Thursday, 9:40 am: After a few false starts, I am once again trying to write today’s blog. This morning our dogs seem to want to go in and out more than usual. It’s cold and their time outside is limited, then it’s back inside again, then the cycle repeats itself. We have cold-weather dog booties, but when we try to put them on their feet they act like we are trying to tickle them and they bounce around the room like it‘s a game. After awhile we give up - they win.

Aside from this morning’s canine adventures, the storm that hit us a few days ago was less than expected. Other areas south of the Saint John Valley received much more snow then we got. It’s a rough life, we’re still eating Ruth’s emergency cheesecake. More snow is predicted for tomorrow.

Our friends Don and Diane in Saint Agatha Maine lost power yesterday. A power pole's guy anchor was hit and voilà part of town was blacked out for over a hour until a replacement pole [see photo below] was installed by MPS.

St. Agatha, Maine --- photo contributed by Don Elrich

Listening to the news on the radio has become grueling with so much coverage for people who want to “change” the way Government works, and of course they have a better plan than the other guy, regardless of party. Not endowed with idealistic fervor, I am skeptical. All candidates are wonderful and they all have great hopes and plans. Let’s see, I’ve given equal “Bah humbug!” to all. My wife is also saturated with political news. She is in the “wait and see mode”. Ruth complains much less than me. And she has more sense then I have; she turns the radio off, saying it’s bad for her health. I wish I would have thought of that.

Current values from our wireless Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 6.4° [F.]

Barometer: 30.39 & slowly falling

Humidity: 71%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: > 3 miles

Skies: Clear

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temperature: -2.7° [F.] at 7:57 am

High wind: 10 mph at 12:35 am