"Watch out, Gramma! Icy!"

As I've mentioned before, there was a lot of snow in Portland, ME, when I arrived a few weeks ago. Then came what counts for a heat wave in New England: highs in the 40's and 50's! However, the nighttime temperatures plunged below freezing again. Plus, that heat wave didn't last: my last weekend there had highs only in the teens and 20's.

So, all these factors result in lots and lots of ice everywhere. Hence, the admonition uttered often by the adorable and incredibly advanced granddaughter. She knows that ice is slippery! (In fact, a favorite game at home is pretending to slip on ice...hilarious!)

New Englanders learn early how to balance on the slippery stuff!

But in addition to being somewhat dangerous, the frozen form of H₂O can be quite beautiful. I showed you some loveliness from Colorado some time ago, so now here's some from Maine. No icicles this time, but the more treacherous stuff on the ground.

ice/gravel matrix

ice/leaf matrix

ice that might hold her weight, but not Gramma's!

interesting melt/refreeze patterns

This big patch was on a trail at the Audubon Center in Falmouth, where we took a hike on a very windy and cold morning. And, yes, Gramma did definitely watch out when crossing this in my less-than-ideal snowboots.

I'll show you more pictures from this interesting winter landscape in a future post.

Of course, on some of our walks there wasn't as much ice on the path as there was evidence of melting...also occasionally making a lovely visual composition...

While I was a little disappointed in not getting to see a new snowfall while I was in New England, I feel that I did get at least a little taste of Maine winters. Not enough to put me off, though. I want to go back again next year!

Sartorial science humor

Reading xkcd and smbc comics for years has really made me a fan of dork humor. And the Boston Museum of Science features some gems of the genre on their t-shirts.

This is one of my favorites:

But I eventually decided to take snaps of several others. This one needs no explanation for folks who know of my Game of Thrones obsession. It was in the special dinosaur gift shop where we spent quite a bit of time. The little person with us wanted to play with all the toy dinos on offer.

Here are some more. Enjoy!

one of their special exhibits is about chocolate

yeah, and Yugoslavia, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia
were countries, while Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were not

Of course there is much more to this fabulous and beautiful museum than just the gift shops. I'll show you more of its wonders in a future post.

Wordless Wednesday: how a little person reacts to a really big dinosaur*

*Dino replica, that is, at the Boston Museum of Science

Sea to shining sea

Whew! I am finally back home after a series of trips that had me flying from the Atlantic to the Pacific (seen above at sunset, from a beach in La Jolla, California) and from near the Canadian border to near the Mexican. (Fun fact: T-Mobile thinks you're already in Tijuana when you're just on Point Loma, San Diego; we got messages on our phones welcoming us to Mexico and telling us how much calls would start costing us!)

not a sea, exactly, but the Charles River in Boston, which is pretty close

I must admit that when the trip was first planned I didn't fully appreciate just what an epic journey I was embarking upon. But after 8½ hours of flying and airport-ing to get me from Portland, ME to San Diego, CA, I felt it in my bones!

again at La Jolla; notice closed beach with seal pups and moms

Needless to say, I'll have lots to tell you about in the days and weeks to come as I sort through my pictures and recall all the fun I had on both coasts. But all I have the energy for today are these brief glimpses of coastlines and semi-coastlines.

partially iced-over Back Cove in Portland, from the Eastern Promenade

Please stay tuned!

enlarge to see Navy ship on the horizon;
how you know this was taken near San Diego!

Wordless Wednesday: keeping warm in the single digits

Going...going...gone

As I mentioned last time, Portland, ME, had a huge snow dump just before my arrival. But the weather since I've been here has been unseasonably warm. Which results in swiftly melting piles of snow.

As a case study, below are photos from my luxurious guest suite window, looking down on the kids' deck. (I apologize for the strobing effect; most of these were taken through a screen.)

First up, a deck-level view, taken my first day here:

Reports had the tile-topped table covered with piles similar to those we saw in Colorado a few days before my arrival.

aerial view on day 1

2 days later (I missed one day when there was still a little snow on the chairs

next day....melting fast!
(the one day I was smart enough to shoot through the window, not the screen!)

next day; notice also the increasingly visible ground

I skipped a few more interim steps here, but this is from day 8...all gone!

I will have several more posts showing various interim stages of snow cover in the days (and probably weeks) to come.

As for now, the mild weather has flown and my last few days in Maine will be expressions of the New England winter that I said I wanted to experience. I'll try to stay warm!

Wordless Wednesday: a dream of spring