Spring inches forward

There was still ice in some of the shaded coves of Megunticook when we walked there last week, in spite of the torrential rain on Monday night. (In the usual northwind aftermath, Wednesday was so cold it might as well have been January.) Hosmer Pond was frozen over shore to shore. The woodstove burned all day every day.

Water runs everywhere, down the hillsides and culverts, over roads, down our driveway, in such abundance that I can't imagine parts of the world where it's so precious. Indeed, springtime New England has too much of it in places. Last week's storm washed out many roads and closed schools. But as much water as there is, pouring into the ocean from all angles, it's wasted into salinity, and the deserts of the world don't want to know about such profligacy.

As the spring and summer wear on, Megunticook's shoreline will recede and Barrett's Cove Beach will have regained its sand. The lifeguard platform will not itself need rescue, and Stab'n Cabin will find its way to more violent shores.