Blizzard: From the eyes of the Mainebiz staff
Photo / Peter Van Allen
Handy's market in Yarmouth is open for business, despite a blizzard that dumped more than a foot of snow in most regions of Maine.
From Laurie Schreiber, Bass Harbor: Sgt. Tom Cotton at the Bangor Police Department, a Facebook scribe who always provides a wonderful and informative read, yesterday advised, “Don't go out tomorrow. Just stay home and keep the fire going until it all blows over.” Here from the picture windows of my Bass Harbor home, I’m enjoying the heat of my woodstove and gazing at a foot of snow on my deck and the swirls of falling snow blowing in the wind. The snowplow drivers have been rumbling around town for hours, and our little convenience store, Gott’s, is open to provide them with coffee and pastries. Our little community is safe in the hands of such heroes.
Peter Van Allen, Yarmouth: Handy’s, the market on Main Street in Yarmouth, had coffee brewing early, though the Holy Donuts and newspapers had not arrived early Monday. Snow was piled high outside and one of the owners said they’d been up since 4 a.m. digging out. One of the staffers skied into work. Main Street was largely clear and town snowplows were busy clearing streets and sidewalks, though many of the businesses were closed.
Lori Valigra, Harrison: Here in the woods, I ventured out of my log cabin at first light to shovel. In perfect timing, the belt on my snowblower broke, so I’m shoveling by hand, including the 425-square-feet of one-foot-plus snow sliding hard off my metal roof and packing atop the fluffy snow already lying on the ground. But it’s Maine, and I’m tough. I strapped on my thigh-high, minus-20-degree boots and ventured out to shovel a path to the furnace and washer/dryer vents. After almost two hours, the vents are free, and the roofs of my shed and carport are raked. I’m inside now taking a break and listening to more snow thunder off the roof, avalanche-style. I’ll head out again after a brief respite. Harrison is great at plowing roads so I’m sure I could get out for a muffin if I tried, but more shoveling beckons. The upside: it is simply gorgeous outside, light snow still falling on the tall pines, black-capped chickadees flitting about, enjoying the sunflower seeds and suet at the feeders. There’s a good reason they were chosen as Maine’s state bird. If those little guys can take the snow and cold, so can I. By the way, for anyone passing by, I have extra shovels!
Renee Cordes, Portland: In Portland, a few scattered pedestrians navigated their way through snow banks on a whited out, windy Congress Street as a lone cyclist braved the semi-plowed street. A number of businesses including Starbucks were closed for the day, with signs on their doors about reopening on Tuesday. Among the few establishments open for business were CVS, which opened half an hour later, at 7:30 a.m., FedEx and Harmon's & Barton's, where florists were preparing Valentine's Day bouquets for Tuesday. Bay Club Fitness at One City Center was also open, though all morning classes were canceled and with only a handful of patrons showing up by 9:30 a.m. The club opened at 7 a.m., 90 minutes later than normal, with all fitness machines turned on and the locker room steam rooms going at full blast. “Everything is on, everything is ready to go,” said Chris Lalos at the front desk. He added that afternoon class schedules and today's closing time would be determined later.
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