Bunnies and Moose

What is a moose to do? Is it time to wander beneath the trees, hide in the tall grass or watch a thunderstorm race across the sky, but if you don’t know the right answer – all of the above will keep you busy this summer. I also love to swat the mosquitoes with my tail and stand near the road to have my portrait taken. Oh wait, I don’t have a tail so those mosquitoes just keep pestering me!

I wish you would send those funny photos of me and my neighbors to us here at Mooseville and if we look like rock stars, I might post it for everyone to see.

The summer is going by so quickly –it is only a few more weeks till Old Home Days in Phillips. This year’s theme makes me laugh because I just love Duct Tape and you can use it in so many ways. I can’t wait to see the parade floats look like – a creative bunch those Phillips folks are! The list of events seems to get longer every year – but this year I am looking forward to the Everything Sale at the Old Gym and wandering by the train tracks to wave at the people. I might dress up as the four-legged Ghost of Duct Tape just to keep things interesting.
I do want to send out a hello to Charlie – he is my new little buddy who moved up to Mooseville from Wilton. He thinks he is going to grow up to be a lion, but really he is just a rabbit with a big head of hair and likely won’t grow to be more than three pounds.

The garden seems to be emerging from the mud now, but after such a slow start, I am not sure if there will be any tomatoes. The potatoes seem happy, but it is hard for me to dig those up with two left hooves, so I am hoping for a little help. Charlie and I do love the carrot tops, but we have learned that if we eat too many carrot tops, there aren’t any carrots left for the winter! That was a tough lesson for both of us to swallow!

Well, I guess that is all of my moosely wisdom for today! Check out our website www.mooseville.com!

Happy Summer and Moosecellaneous!

Hello Summer!

This week we welcomed back the sunshine to Mooseville!   It was a strange phenomenon – blue sky and  warm temperatures, but it sure had everyone in good spirits, including me. Everything seems to be drying out and despite my optimism, I would have to admit that I am getting ready for the next batch of thunderstorms and clouds.  The nice folks at the Farmer’s Almanac even went so far as to apologize last week for being right – but being right isn’t always a good thing.

In other news around the Moose state, the legislature decided to prohibit smoking in state parks, beaches and historic sites.  The law, put forth earlier this year by Senator John Nutting,  was passed just before most parks opened for the summer season.

As the mayor of Mooseville, I try not to be too political, but I am pleased with this new effort to reduce secondhand smoke for the animals and people who enjoy the parks and it will eliminate those ugly cigarette butts from littering our favorite places.

Now if I can just convince people to stop throwing trash out of their cars – there was already is a law against littering, so stop already will you! We don’t even have any fast food restaurants in Mooseville, but I am always stumbling over Burger King and McDonalds bags and wrappers.  I do fancy those new Frostys from Wendy’s, but there never seems to be anything left in the cups except rain water and that is a real disappointment for me.

I also wanted to talk up the new section of Mooseville for a little bit. It's called Moosecellaneous! It is going to be growing into something for you to be entertained and have a good laugh when you visit! So if you are having a bad day, this will definitely be a place to go to help lift your spirits! It will have things that are not moose from fun signs, t-shirts, lights, oddball items and plush animals. Keep checking it out weekly for fun new products! Here's a link to it now!

Don't forget your sunscreen and have a great week ahead!

Doing the Moose Walk

Here we are on the verge of summer -at least, we are hoping that the monsoon season is coming to a close in the mountains of Maine. June was rumored to have been the rainiest in decades, maybe ever, so we aren’t hoping for a drought, but a sunny day would be a nice change of pace.
Family, Fun and Fireworks - I hope you had a great day yesterday to celebrate Independence Day!

The barbecues were fired up in Madrid (pronounced maaaa-drid - you have to draw out the a) for the annual picnic and they even had a deep fried turkey. Those ladies sure do put out a nice spread of snacks – salads of every kind, decadent cakes and pies and my favorite - sour pickles.

Micah turned the big 4 years old yesterday and he is convinced that all the fireworks are just for his birthday. And being four, you can’t argue with him.

There have been lots of photos in the news of my nephew Buckey. He is my sister’s youngest boy, but even he is having trouble competing with the news about Michael Jackson. Out of respect, I have been trying to learn how to do the moon walk, but having four legs rather than two makes it quite a sight. I will spare you the photos.

Do I like turnips? It is a question that has been on my mind for a while - you know one of those deep philosophical questions to consider on a long rainy afternoon. I would love to hear your thoughts on turnips or any other thoughts you might have for that matter.
Until next time – be careful with those leftover Sparklers!

Catch Up!

You have probably been wondering what happened to me these last few months… the new grass, the flowers and spring fever had me in the mood for traveling!

I know we live in a high tech world, where I could tweet my every move, but I decided that you don’t really need to know what I am thinking about in between mouthfuls and the answer to the Facebook question of what’s on your mind would likely be too scary.

I will humor you with a recap of my spring adventures. It might just keep you curious humans on the edge of your seats. In the heat of the April summer, I went to Massachusetts to welcome little Julianna – she will be a heart breaker in a few years. To get away from the mud and black flies, I dropped by to see Corey in New Jersey and took a little vacation at the Star Barn Bed and Breakfast. I do love Toothaker Pond for a relaxing swim.

Lately, I have been busy slowing the traffic at my favorite spots along Routes 4 and 16. June proved to be a cool and rainy month, good for growing bugs but somewhat challenging for tomatoes, so I have been checking the progress of the new asparagus.

Did you know they are building a new road up to Rangeley and they are straightening out the S – curves along the way? It is supposed to be done later this year, but we shall see…wasn’t it supposed to be done last year? If you are inclined to drive up to Rangeley, be sure you make a pit stop at the Bear Hill Variety store before you head north because it might take you the best part of an hour to get there from Madrid.

But as my mom always said, the road to a friends is never long…I look forward to your visit soon!

Hello there Spring!

Hello there Spring!

Spring has sprung around western Maine – grass is visible, albeit brown, driveways are muddy and the snow sure is melting after a handful of warm days.
I did visit my smart friends down at the University of Maine – Farmington and saw a row of brave tulips poking up near the library, can’t wait for those colors. It seems too soon for those, but who am I to say!
As the mayor of Mooseville, I haven’t had much to say politically of late, but I think we should all take advantage of the Spring to celebrate the “Day the Moose Sprung” day!
A day where you might sit on your back porch and relish in the sunshine and laugh at the cluster flies who are confused by the warm temperatures and the big snow bank that you created with all that shoveling over the railing. Or maybe, you might head down to Farmington and sit on the bench outside Java Joes and just wave at the cars driving by…it is fun for me! Or just maybe, you could live dangerously and wash that old beater of a car you drive – as long as the dirt isn’t holding it all together!
I hope you have a great week filled with sunshine! Ahhh…the joy of spring – I can lick the salt off the roadways and wander through the melting bogs…wait, I think I feel a haiku coming.

Spring moose temptations
Laugh at the camera-laden cars
Wander across the road

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I would like to send a personal thank you out to my friend, who shall remain unnamed, for telling me that indeed, “March is the snowiest month of the year.” Well thank you, Corey (oops!) for that bit of uplifting news. Snow is good for skiing and snowshoeing, but my mind has already shifted to spring like the clocks last week.

Well, let us move on to some happier news for this week’s post because spring is indeed just down the road a piece. In the coming week, we will all turn a bit Irish as St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated all around Mooseville. Moose can go green with the best of them. I even have a four-leaf clover that I keep as an emergency snack, oh wait, maybe I ate that one already.

Corned beef and cabbage isn’t really a meal fit for a moose, but if you are so inclined, please do enjoy this truly American version of St. Patrick’s Day feast.

I would also like to send a hello to my buddy George in Wisconsin. He spent most of last week in the hospital, but is home now and definitely “moose-ing” it up! So I thought I would take a minute to tell you about all the healthy leafy greens we have to look forward to as the snow melts. According to Prevention magazine’s March issue, romaine, watercress and spinach are great sources of vitamins, calcium and even iron. Who knew Popeye was eating spinach to help lower his risk of macular degeneration.

I hope you have all made the transition to Daylight Savings Time and are now waking up at a respectable time!

Daylight Savings Time!

Hello Friends! (oops I forgot to publish this one!)

After a long February vacation around Mooseville, I have returned to remind you about Daylight Savings Time. Last night, the clocks were supposed to spring forward in the middle of the night and when we woke up it was an hour later.

March is one of those ironic months. For example, yesterday I saw people wearing sweatshirts instead of coats, puddles of water and sunshine, but this morning there was a wet and sticky snow covering everything in Mooseville.

I still don’t understand the time change, because time it is doesn’t matter much when you are a moose who doesn’t wear a watch. I get up when it is sunny and go to bed when it is dark, but occasionally I do stay up to watch late night television but that is a story for another time. But the hardest part of the time change is remembering what clocks you have changed and which ones you haven’t.

While I have your attention, I do want to encourage you to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. You could run down to the Phillips Hardware and I am sure Betty can fix you up with some new 9-volt batteries. Did you know you should replace your smoke detectors every ten years? I apologize for adding something else to your to do list!

Since you have absolutely no idea what time it is, I would recommend that you make yourself another cup of coffee, read all about the specials at the Mooseville store and have a great day!