The cold season has arrived. Between now and April this means layers of material cloaking the body. It means finding a heat source and becoming its best friend. Cold is part of the landscape, and if you move here, best respect that fact.
Wind is another character of the season. Soft little zephyrs are replaced with voracious volumes of moving air that will style the hair and dry the skin. The wind is cold. Its purpose is to make things colder. It is very good at quieting the dyspepsia of bureaucrats, politicians and con men. Unless they are selling a cold remedy.
In trying to tell the story of this area and how powerful the winds can be, all sorts of language is used. Most of the examples are of those with hair shorn smooth as an egg and just as befuddled. What wind, and where? And then there are the legends of winds that could peel the paint from the shingles, laying it in nice smooth coats on the neighbor’s barn. The wind is a ghost.
A common assignment when teaching overseas is to give a brief talk about what life is like for an ordinary citizen living in the community of today. While teaching in China, I had many moments when this assignment came due. Chinese people, students, love ghost stories. Getting their wits stirred by imaginary fingers plucking at hairs and chilling the bones is an exciting exercise. One cold winter night, with about 200 pairs of eyes focused on a few pictures of the wide-open spaces of Aroostook County, the outside forces of nature began to play with the doors to the lecture hall.
Recognizing that this was nothing more than a few sprites having fun teasing the mind, a story of the wide open night sky unfolded. Ten thousand stars and a soft moon lighting the environment. Curtains of northern lights and shorter days rounded out the tale of spirits playing with the world. Adding to the ghost stories’ effects were the constant rattling and banging of the wind upon the doors. Had we been outside in The County, a simple fire and some coffee on the flame would have been our only source of warmth.
So yes, winter has arrived. It has shortened daytime and brought the cold out of the stones. Enjoy it while you can.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television later working in many different areas of the US. After 20 years of television he changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
