The snows began today right on forecast schedule. It’s very light stuff, though, and so far hasn’t accumulated too much. But it is getting slippery on the roadways. I listen to a police monitor, a habit that goes back to the 1960’s when I began covering instant news for a Portland television station. It’s a habit I’ve never lost even though I haven’t done that work for nearly 25 years.
The receiver is very active as several streets have become rather dangerous in the early stages of this storm. Several cars have slid off the roads and some streets have been closed. I haven’t yet heard of any injuries. Listening to happening events does give me a hint that I probably want to remain in the safety of my home during this storm.
My Golden Retriever is funny. She loves to go outside and romp in the snow. We keep a towel nearby so we can get most of the snow off her before she tracks it through the whole house. She knows the routine and when she comes in rather covered, she heads right for her towel and patiently waits to have the snow cleaned off.
Although she knows she is in total control of me, she’s still MGD’s dog and always goes to my wife whenever she needs something. For instance, she has a hard time keeping her ears clean and will ask MGD to clean them out. MGD will get down on the floor and the Golden will roll onto her back and put her head in position to get those ears wiped out. The pup is under a doctor’s care for her ears and each cleaning is accompanied by some gooey stuff that has been prescribed. Once the cleaning task is accomplished, the dog leads MGD to the treat bin as she expects a reward for being such a cooperative dog.
This is school vacation week in Maine. That part doesn’t affect me at all as every week is a vacation week in this household, except as I’ve mentioned several times, MGD works part-time three days a week. February school vacation week is also high school basketball tournament week. I love watching the kids play their games, as the innocence of these young men and women giving 100% effort and working truly as teams is just a pleasure to watch. The Maine Public Television stations have teamed with cable to provide nearly every game using two cable channels. All winter championships, including swimming, skiing, cheerleading, track, are also being held this week, but they aren’t televised so I don’t get to see them.
A local sad news note: Three of four members of a family were found dead following a fire in their home in Old Orchard Beach the other day. After a couple days of investigations, OOB police and the Maine State Police today arrested the fourth family member, the older son, and charged him with three counts of murder and one count of arson. Dead are the mother, father, and his brother. The family was very popular in OOB.
Now another weekend is upon us. It amazes me how 70 or more years ago, a week lasted forever. Now over 70, it seems like it was only an hour ago that we had our last weekend. This weekend could be in interesting one for me. As I mentioned, the snows have begun and forecasts indicate we could get five or six inches in our area. My neighbor who plows my long driveway for me is near the Canadian border right now working on a construction project. I guess that means this old boy is going to give his newly adjusted snow blower a real workout. I wonder if I will see my treasured black driveway tomorrow.
G.D.
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