Thankful for the rain & Cold season?

Saco River

In the last few days we have received about 4 inches of much needed rain......it has been terribly dry and the fire danger has been downright scary. Red flag days for at least 10 days which means absolutely no burning of any kind. A $2000 fine if you get caught. We witnessed a very large brush fire a mile from the farm last year due to this very scenario. They were drawing water out of the Saco with a helicopter across the road from our house to douse this forest fire. Even though we had thought about it, this prompted us to devise an evacuation plan should this ever happen again. Thankfully no lives were lost to and no damage to homes. Several acres of forest burned.

Kayakers training in the Saco River

The water is very high and rising every day as the snow melt runs south from Northern Maine. It's not unusual to see the kayakers running the rapids on a daily basis. This part of the river is used by many EMT/Rescue organizations for safety training. The current here is swift and the river is very deep on a normal day. Obviously it's great to test their ability. Personally, I'll watch from the bank.

Old Mill remains on the Saco River

The village of Steep Falls used to be much larger than it is today, specializing in the timber industry. Everything was built along the river. The old concrete abutment in the photo is what is left of the saw mill dating back 40 years ago. The logs were sent down river from NH and upper Maine and then sorted and milled here. This is now a very sleepy little village that we have grown to love. I've seen wonderful photos of the old Inn's and Hotels and Boarding houses that stood here. Most of these building are gone now and only the foundations remain.

We are very happy the spring rains arrived. Along with them came cold season for us. I didn't have a cold all winter ~ obviously I bragged about that one time too many! All of the family has been downright miserable for the last week. Guess it was our turn :0)