. I wondered if she used the incident to make the break from the kids.

I've read that black bears can reach 30 mph. Over 30,000 of the critters in Maine, possibly the most in the lower 48, and even with very liberal regs (including use of bait) the numbers are climbing. Very few bear-human incidents here, considering how many bruins.

Wow! I only paid 13k for mine in 2014 and have added 108k since then. However, I doubt the local Ford dealer would offer anywhere near that much in trade, not even the 12.

No transpiration, little shade and also usually low humidity means big differences between H8 and 2 meters. In 25 years here the year's hottest has been in April once, May 3x (plus a tie) and June 8x. Despite the fact that the warmest temps here run July 10-Aug 10, 49% of those hottest days fall weeks to months prior to summer's peak.

Five weeks later but 400 miles northeast, on May 22, 1977, the evening news stated that the 96 at CAR was tied with a site in AZ for the nation's hottest. (That 96 is also tied with 2 June days, in 1944 and 2020, for CAR's hottest.)

They've done it thrice, 91 on 4/19/76, 90 on 4/28/90 and 90 on 4/17/02. Only one 89, 4/28/09.

I find 19 days at BDL with 90+, including today. POR from 1/1/49. Chronologically: 1962: 27th, 94 1973: 22nd, 90 1974: 29th, 91 1976: 17-19th, 92/95/96 1977: 22nd, 90 1990: 27-28th, 92/94 1991: 7th, 90 2002: 16-18th, 90/95/92 2009: 25th,28th, 91/94 2010: 7th, 93 2012: 16th, 92 2023: 13-14th, 90/95(+?)

BDL has done that, twice - 16-18/2002, max 95; 17-19/1976, max 96. However, it appears that 13-14 this year is their earliest 2-fer. We were returning from NNJ to Fort Kent in that 1976 spell, and our poor 1971 Beetle had to be near to overheating - we could hear the heat pinging in the engine when we'd stop and shut it off. Spent that Sunday (the 96 day) overnight with my B-I-L in Boston and his Hawaiian wife had cooked up a massive meat and potatoes feed - she's essentially immune to heat - when a salad would've been better. Next afternoon when we got home there was still some snow on the ground and the max-min had barely gotten over 60. Relief!

Made another 40° range with 75/35, down to 43 this morning. GYX advertising a BD arriving here early aft, otherwise we'd make a run at 80. Spring progress: Forsythia blooming, partridge drumming and COC bird on display in our garden (dog noisily interested) for his lady friend in our apple tree, wood frogs "quacking" in our small pond. We had the muck hoed out last fall, deepening the pond from 2' to 5', and I wondered how that would affect the amphib population. Evidently, little if any.

My preference is for smaller pickups. If/when my 2011 Ranger dies (152k at present) I hope to find a reasonably priced Maverick, preferably the hybrid. (Though that choice might be less "reasonable".)

Very calm and early ice out for the local river (Sandy R.). No matter the pack depth/density, I've yet to see a significant New England flood from snowmelt alone. In 1984 I needed an extension to my 61" snow stake and the SWE was ~16", with higher numbers in the Allagash/St. John uplands (80"/20" SWE). We thought that this would be the year the protection dike in Fort Kent would have its first big test, but the major snowmelt period - mid April into early May, had almost no precip. 24 years later the pack was big but much less than 1984, and a 3"+ RA event in late April brought the St. John to nearly 3 feet higher than the previous record in Fort Kent, with serious damage.

Early April set some amazing records in 2010 - CAR had 82° on 4/3. At that time, they had recorded only one day milder than 68 earlier than April 9, 73 on 3/30/1962, though 2012 added 3 more days of 70s. Their 2nd earliest 80+ is 4/21.

Low was 35 here and temp is now 72. 50-50 on getting another 40-plus range. (Monday was 62/21.)

If I graded only on temps, my grade would also be F, as DJFM here managed to eclipse the horrid 2015-16 for warmest in our 25 years here. However, snow total alone would rate a B/B- and the AN pack plus December bomb kick it up a notch or 3. And the irony of the AN snow/record warmth in the same winter isn't lost on me. Both the weirdness and the firewood savings add to my satisfaction.

4" here, 24" at SFM. Of course.