Northern Maine in Winter! (or, how miserable can life get?)

[ozitraveller]

In the high 80's here today, a loooooong way south of the equator. Would really like to see some rain soon.

Would really like to see the Northern Lights, and Canada would be nice too. I don't use my winter t-shirts much.

[PackRat]

Have you seen the aurora australis?

The furthest south I've seen the aurora borealis is in Nevada about 120 miles (200 km) north of Las Vegas. That far south it's usually just a red glow.

[ozitraveller]

Unfortunately not, I'm not quite far enough south to see it. And it doesn't look as though it's always visible.

Certainly stunning!

http://www.think-tasmania.com/aurora/
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/environment/atmosphere/aurora

[jedi]

The Aurora Borealis is incredible to see.  It is more prominent at different times of the year.  Up here, a friend and I used to do a lot of fly-fishing late at night.  Sometimes the sky would actually change colors in long ribbons and waves.  All kinds of color!  Green, blue, yellow, orange, etc...  (and NO I wasn't tripping, though for those in the know, it is the same friend who frequents the garage!  )
Also, during that period, I was living at the lake house which is about 7 miles south of where I am now.  I now live in town and the "light pollution" in town makes a difference in how it looks.  I have some great photography gear, but have never attempted to photograph it.  This year I'll make the effort.  It is a truly spectacular sight...
On a side note, one night while fishing at the lake, this friend and I actually went and woke up my wife at around 2:00am to make her come out and witness with us the "alien" invasion!  It was actually the first time either of us had spent much time staring at the sky at the same time.  (the trout must not have been biting!)  Anyway, what we were seeing were satellites going by hundreds of miles up.  The night was so clear, we literally could watch multiple satellites in a 60 second period!  It was my wife who assured us that it wasn't an alien invasion, and was really only satellites!
The meteor showers are another post entirely!

[zbreaker]

@VO
LSD indeed 

[jedi]

Guess I should have checked out ozitraveller's links!  I've seen the "lights" at least as good as the first link he posted, sometimes even more intensely.  The link to the Tasmania lights are not nearly as colorful or intense as they get here in Northern Maine.  Not sure if that is the difference in Maine being so far North as opposed to how far South Tasmania is...

edit:  Wow both links are showing the "Southern lights"!  And, it is the second link that has the really good pics.  Up here they get at least that good at different times throughout the year...

[ozitraveller]

Tassie probably doesn't have as much light pollution (light as luminosity, not light as in less than heavy! ) as the big island just north.

Hobart is a little further from the pole than Maine too. The only places closer to the south pole would be Auckland Island/Adams Island, south of NZ or Macquarie Island ( part of Tasmania).

[jedi]

Curious: since it's so cold up there, do you guys do the Scandinavian sauna thingy? A sauna and a quick plunge naked into the snow?

NO WAY!!!  I'm way to chicken.  I've never heard any mention of a local "Polar Bear Club" or of any tradition up here where they do that.  I've definitely heard of it in other cold places though...

[ozitraveller]

Curious: since it's so cold up there, do you guys do the Scandinavian sauna thingy? A sauna and a quick plunge naked into the snow?

NO WAY!!!  I'm way to chicken.  I've never heard any mention of a local "Polar Bear Club" or of any tradition up here where they do that.  I've definitely heard of it in other cold places though...

And I definitely don't want to see any photos! 

It's said to be very refreshing, or so I'm told.

I suppose it's something to do on those long cold winter nights. Or there's scrabble!

[jedi]

I guarantee you'd be playing "scrabble" to get your naked ass out of the snow!  It just turned April 1st, and we still have a little over 3 feet of snow on the ground.  I wish I had taken a picture of my neighbors on Sunday afternoon.  I'm not sure how he got that huge snow-blower up on his roof, but it was a ridiculous site and gave me a good laugh whilst clearing my driveway of the 10 inches we got that day...

They are an older couple (in their late 80's at least?) and their son who has to be in his 60's uses a plow for their driveway.  Due to this, their front yard has snow piled almost to the eaves of the house.  I suppose he somehow got the snow-blower up there by dragging it to the top and then using a couple of planks or something to actually get it on the roof.  Some homes end up collapsing from the weight of the snow if your don't keep it "raked" off...
It is a "heart attack" chore for sure!!!  I'm sure I'll be long dead before I ever attempt to get my snow-blower up there!

[ozitraveller]

Wouldn't a flame-thrower do a better/quicker job!!?  Or maybe some heater elements to melt the snow.

It would have been good to see a photo of the neighbour on the roof blowing the snow off though.

Do you get water restrictions up there? We usually have water restrictions over the summer when we have a poor winter/spring rainfall.

[jedi]

No water issues here!  We are surrounded by lakes and rivers here.  If I'm not mistaken I believe someone told me that the name of the town here where I live, Presque Isle, translated to "Almost an Island"!

[ozitraveller]

We've were in draught for almost 20 years until about 4 years ago. And the state government put a desal plant, just in case it happens again, and had a policy of no new dams. Now it's just sitting idle. And it cost a lot.

[jeffreyC]

For those who wonder  -40 C = -40 F

That is the point where the two scales cross.

[zbreaker]

^
Equals..Hey, I'm f-ing COLD!