Every morning, as I leave the house, our cat Lila is at the bottom of the stairs wanting to be let out. Every morning I remind her that, despite the bright sun she had spotted from her perch on the windowsill, it is still winter. I open the door, she slips out ahead of me, and then immediately glances back with that reproachful look only a cat can give. 

“It is still winter,” she glares. “Why are you allowing this?”

She slinks off into the snow, in search of some small furry pest to terrorize.

It is still winter. March is here, though, and the promise of spring is upon us.

This time of year brings on all sorts of sense memories. The threat of winter storms remain, but everyone’s mind is on the spring ahead. Freezing nights are interspersed with afternoons when the sun actually feels warm, as the banks of snow melt into puddles and streamlets. Sometimes the sound of a happy chickadee can be heard.

I remember collecting sap from the trees at Maplewood Cemetery, milk jugs attached to spigots — none of those fancy metal cans that seem relatively common these days. The taste of the sap, like icy, maple-infused water. 

The smell of the vat boiling away in the brick cooker my parents had built in the dooryard, to be jarred and stored in the pantry, once the buckets of sap had been reduced to just a tiny bit of thick amber liquid. It would be poured on french toast and pancakes in the coming year, not to mention added to the pot of beans my Midwestern mom learned to make for my Maine dad. Beans and syrup and salt pork all grown/raised on this little spot of land.

My mom and dad always had a ton of pride in any meal largely homegrown, but when it came to his beans, my dad vastly preferred accompanying them with the soft white store-bought “bunny” bread of his youth, slathered with homemade butter or Blue Bonnet margarine, depending on where the dairy cow in the lower barn was at in the cycle of milking and calving.

To be completely honest, I always preferred Blue Bonnet, which could be easily spread without tearing the bread. My tastes have evolved, and what I wouldn’t give now for a block of my mom’s butter, circa 1985, stamped in her old wooden butter mold.

The spring thaw at Sleepy Hollow always results in a temporary pond in the front lawn, not to mention the rush of water along the far side of Beach Road, which makes its way down the hill into the Hollow, through the culvert beneath the road, to Frohock Brook and the Bay beyond.

There is a reason the Ducktrap (formally Canaan) Road was once the main route up from the shore, as the stretch of Beach Road through the Hollow must have been a nightmare to maintain in the winters of long ago. Heck, it was a nightmare in my time, when the overhang of Frohock Mountain would keep it ice covered from December to April.

I’ll never forget boarding Sheryl Richard's Bus 4 one winter morning to have the trip to school ended a few seconds later, when the bus went sideways into the Hollow.

There were several times in my childhood when we were awoken by someone knocking at our door, having failed to navigate the hill, and wanting to borrow our phone to call a friend or relative to haul them out of the ditch.

That stretch of Sleepy Hollow is a bit better now, but my daughter, a licensed driver of only a few days, has already learned to be cautious on that final stretch of her homeward drive. 

As the snowbanks recede over these next few weeks, I look forward to the first shoots of green in the front, the first flowers poking their way around the snow. Should you pass my house after dark, you will notice the purple of the grow lights in the front windows, warming the seedlings which will eventually make their way into the garden. Next winters crop of onions.

Tracee was out yesterday prepping the new greenhouse Ma built last year, which should allow a much earlier start on salad greens and the like this year.

The backyard dinosaurs continue to produce a bumper crop of eggs, making us feel rich — should I want to make a custard? Sure, the price of eggs is quite reasonable here at Sleepy Hollow.

Though, speaking of sense memories, one of the lovely things about raising any sort of livestock at this time of year, is the impact the freezing and thawing cycle has on a barnyard. Heading out to Astor and Rose the other evening for a rare date night (my goodness, if you get the chance to take in one of their Mexican themed dinners, you will never regret it), Tracee had a bit of a struggle trying to find a pair of shoes with no trace of chicken, um, stuff on them.

Keeping it classy in Lincolnville.

LCS PTO Clothing Swap

The Parent Teacher Organization is once again holding a clothing swap. They are currently accepting donations of clothing, shoes, boots, and outerwear in good, clean condition in the box labeled “Clothing Swap Donations” in the LCS entryway. All sizes, kids to adults are welcome. PTO volunteers will then sort the clothing by size and type.

On Thursday March 13, from 12 to 7 p.m.; Friday, March 14, from 3 to 7 p.m.;, and Saturday, March 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. all are welcome to come take what they need free of charge, and it is not necessary to have kids at LCS. Any leftover clothing will be donated to the SOS Room in Camden.

The PTO continues to do amazing work for our school and community. Another example of mutual aid at its finest.

February is over, there is hope. Even if isolation, uncertainty, fear, and frustration may continue to occupy your mind, think of the sunny afternoons, the blooming flowers, and warm soil that awaits, just around the corner.

Enjoy the ice fishing, the skiing, the snowmobiling while they last. Accept the mud and rain that will follow. Be in the moment you are in and breath, always breath.

Reach out to me at ceobrien246@gmail.com.

Municipal Calendar

Monday, March 3

School Committee Meeting, 6 p.m. LCS

Select Board Meeting, 6 p.m. Town Office

Tuesday, March 4

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Thursday, March 6

Conservation Committee, 4 p.m., Town Office

Friday, March 7

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Library open 9-12, 208 Main Street

Saturday, March 8

Library open 9-12, 208 Main Street

Sunday, March 9

United Christian Church, 9:30 a.m. Worship and Children’s Church, 18 Searsmont Road

Bayshore Baptist Church, 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 11 A.M. worship, 2648 Atlantic Highway