Maine Event: Day 30

Wooweee! That was some kind of rainstorm. We had a big thunder and lightning rainstorm that just poured while we were on our evening walk which turned into a run home and is still raining. Lightening that lit up all the windows of the house and big thunder and just pounding rain that started right away no drizzle into a fury. Nothing and then pouring. I heard there was a tornado spotted in South Portland and hail was a real possibility. The weather here is so exciting! 

Another busy day at work. I did hear from our Afghan partner who is keeping a low profile staying put and living day-to-day. It is really unclear what we can do to move anything forward.

Today started off cloudy but beautiful and in the high 60s to low 70s and then about 6 pm just turned fast into a downpour.

Today is garbage day and in Portland, the garbage is charged by how much garbage you produce. There are purple bags that you need to buy at the local stores that have these instructions (see below). It's just so different. Recycling goes into a blue wheeled bin, not unlike those in California, and compost is privately run and there are competing composters who pick up in 5-gallon buckets. Our landlords don't do compost so we take ours to the community garden in the morning (as you all know). 

When I first read this I groaned that Portland was incinerating their garbage and greenwashing that it was good. I'm still not totally convinced but at least they seem to be running a pretty clean incinerator and making electricity out of it.

Just a couple of photos from the garden to remind you of the importance and beauty of plants in urban spaces.

On our walk on summer street, we spotted this black cherry tomato which I'd never seen before. It's the dark-leaved tall plant behind the bright green guy.

The first orange leaves of the season on our evening walk. You can see the gray storm coming in here.

Here the gray is getting darker but the light was tremendously soft and illuminating everything the way it does when there is a rainstorm and the sun is still coming to visit in mysterious ways at the end of the day.

Drenched after our evening walk turned into a run home from the graveyard in the rain.

This is the radar of our storm.

Oh! And we saw this giant mushroom on the walk around the graveyard - near where the fox crossed - before the rainstorm. I wonder what kind of mushrooms grow here that you can eat. There is so much rain.

Safe inside and peering out at the great clap of thunder and the brilliance of lighting. It's so exciting to almost daily have weather!

And it is still raining hard hours later and they expect it to keep going through until the morning.

Sending oodles of love,

Tawnia

p.s. One and a half more days before Rockland!