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The coldest I ever saw personally in Maine was 38 below. It was very still and quiet. That year it never went above zero for over 2 weeks. The coldest I ever saw anywhere was 42 below in Dolbeau, Quebec. There was a stiff wind. When I went out I felt something hit me on the eyelid. I brushed it off thinking it was a small piece of ice. Later I realized it was a chip off the lens on my eyeglasses. The metal frame had shrunk and chipped a piece off the corner.
Later that morning as I was leaving town a logging truck pulled onto the road and stopped to take his tire chains off. I looked into the woods and saw something move. It was a flock of ravens huddled together on the ground. I never saw anything like it before or since.
After years of hearing about Maine; it's snow and cold. I had assumed that it truly did get cold here.
It gets cold, not COLD. Not real bone numbing, tire flattening COLD like some areas of the country. Coldest I have ever been in was in the UP and Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
Out in the Allagash one winter I was doing some work in Clayton Lake and the loggers wouldn't leave the bunkhouse. I worked outside for 10 hours straight that day, have no idea what temperature it was, but that day was COLD because of the wind blistering around.
This year Washburn has hit -37 twice, and this morning was -27, that is getting close and would be truly cold if there was any wind.
You have a point flycessna. Our neighbors across the road are selling their house and moving soon. I heard through the grapevine it was the neighborhood that turned them off. Not because we're loud or particularly unfriendly it's because we keep to ourselves. They're much younger than we are and have vastly different interests. Not that there's anything wrong with them I like them just fine, it's a generational thing or maybe just Maine culture I don't know. The young lady of the house has called me on two occasions in the two years they have been our neighbors. Once when her hubby was gone and she thought someone was trying to break in. It turns out it was someone who was lost and wanted directions to downtown. The second time was a couple of weeks ago when again hubby was gone and she got their 4x4 truck stuck in the snow bank beside her house. It turns out she had the transfer case in neutral. He's originally from Maine and she's from away. She doesn't like the fact there are no street lights on our road and consequently she keeps every light in the house on all night long every night. That's how I know when they're away the house isn't lit up like a fortress. They're looking for a more suburban life style where everyone gets together for bar-b-ques, goes Christmas caroling together, and decides what decorations everyone will hang up to make the neighborhood look festive for the holidays. We're not that kind of people. I always bring them maple syrup in the spring, vegetables in the summer, a piece of venison in the fall (her hubby likes it)and occasionally plow them out if they're away and we get a storm. We're friendly when we meet on the road and I've stood on the side of the road and had a beer with them once or twice. I think part of it too is they have a young daughter who will be going to school soon and our kids are all grown up now so they probably want a neighborhood with some kids in it. I'll wave goodbye to them when they go and bring the next neighbors the maple syrup.
I am more like your neighbor...mid forties, two kids, (elementary and middle school), and I live in a suburb. I feel like I am losing my mind. I feel like I am suffocating here. There is no space. I end up taking the dog for walks through conservation land by myself just to clear my head. I took him to a nearby golf course in the middle of the day, with a lot of snow on the ground, just to be able to see the horizon. Not a soul around. I feel much calmer after doing things like that.
I get frustrated, because I want a bigger garden, more space, maybe some animals,(I'll settle for a few laying hens) and I just can't do it here. I think its a great place to raise kids, lots to do, playgrounds, activities, friends in the neighborhood....but I can't imagine living here for the rest of my life. That's why I have been thinking about Maine.
The coldest I ever saw personally in Maine was 38 below. It was very still and quiet. That year it never went above zero for over 2 weeks. The coldest I ever saw anywhere was 42 below in Dolbeau, Quebec. There was a stiff wind. When I went out I felt something hit me on the eyelid. I brushed it off thinking it was a small piece of ice. Later I realized it was a chip off the lens on my eyeglasses. The metal frame had shrunk and chipped a piece off the corner.
Later that morning as I was leaving town a logging truck pulled onto the road and stopped to take his tire chains off. I looked into the woods and saw something move. It was a flock of ravens huddled together on the ground. I never saw anything like it before or since.
I guess i have never experienced real cold..........though I have felt real cold......In maine I can handle anything above 20 deosn't mean I die when its colder...its just 20 or more in this wintery dry are doesn't bother me too much. But down south when its 20 out....look out....that humid cold goes right to my bones......
But ultimately as long as its late dec to early march I expect it........What I do not expect is snow storms in april which is entirely possible here....or dressing my kids up in a snow suit with their halloween costume over it........boy what a drag(last few years excluded..unusually comfortable). The one thing I can say is in Ma 3hrs away....you get probably 2-3 weeks on either end of the season. So I lose about 4-6 weeks here...thats what kills me....If I leave Maine...it will be because of those 4-6 weeks which I just cannot get used too. 4 seasons my &$%#. Some years it feels like 2
I can honestly say that in the 10 years taking the kids trick-or-treating, I have never had to have them in a snowsuit under their costumes. Jacket - yes, full snowsuit - never. I am a bit further North, so a snowfall in April is just par for the course up here. Never amounts to anything because it is getting so much warmer that even if we do get several inches, it is gone a couple of hours after it stops snowing 99% of the time. It is bad because every year I end up going down to Bangor in the Spring, and there is always no snow and green grass, while we still have a foot or more of snow on the ground. I always thought I would like the couple of extra weeks of summer they get in Bangor up here. LOL, I guess it just shows it is all a matter of perspective.
We spent a week ice fishing on Caribou Lake one winter back in the late seventies where the air tempurature never got above 15 below zero for almost the entire week. At night the thermometer which only went to 30 below zero was at it's stops. It's a challenge to keep going when it's that cold but we not only survived we had fun. We caught a lot of landlocked salmon that week which became flash frozen in minutes of being caught. We have pictures on me holding a big salmon straight up by the tail which couldn't happen if it wasn't frozen stiff. You just keep the fire going and limit the time you're out on the ice. At night who ever has the worst sleeping bag is the one who tends the fire. We had a great time that week and since then, cold has never been an issue in our decision to go ice fishing or not. Toward the last day we were there the tempurature broke zero for one afternoon and we were running around with just sweaters on. It really is a relative thing.
It sounds as if they need a nice little sub-division somewhere, perhaps one with a HOA? Not everyone is cut out for the rural life I guess. Maineah you've been a wonderful neighbor and the next person to own that property will be blessed to have you there
You might not think so when I sight in my rifle in the fall! I always called the neighbors and told them when I was going to do it (even though they're pretty far away). Still we had one guy that ALWAYS called the police when we sighted in the rifles. (he was from Washington DC and it brought back bad memories I guess) The police ALWAYS asked him 'what do you want us to do about it?' It didn't stop him from calling every year though. They were an odd bunch anyway. They were both lawyers and fought like cats and dogs. The police were down there once a week. They called us on Christmas day one year because the new puppy they bought for their kids took off when they let it out to pee. I told them I didn't blame it.
Was last night (Thurs. Feb. 28th) cold enough for you beekeeper? We've been here since 1962 and that is about as cold as I want to see it in February. Our first winter here it hit -40 when we lived in Presque Isle. Car wouldn't start and hubby got frost bitten ears walking to work. We moved south to Bangor but have been here ever since. Couldn't get him to move any further. I would have loved to live in the Portland area.
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Not everyone is cut out for the rural life I guess. Maineah you've been a wonderful neighbor and the next person to own that property will be blessed to have you there 
