Month: December 2025

Real Winter Hits Midcoast Maine

On By Tom JamrogIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s December 8 and the thermometer at 6 AM reads 14°. Last night I heard the snow plow go by twice on the main road. Looks like three inches of new powder, which I have to clean off the windshield of my truck, not enough to call the plow guy to scrape down my driveway.

My daily I Ching reading was hexagram 16: Contentment. The interpretation ( Deming, Everyday I Ching), read like this: You depend on Sage advisors. You concur on everything with them. No major problems are indicated. Keep on your toes. If you’re passionate interested in achieving something, your enthusiasm will attract others and win their cooperation. Consider the power of music to influence others. Music has the ability to move and inspire people and bring them together and it has always been a part of religious ceremonies. Creating harmony with other people depends on understanding what matters to them.

I just received the call from my friend Steve whose driveway is two miles away. He lives in the back woods close to a mile off the main road on 150 acres. Steve needs some help today getting a barn door repositioned and asked me if I could come up as he can’t move it himself.

I welcome the invitation because it allows me to structure my morning. I will clean my truck off. Steve’s request is a good excuse to pair going into Camden (9 miles) to lift weights at the YMCA for 45 minutes then stop at the library to pick up a book:

Then I’ll head up to Steve’s on Moody Mountain to get there about 11:15.

The rest of the afternoon day will be mine hopefully to spend at least an hour on working on a new watercolor painting.

Then I plan to practice my accordion in preparation for a weekly open mic night tomorrow at the American Legion Hall that I’ve been frequenting.

I am grateful that I am able to face the day with meaningful activities, some of which might enable me to transcend to darkening night of my winter retreat.