Nature. A huge part of me. A lover of the great outdoors. Lucky for us, the Schoolhouse is surrounded by an abundance of beauty in every direction. All the seasons have something spectacular to offer.
Just this morning, as the sun was rising, I stepped out to take a quick photo. Next thing I know, I’m traipsing through thigh deep snowdrifts, in Mucks, sweatpants and a thin sweatshirt. It’s 4°. If you follow my blog, you’ll notice I love to capture sunrises. Well, this morning was exceptionally beautiful. With a thick frost coating the trees and shrubs, a left over of the previous nights drizzle, I was fixated on a certain angle. I could have taken the three minutes it would have taken to strap on my snowshoes (and put on a coat and hat). No. No time. Sunrises can change in seconds. In the end, I got the shot I wanted along with aching, frozen fingers. This is how I spend my winters in Kingsbury.
I love the snow storms that layer us in heavy wet snow. The way it sticks to the tree limbs and boughs, like an old heavy quilt. How clean and fresh everything appears. Living the scene of a Hallmark card or a Thomas Kincaid painting. The coat of glitter after a winter drizzle. Making the landscape all shiny and bedazzled. The wind, as annoying as it is to me, carves designs in the snow and builds some artfully crafted drifts and the snowy wind tunnels that twirl across the fields. It can be breath taking. Even on the coldest, darkest days there is beauty to be seen.
And then… the snow melts. Turning the earth to mud and sections of the yard to pond. That’s when you know spring is just around the corner. Mud season (and yes, that’s a season in Maine). It’s not very catching to the eye. Ugly really, and very messy, inside and out. With two white dogs, who have paws they don’t wipe at the door, it’s an endless battle. But as clean up begins, you start noticing everything that’s been dormant, slowly awaken. It seemed with every other chunk of sod we picked up off the lawn, from plowing, we would find one or two spotted newts. Feeling guilty about disturbing them, we either left the sod for a few more days or relocated them.
Buds start appearing on the trees and slowly but surely the birds return. Spring on the hill in Kingsbury is roughly two weeks behind. The opposite of Fall and Winter, which are generally two weeks ahead from everywhere else. When things start turning green, you know you’re in the clear. Or so you think. Mid May last year, we got three inches of snow. The following week it was 90°.
From Memorial weekend on, it’s safe to say we’re good. Majority of our time is spent outdoors. Evening fires return, the sound of peepers, tree frogs and bullfrogs fill the air. The sunsets are once again more visible. Our side by side comes out of storage and is back on the trails. It’s what we wait all winter for. We weren’t able to get much trail riding in last year, due to Jesse’s surgeries, but we made the best of it. Every evening we’d take a ride around “the neighborhood”, as many of the residents do. ATV’s are our main transportation in the warmer months. The experience is so much more on an ATV, then if you were in a vehicle. The fresh air, the hopes of seeing critters, the smell of the woods and all the sights, you’re a part of it.
The night sky is amazing on The Hill. Every constellation can be seen and the Milky way is quite prominent. We try to make the most of meteor showers. Peak time is always in the wee hours of the morning, so we opt for the earlier show. I know we miss a lot, but it’s still worth being outside. Clear skies equal cold nights. Even in August. This past year, along with our friends, we were wrapped up in blankets, as we sat in the Adirondack chairs, trying to look in every direction at once. Cramming our necks. The sky being so large and open, we’d catch more out of the corner of our eyes then anything. I recall a year, Jesse and I, layed out on the picnic table in sleeping bags with the girls and one of Kenzie’s friends. After a conversation of coyotes the girls were ready to go inside. It was ridiculously cold that night too.
Fall. Autumn. The absolute BEST time of the year. Before camp became home, we stayed here Wednesday through Sunday, September and October. Going home just long enough to take a regular shower, do laundry and plan for the week ahead. While here, even more so now, my camera goes into overtime, from the slightest color change of the leaves until they fall to the ground. I hate when night falls, it’s another day closer to the end of the most beautiful season. The oranges, reds, bright yellows are all stunning, no matter the weather. I wish fall lasted longer.
Then we are back to the anticipation of the first snow. Despite how sick we get of winter, come February/ March, I’m always eager to see the red autumn fields covered in white all over again.
Off-Grid Soul 