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A purple finch, junco, and goldfinch hunker down during last Thursday’s incredible snowstorm. Tanya Decatur is one of a handful of local photographers who has a knack for finding local wildlife, and remaining still enough to photograph it. Photos by Tanya Decatur

Last Thursday’s storm blew the paint off my neighbor’s house.

I mean that literally. Paint, flying around the dooryard.

As those wild winds whipped wet snow across Washington County, we were in Boston to see one of our favorite bands, AJR. I consider Boston the best walking city in the United States (I’ll throw down on this), so I was disappointed that last Thursday was possibly the worst walking day of the year. 

After two museum visits, Sam and I called for an Uber. Our driver, Said, mentioned that we were his last call of the day and he was pushing his luck at 3:07 p.m., because 36 years of experience driving in Boston have taught him that it’s safest to be off the roads by 3 p.m. on the dot.

He explained why.

“People going to work in the morning, they’re nervous, they want to arrive on time, they don’t want to get in trouble with their boss, so they don’t get into accidents,” he said, gesticulating wildly and navigating several traffic circles with one hand. “They don’t have time for accidents. But after work, they think, ‘Oh, I have plenty of time, I can go to the body shop, it’s no problem!’” 

The sun’s sure march northward is proof that warmer spring weather will eventually return Way Downeast. Tomorrow, the sun will eclipse and, astonishingly, Monday looks to be the one fully sunny day*of 2024, so far. Photo by Sarah Craighead Dedmon *very slight exaggeration

I only wish we’d had time to hear more of Said’s theories. 

Uber drivers in Washington County don’t encounter the same kind of traffic concerns, and that’s in no small part because, as far as I can tell, we don’t have any at the moment (that’s any traffic, or Uber drivers). 

We do now have a DoorDash provider in the Machias area, Priscilla Hanning, so that, depending on the time, people can order goods delivered from Hannaford, Walgreens, Dollar General, and McDonald’s.

Hanning knows from professional experience how many people in Washington County lack reliable transportation, for a wide range of reasons.

If you know someone who could benefit from delivery, you’ll find all you need to know about ordering from DoorDash here. And if you know of other services that offer rides or delivery, I’d love to hear about them.

Some significant traffic will depart Washington County tomorrow, as many of us make our way north into the solar eclipse’s Path of Totality.

Ample advice about how to enjoy the event has been issued, ranging from useful (cover your camera lens with a filter) to concerning (don’t stop in the middle of a road to watch it).

Here in the Machias area, we’re predicted to see a 97% eclipse, which sounded good enough to me, but my 16 year-old is extremely excited to see 100%, and there’s not much I enjoy more than time with exuberant children, so off we go.

Last week I wrote about my eclipse ambivalence and our Path of Pretty Close here.

The newest restaurant in Washington County is close to opening in Machias. This photo taken March 13 shows the new Masons Brewery sign installed, and the former Bluebird Ranch Family Restaurant sign still in place on the roofline. The opening date for Masons Downeast isn’t yet announced, but I would expect it before Memorial Day, if not sooner.

We enjoy sharing our love of Washington County, Maine, so much that we’d honestly do it for free. In fact, we do. But if you wanted to buy us an oatmilk latte for our troubles, we wouldn’t say no. You can donate by check to our new PO Box, by Paypal, or by Sripe!

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