Edited at 8:45 A.M. to add pictures
I would have liked to have had better pictures, but by the time I was able to record these, the melting had already begun. Nevertheless, they'll give you an idea of the scene outside the Gator Homestead.
The ice has come. There are power outages all over Southern Maine as the massive storm that was forecast arrived. It is now heading away and should be gone from our area later this morning. I’ve heard from both of my girls. Gator Wife arrived safely at her part time work place. She said she didn’t have any trouble as the roads were relatively bare. But there are trees down all around her little mile and a half trip.
Gator Daughter also made it safely to her work place. She said the roads in Portland weren’t too bad, either, but intersections were still a little fun to travel through. She did say she’s been without electricity, along with a goodly portion of the city, since 2:30 this morning. The City has set up portable stop signs at the intersections because many lights are out.
Nearly all schools are closed in the Greater Portland area and throughout much of Southern Maine. Many streets in the area are closed due to downed trees, limbs, power lines, and fallen transformers. I haven’t heard about too many accidents on the police monitor so far (6:10 AM), but the calls are almost continuous for downed lines and trees and road blocks.
I saw announcements on a local TV station yesterday that I absolutely don’t remember ever seeing before. The TV station was crawling a list of “no school” activities on the bottom of the screen. There were announcements of early school closings and cancelled afternoon and evening activities. At least half of the announcements, and that’s only a guess as I didn’t count nor do any calculations, announced “open” schools.
Way back in the 1940s and 50s I’d join just about every kid my age to listen to the “no school” announcements on our local radio station. Since I have either listened to the radio or watched TV in the mornings just about ever since, I’ve heard the no school announcements through the years. Shucks! I’ve even delivered them.
Never before have I seen or heard of announcements like “Cape Elizabeth Schools – Open” or “Falmouth Schools – Open.” I think it was always a “given.” If schools were “closed” or have “delayed” openings, they were “Open.” I don’t usually watch these things in the afternoon so perhaps they’ve been there all along and I’ve simply missed them. But, I absolutely cannot recall ever seeing them before.
Gator Daughter also made it safely to her work place. She said the roads in Portland weren’t too bad, either, but intersections were still a little fun to travel through. She did say she’s been without electricity, along with a goodly portion of the city, since 2:30 this morning. The City has set up portable stop signs at the intersections because many lights are out.
Nearly all schools are closed in the Greater Portland area and throughout much of Southern Maine. Many streets in the area are closed due to downed trees, limbs, power lines, and fallen transformers. I haven’t heard about too many accidents on the police monitor so far (6:10 AM), but the calls are almost continuous for downed lines and trees and road blocks.
I saw announcements on a local TV station yesterday that I absolutely don’t remember ever seeing before. The TV station was crawling a list of “no school” activities on the bottom of the screen. There were announcements of early school closings and cancelled afternoon and evening activities. At least half of the announcements, and that’s only a guess as I didn’t count nor do any calculations, announced “open” schools.
Way back in the 1940s and 50s I’d join just about every kid my age to listen to the “no school” announcements on our local radio station. Since I have either listened to the radio or watched TV in the mornings just about ever since, I’ve heard the no school announcements through the years. Shucks! I’ve even delivered them.
Never before have I seen or heard of announcements like “Cape Elizabeth Schools – Open” or “Falmouth Schools – Open.” I think it was always a “given.” If schools were “closed” or have “delayed” openings, they were “Open.” I don’t usually watch these things in the afternoon so perhaps they’ve been there all along and I’ve simply missed them. But, I absolutely cannot recall ever seeing them before.
All is not bad today. I thought I'd include a cute picture of Gator Golden sitting in "dad's" lap this morning.
If you have to travel outside the safety of your home today, especially this morning, please take it real easy and be extra careful. There’s someone who wants you back home safely.
GiM
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