I tend to live with whatever is growing in the yard and only mow when it starts to look too scraggly. And I have the mower at the highest setting.

Even the medical office tests have false negatives. My guess is that at least 90 percent of people have had some kind of Covid infection since the pandemic started. There might be weaker strains that haven’t been isolated yet.

The Warning and Turnstile are my favorite “new” artists—as in formed in the last 15 years. I would also check out Dorothy and Bad Omens. Spotify has many playlists for different genres, and it also recommends similar artists when you listen to a particular group. If you find a new band you like, buy some of their merch because Spotify pays almost nothing to artists.

Probably the great majority of positive Covid tests are with home test kits and never reported, so they don’t make it into statistics. Many of these are mild or asymptomatic cases but it’s part of the spread of the virus.

I’ve lived in several states in the Northeast before moving to Maine and it doesn’t seem that power outages are more likely in Maine than in other states. CMP likes to send out emails like this to try to get you to think they care. But I’m loving having a wood stove, no worries about the cold as long as the woodpile is stocked up.

There are some ugly spots but it is easy to get out into the countryside on smaller roads. I don’t think you’ll ever see real sprawl here.

Choke, by The Warning, and some other songs by them like When I’m Alone and Breathe. To me these are saying that you are not the only one feeling hopeless and alone.

Get at least two pairs of gloves and two hats. You will probably get these things wet sometimes (even with water-resistant items) so a backup is important. Each fall I would check these and get new ones if needed. When you are clearing snow gloves often take a beating.