Sunday, 9:30 am: This has not been an average week. The Saint John River flooded and left us generally isolated for a day and a half. Fortunately we had no damage: Our house is part way up a hill and about one mile from the river. Route One was flooded and limited travel to Madawaska and Frenchville. Driving toward Van Buren the road was closed in Keegan. The NWS has been predicating flooding for the past several weeks due to the rapidly melting high snowpack which was aggravated by recent heavy rains. We even made the news on CNN and The Weather Channel. Check this out on You Tube.

Keegan [Van Buren] Maine

Also over the past few days many helicopters and airplanes have been flying overhead; in a normal week we would lucky to see one or two aircraft and an occasional Border Patrol helicopter. Assorted politicians were up here for photo ops with their sleeves rolled-up. They reminded me of lawn jockeys [can I say that?] with their hands out-stretched. But they are the ones who sign the checks to get the aid, for those that need it. Use it wisely and make the American taxpayer proud.

Van Buren Maine

Notwithstanding all of the recent events, life goes on in our house. It was a few good days of watching new movies my brother and sister-in-law sent me for my birthday. Good movies are like the condiments of life, they make things better. Lucky for us our electricity was not interrupted, otherwise my well-seasoned grasp of life, which is heavily influenced by the cinema, would be sadly lacking -- more than it normally is.

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

Temperature: 45.6° [F.]

Barometer: 30.071 & steady

Humidity: 71%

Wind: SSE at 10 mph light & variable

Visibility: > 3 miles

Skies: 100% overcast

Precipitation: None measurable – light sprinkles earlier

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 36.9° [F.] at 2:44 am

High wind: 12 mph at 8:12 am