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It's been quite a winter so far. Storm after storm of mostly rain and so much wind seems to
be the hallmark of this "winter" season. Since mid-December we've had three major rain events, which have caused significant flooding and harvesting closures (all in and around the holidays, of course, which made for MAJOR additional planning and stress around those busy busy sales times that I rely so heavily on to get me through the winter).
This past Wednesday brought the biggest storm anyone has seen here in a while. Hurricane force winds and near-historic coastal flooding due to massive rain, snow melt, and a coinciding high tide did a number on coastal areas. Working waterfronts across the entire coast were devastated by the flooding and the
significant surf that more exposed areas were subjected to, and its going to take a long time and a lot of money to rebuild.
I am feeling very very fortunate both that I operate out of a more protected bit of water, tucked up inside Casco Bay as I am, and that none of my gear or the wharf that I operate out of sustained more than minor damage. I've lived in this place my whole life, seen some flooding events in that time, but never, ever has the water come as high as it did this week. And what do you know, we have yet another powerful system rolling through this weekend with similar forecasted flooding and rain.
The weather rollercoaster has meant that it's been a little bit harder that usual for me to fully relax into the slower season, but I'm finding a strong silver lining in the beautiful oysters that I've been pulling up out of the depths to bring to market once a week. They're some of my nicest (do I say that every year?) and I've been so proud to share them with customers at farmer's markets lately.