MIDWINTER'S MUTED BLUE SKIES

Good morning! It's sunny and very cold today, 18 degrees not figuring in wind chill. Yesterday, knowing that today was a day for staying in and writing this blog post, I cleaned the snow and ice off my car and headed out to do errands in Stonington, Blue Hill, and Ellsworth. Stonington, being at the bottom tip of the Island, covers a pretty large area and is particularly pretty most of the time but I have to admit looks downright drab in February! It's very hilly. Uniquely so.  And it has a lot of angles, as you will notice in my photos. Down by the harbor especially.  Houses, old and traditional, new and architecturally interesting, dot the hillsides side by side, front and back. Main street is extremely congested and  winds around the waterfront at the bottom of the rocky hillsides. It has restaurants, cafes, art galleries, gift shops, library, town hall, parking, grocery store, bank, and the list goes on. In the Summer tourists swarm to the area from both land and boat but during the winter the locals have the town to themselves. So, yesterday as I was driving down Opera House Hill to get to Main st.,  the view was stunning! The sky over Stonington Harbor was pretty muted blue with puffy clouds and except for one or two boats coming and going not much was going on. I stopped the car in the driveway of a house that appeared to be uninhabited for the winter, the only tracks in the snow being those of a cat. I tried to get some clear pictures but it was tough going between the power lines and shrubbery and small hardened clumps of snow.

Fine Dining

Library

At the bottom of the hill, I parked the car on Main St to snap a few photos of some of the houses on the hillsides looking down on the comings and goings of Main St and having excellent views of the harbor. I didn't turn the car off because I only meant to take a few photos and then go about my business. But, as often happens to me, I became lost in the moment, walking and snapping.  Before I knew it, I had walked up to the end of that section of Main St ending with the new municipal parking lot with its impressive walkway, benches, and a small area of dedication to the history of the town's famous granite quarry and a sculpture of a granite worker. The wind picked up and I decided I had better scoot! I had left the car running and I still had to drive the 10 miles back to Little Deer Isle, go across the bridge to the mainland and head to Blue Hill, about 15 miles and then to Ellsworth, 15 miles or so, to Wal-Mart.

On the way to Blue Hill, the sky changed from muted to sunny! It was quite lovely looking at it as I drove up Caterpillar Hill looking off at the distant ocean, islands, and hills. I do love my native Island and surrounding area very much, as I 'm sure you have figured out by now if you have been reading my blog for any length of time. (When I was growing up here I hated it. I longed to live anywhere else!) But I digress.  Winter weather was on the horizon. The wind picked up, the sky darkened and a squall of hail rained down for about 5 minutes. After that, it was just winter as usual. I did my errands, treated myself to a strawberry milkshake at DQ, bought Mom a Famous chicken bowl at KFC to take back to the Island. The deer were hanging about in the swampy woods behind the house when I drove in the driveway, wondering why I hadn't put out the usual seeds and cracked corn for the birds. Truth be told, but don't tell anyone, I put out extra in the winter. All God 's creatures and all that, you know.💖

So, what have I  seen out the kitchen window lately? A new birdwatcher was on the scene, hidden in a bush. I saw him there, a dark blur. I thought he was a cat. Then he or she popped out and wow, what a beauty! It was overcast but I did get a few reasonably decent photos before he gave up on getting the jump on any of dozens of little Juncoes that ground feed there. On the one hand, I was sorry he went away hungry but on the other hand, I was relieved he didn't kill any of MY little darlings. 💖

 Cooper's Hawk

So there you have it! I hope that you are all well. I thank you all for visiting and leaving comments. You are the best!💖