The Mountains - Colorful!

We are not officially moved into the house in Farmington.  It happens this weekend.  And the house isn't officially ready for us.  We'll be living in a construction zone for a bit longer once we are moved in.  But Dave has done an amazing job, worked his buns off to get this place torn apart, insulated, new plumbing, wiring, windows and pulled together so we'll be able to call this new house a home.

Mt. Katadhin (not the new home, but gorgeous still)

We still drive the thirty minute commute from the Belgrade area towards Farmington.  There are a few heights of land along this commute where this western mountain range spreads out in front of us offering an expansive view of our new home.  The other morning we left early and as we were driving to the house the sun was cresting the horizon behind us.  There had been the first real snow storm of the season the night before so everything was sugar coated and glistening.  And the purple mountains in front of us were turning a rosy pink with the rising sun.  Every branch and blade of grass also was reflecting this morning light and glowing in the most beautiful hues of pale pinks and rose.

Such amazing color!

Farmington is a small town with a population of about 7,760 (2010), but it boasts a great deal of activity with the University commanding a high profile in the town and a busy and robust downtown (OK, so "downtown" is only a couple blocks long!).  But it's the people of this little town that drew Dave and I here.  They are warm, open, inviting and excited to have us moving into their village.  There is a diverse group of folks up here; some old hippies who moved here in the '70's and never left, carving a niche out of these hills for themselves and continuing to show up in town looking like .. well, old hippies.  There are white collar business people who are dressed in suits and ties and, before the snow, dresses and high heels and students bustling to and from classes.   There is also wonderful community of fabulous artists of potters, sculptures, woodworkers, painters and photographers who have several different venues here to display their crafts.

This array of so many types of people in a small town makes for a very colorful population and diverse community!

We'll be moving into the house just before Christmas this year.  As you know, I love the Christmas season of singing carols, gathering with friends and family, the festive parties and the display of lights that brighten homes as I drive the commute in the evenings.  I use to find the light choices in my town of Falmouth to be a bit on the boring side;  everyone had white candle lights in the windows, white lights on their shrubs, and white spot lights hitting the wreaths on the doors.  I admit to having put only white lights up on my house down there too.  But last year I began to bust out of this paradigm and went  radical ... with colored lights!

Up here the "tasteful white lights" are few and far between.  Here the people go for color!  And they don't care what they put these lights on or around as long as they are visible and very colorful.  To date I have seen lights strung around a bench, a large boulder (I'm not kidding), children and small dogs (I might be kidding) and what appears to be tossed up onto the roof where the lights lay in a clump ... but still very colorful.  Some houses are outlined along the roof, doors and windows with wonderful colors that blink and flash and are horribly gaudy ... I love it!  And there was a fascinating nativity scene that I spied as we traveled along these back roads one day.  I got a glimpse of the half moon arrangement of a plastic Mary and Joseph as well as a Rudolph and Santa a caroler and what might have been an elf.  And I'm not sure but I think baby Jesus might have been a reclining Frosty the Snowman ... but I could be wrong about this.

Colorful!

The light is different in the mountains too.    Light across the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean is reflected by the mood of that great body of water.  It might be gray or a vibrant blue, glistening and refracted.  Here, the light is held on the tops of the distant peaks, or spilling into the valleys as the mountains hold back the black storm clouds so the valleys are flooded with the golden light of the sun rays bursting through those black clouds.  Oh, it's hard to capture it with words.  But it's different. And I find myself just soaking it in and feeling really good about being in this whole new light.

Many folks have asked me about crows.  Yes, there are crows here.  But there are far more raven families.  Ravens are really big birds!  And their call is a guttural "gawk" verses the distinctive "caw" of the crow.  There is a family of crows that I hear around the new house in Farmington, but I probably won't invite them to the backyard.  I'll wait until we find our acreage and build our house with fewer neighbors.  If there are crows or ravens in this new place I will ask the family to adopt me then.  I miss my Falmouth crows, but I hear they are well and still very much a presence in that 'hood.

In addition,  there are a lot of Bald Eagles up here in these hills.  I may not see them daily, but I certainly see them frequently.  Usually along the river.  I have yet to determine how many mated pairs we may have but I look forward to watching for them.  When I do sight them I find myself gasping in awe and I will send a silent prayer to the Gods whenever I see them;

"they carry the prayers up; they hear and see the help that's needed; they see real clear man, they see almost right through you.  They're looking at your soul, not your body..."
Stanford Addison, Arapahoe medicine man.

I feel I need to ask for less help these days.  I feel very supported, loved and blessed.  And I'm excited about starting the new year in a new home and adding my own colorful hues to this new community.

Let the next adventure begin!

Loving you all back,
Mary

View from Mt. Abraham