If I had to describe the month of March in Maine by using just two words, the words would be light and mud. There are no other words that describe the month so succinctly. The sun sits much higher in the sky than it did during the months of December, January, and February and the snow and ice truly begin to melt in earnest.
If you’ve never lived or spent time in the north country, please allow me to tell you a bit about the mud. It’s real and it’s awful. March’s warmer temperatures begin to melt the snow and ice that sit on the surface of the ground. When that occurs, the first few inches of ground thaw as well. While that may seem fine to the uninitiated, what’s not so fine is that while the top layer of dirt thaws, the foot thick layer of icy dirt beneath remains frozen. Basically, the lower layer of ice makes it impossible for any liquid above to absorb into the earth, resulting in what we so fondly refer to as mud season. What happens when someone walks or drives on soft ground? A mess is made, that’s what.
Maine town offices stay quite busy during the month of March. Phone calls are made by angry residents asking for truckloads of gravel to spread across the worst parts of their dirt roads. While driving around, Laura and I see road after road with residents’ cars parked at the ends. Since these poor folks would surely get stuck if they attempted to drive on their deeply rutted, what can only now be described as walking paths, they’re left with few options. Sometimes people are forced to walk miles, just to make it through their front doors.
That said, March is a nice month. As I mentioned above, the days are longer and brighter and the temperatures are higher – probably somewhere between 25-30 at night and 35-50 during the day. So realistically, the brunt of winter is over beginning the second week of the month. That’s not to say we won’t get hit with another snow storm or two, it’s just to say that the snow won’t hang around for nearly as long as it did earlier in the season.
