5538-R1_CIC_March2018_Calendar_Web

One Man’s Island by Bob Libby

Classified Ads Top Shelf Cleaning and Services: Cleaning, moving cars to and from the Stone Pier or Chandlers Wharf, snowplowing and snowblowing, and winter house watching—daily, weekly, or monthly—lawn mowing, and light tractor work. For more information, call Cindy at 207-846-1055 Seasonal Rental at 13 Island View Rd: Fully equipped summer home with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and private right of way to the water; $900 per week plus a $300 security deposit. Contact Richard Bowen at rhbowen3@gmail.com or 207-831-6148. Now, March swings in with the promise of the last weeks of winter being once again more volatile. Our Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts a nor’easter early in the month, with the snow measured in feet, and major precipitation toward the end of the month. It predicts gusty winds throughout and, of course, rivers of mud. After all, it’s the beginning of mud season. The good news this month is spring! Our island’s place on the planet is tilting toward the Sun, and the days are growing longer. This month’s astronomical events feature the vernal equinox and the appearance of bright near planets in early evening darkness. Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Saturn all appear like beacons on the western horizon. Now that we have started viewing constellations and other celestial events like Northern Lights in the pitch darkness of Wiggins Mountain Road, When the history of this winter is written, it will be titled “Extreme.” All the storms have been difficult, beginning with the winds of November that took down many major trees all over the island through the frigid icy weeks of December and January, which consumed volumes of heating fuels and made walking treacherous on snow- covered and ice-choked paths, to the record mild days of late February, which deepened the mud ruts of unpaved roads.

Notices Ladies Aid: Please join us for crafty projects and camaraderie from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each Thursday. Catholic Communion Service: A regular Catholic Communion Service will be held every Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at the church. Sew Good: Sew Good will meet March 28 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Parish House. For more information, please call Lola Armstrong (846-4737) or Karen Corson (846-0938). We who are gardeners exult in March when the first flowers of spring poke through snow banks and mud. Nothing warms the heart more than the sight of the first crocuses and daffodils. This is the month to replace bird feeders with nesting boxes. Romeo has become very excited about greeting the Canada geese feeding on the fourth and fifth fairways. This winter was hard on the trees of Chebeague. Massive icons near our homes finally needed to be taken down. New specimens must be planted to eventually replace them. We have joined a group that is planting disease-resistant representatives of the traditional shade trees of New England. We watch the buds swelling on the magnolia tree we planted when we built our house. The little whip struggled and was beaten down by construction activity, but it survived. Now, it stands twenty feet tall and blossoms profoundly pink before any other trees have leafed out on the island. Like our tree, we have survived another winter. This year, Lent ends with the month and Easter falls on April first. we have become aware of the mitigating factor of light pollution here on the island in the night sky. When we walk out late with Romeo and look at the stars, we are surprised by the dim glow to the south over Portland. Also, an industrial hum of traffic competes with the sounds of nature.

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MARCH 2018 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR