I finally caved and invested in a fresh set of rain gear. When your livelihood depends on guiding outdoor excursions rain or shine, this becomes a routine expense. Over the past four decades, I reckon I've gone through about ten, maybe a dozen sets of rain gear.

Sunday, we endured our 3rd severe storm of the winter. Like the last two it arrived with wind, rain and coincided with an astronomically high tide. The tide inundated many harbors locally and Thomaston was no exception. The picture shows a normal high tide and yesterday a little before high tide when I visited the pilings in the picture were nearly submerged, all but a foot or so below the water’s surface.

The other day, we went to Rockland to run some errands. The recent weather had been warm, wet, and windy, but I was not prepared to see Grassy Pond in Hope almost completely free of ice. I had to look multiple times to confirm that I was indeed seeing open water, and it is a fact. Round Pond in Union also shows a significant amount of open water where the river current flows, and Seven Tree Pond is free of ice enough to launch a boat.