It started with snow. Last Sunday, a day marked by a steady falling of fluffy snow. Just what we want on a weekend day in January, when there is nowhere to go. My wife and mother took in the Lincolnville UCC service via Zoom from the front room. I brought them chocolate chip pancakes for Communion.

We had a couple days to enjoy the cleansing beauty of new fallen snow before the next storm, promising rain and high winds. By 7 a.m. power was out at Sleepy Hollow, and a good chunk of Lincolnville, and school had been called at LCS. Camden Hills Regional High School announced a remote school day.

As I only had to drive up Route 1 to get to work, I decided to head to the office, where there was still power. My wife was of a like mind, and headed to her office in Belfast, dragging our daughter in tow, so she could still participate in the remote classes. What a lucky girl.

In a previous, and way too recent column, I wrote about viewing Camden Harbor from my harbor-side office and stating that “the sea looked angry.” Well on Wednesday morning, January 10, as high tide rapidly approached, she was enraged.

I’ve never seen anything like it. My office has a parking lot out back, where I would normally leave my little Honda; I have a balcony overlooking the harbor, and could bear witness to the waves overtaking the sea walls, white caps and splintered wood where my car would have been. Sirens, as a building just down the street was evacuated after a storm related propane leak. The businesses further down Bay View Street were flooded.

And just like that, it was over. I emerged around 11 a.m. to see the destruction to my landlord’s property, and a calm, clearing sky.

Heck, Camden’s a great little town, but my thoughts were on Lincolnville, and our beloved, and extremely vulnerable Beach. And it was bad. The little strip of businesses are not strangers to occasional floods, but this was different. So much damage. Cement benches strewn about the parking lot, a porta-potty had drifted across Route 1 to rest neatly in a parking place in front of the Maine Coast Artisans.

The cannon remained in place, maintaining its silent vigil in the face of such destruction.

And, Nature was not finished with us. Saturday it happened all again, another devastating flood. Local businesses, aided by other local businesses and locals, were better prepared this time, with plastic sheeting and sand bags in an effort to attempt to keep the sea out.  Hammond Lumber donated a bunch of sandbags, and a call went out Friday afternoon for assistance with moving them into place around the beach-facing stores. Lincolnville residents, of course, responded.

Saturday’s storm was not quite as damaging, but the beach was once again flooded. And the sandbags and plastic seem to have helped.

Sunday morning I ran into Dwight Wass, of the Lincolnville Fine Art Gallery, as he began removing the plastic sheeting from around his business.

He counts himself fortunate, whlle acknowledging the loss of his furnace, fridge, computer…. The Lobster Pound was severely damaged and all the businesses on that little strip of land took a beating. Walking over to the town docks and ferry landing, the docks were roped off. A gentleman who was also observing the damage told me he heard that the docks will need to be assessed for structural integrity.

Ben Hazen, of the Lincolnville Volunteer Fire Department, swept 8 inches of water out of the Beach Station with a few of the guys Wednesday, and caught some dramatic pictures. The LFD was present for both storms, and a few intrepid fire guys waded into the mess to shut off propane tanks, and ensure the safe passage of anyone still in the buildings. Good group, those fire guys.

We’re resilient folk, and the coast will recover. But maybe remember these local businesses as they start opening back up.

Storms happen, but it is past time to realize that things aren’t like they used to be. Nature is unpredictable, yet the science is pretty darn clear that things aren’t likely to get better anytime soon. There may be little we can do as individuals, but we can continue having conversations about how to prepare for the storms that will come in the future, at the town, state, national, and global level.

Library events

Saturday, January 20, from 10-12, Sarah Kuhn and Sara Beth Casburn will be leading a free Visible Mending Workshop. Learn techniques for repairing good clothing in need of repair, saving useful goods from the landfills, and adding to the story of the garment. 

The library will also be hosting free tax preparation services sponsored by the AARP beginning January 15. Pick up an intake form at the library and set up an appointment. This is open to all ages.

And finally, on January 16 at 5 p.m. the January Book Group will meet to discuss the book Northeaster: A Story of Courage and Survival in the Blizzard of 1952 by Cathie Pellitier.

Well it sure was an eventful week, and hopefully this coming week will be a bit quieter, with more seasonable temperatures. I know not everyone likes the cold, but this is Maine, and it is January, and I wouldn’t mind getting in a little ice fishing, which for me means sitting in the shelter on a secluded pond in Lincolnville with a book.

Reach out at ceobrien246@gmail.com and keep practicing random acts of kindness. Be well Lincolnville.

CALENDAR

Monday, January 15

Martin Luther King Day, Town Office Closed

Tuesday, January 16

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Wednesday, January 17

Library open 2-5 p.m. 

Select Board, 5:30 p.m. Town Office

Comprehensive Plan Review Committee and Select Board Workshop, 6:30 p.m. Town Office

Friday, January 19

AA Meeting 12 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Library open 9-12, 208 Main Street

Saturday, January 20

Library open 9-12, 208 Main Street

Sunday, January 21

United Christian Church, 9:30 a.m. Worship, 18 Searsmont Road

Bayshore Baptist Church, 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 11:00 a.m. worship, 2648 Atlantic Highway