Knee Deep in Mud

Since winter was disappointing I figured we'd be spared the misery of a bad mud season, if one at all. After all, there's no snow to speak of, but I guess when you live in New England, there's always snow somewhere. A day or two back we had this substantial warm spell where the temps were in the high 50s, and as a consequence, we got mud. Lots of mud. I'm guessing the ground is still frozen and the water has nowhere to go, though the trees are budding and it's really just a matter of time before the leaves pop out. I know sugaring is going on with abandon.

Since we live on a dirt road, we get the full effect of mud season. Adding to this fact is our long dirt driveway as well as all the water that flows off the road into it. There are two approaches to our house on the road, a long hill and a short flat section. The long hill is the most convenient because it leads directly to the center of town and then the highway, but for whatever reason it gets really hit with the mud. The hill doesn't help, and when the mud is really bad, it's really not drive-able. You can hear cars struggling to get up it during mud season.

The short section is much easier but less convenient. You can't check the mail, and you have to take a half-mile detour to get to the town center or highway. However, because it's shorter, you have much less mud to deal with. It gets bad but somehow being short and flat makes it more doable.

Whatever be the case, the mud a few days back was surprisingly bad. It's a bummer when the mud gets caked into your wheel and affects the alignment, especially when you're making a long trip up to Maine. I'm hoping this won't last long but like all things in life, only time will tell.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Matt Jorgensen for the pic.