It’s December 8 and the thermometer at 6 AM reads 14°. Last night I heard the snow plow go by twice on the main road. Looks like three inches of new powder, which I have to clean off the windshield of my truck, not enough to call the plow guy to scrape down my driveway.

My daily I Ching reading was hexagram 16: Contentment. The interpretation ( Deming, Everyday I Ching), read like this: You depend on Sage advisors. You concur on everything with them. No major problems are indicated. Keep on your toes. If you’re passionate interested in achieving something, your enthusiasm will attract others and win their cooperation. Consider the power of music to influence others. Music has the ability to move and inspire people and bring them together and it has always been a part of religious ceremonies. Creating harmony with other people depends on understanding what matters to them.

I just received the call from my friend Steve whose driveway is two miles away. He lives in the back woods close to a mile off the main road on 150 acres. Steve needs some help today getting a barn door repositioned and asked me if I could come up as he can’t move it himself.

I welcome the invitation because it allows me to structure my morning. I will clean my truck off. Steve’s request is a good excuse to pair going into Camden (9 miles) to lift weights at the YMCA for 45 minutes then stop at the library to pick up a book:

Then I’ll head up to Steve’s on Moody Mountain to get there about 11:15.

The rest of the afternoon day will be mine hopefully to spend at least an hour on working on a new watercolor painting.

Then I plan to practice my accordion in preparation for a weekly open mic night tomorrow at the American Legion Hall that I’ve been frequenting.

I am grateful that I am able to face the day with meaningful activities, some of which might enable me to transcend to darkening night of my winter retreat.

Tuesday, December 2 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Tom Jamrog will discuss physical and mental preparations for longer hikes and share knowledge about adaptations in modern equipment that will assist aging hikers with their own experience of extended engagement in nature. 

This program will take place at the Camden, Maine Public Library on Tuesday, December 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the Picker Room.

Tom is the 278th person to have completed unsupported thru-hikes of the Appalachian (AT), Pacific Crest (PCT), and Continental Divide Trails (CDT), and was awarded the “Triple Crown of Hiking” by the American Long Distance Hiking Association-West.  He is a Licensed Maine Guide and past President of the Maine Association of School Psychologists.

Tom recently completed his fifth backpacking adventure through Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness (the northernmost, remote, and last segment of the Appalachian Trail from Monson to Katahdin.) In April of 2025 he backpacked a 260-mile portion of the Arizona National Scenic Trail. 

Tom will also have signed copies of his book for sale, In the Path of Young Bulls: An Odyssey on America’s Continental Divide Trail, detailing his unsupported, five-months-long, 2,500 mile trek over the Rocky Mountains from Mexico to Canada. 

At 75, I’m still breaking personal records (PRs) on Strava—and half the time it has happened on days I almost stayed home.

After decades of hiking and biking outdoors and the Triple Crown of Hiking behind me, you’d think my PRs would dry up. But consistency, smart (longer) recovery, and my love for the feel of lateral acceleration move my “go” needle.

You don’t need to be young to get faster. It might be enough to just keep showing up.

Here’s to surprising ourselves—one ride, one hike, one segment at a time.

I’m not racing anyone but my past self.

And some days, I’m still catching him.

You don’t have to be young to improve.

Keep showing up.

Your next PR might be waiting on your next walk or ride.

Water came up again in my morning in my daily I Ching reading—number 47; an image of a lake without water.

I’m counseled to accept this situation. Not to give up hope, but to ride out the bad times until things get better. To hold on to a faith that things will improve. A positive attitude will be my greatest ally in dealing with the fluctuating levels of water in my well. I am counseled to remain in faith and hope, when everything seems to be disintegrating.

The Crisis: In the past month only 2.5 inches of rain have fallen at my house.

Although that has brought some relief to the severe drought that has plagued the mid-coast area of Maine over the Summer and Fall, I was totally shocked yesterday to lift open the concrete well cover to find 8 feet of water in my shallow well! (The bottom of well itself is only 11 feet below the surface of the ground.)

Two weeks ago, my well went dry when the foot valve at the end of the 1-inch plastic pipe became exposed.

I was forced to go to the laundromat to wash my clothes. And to wade into Levenseller Pond with 20-gallons worth buckets and pails to garner enough water to get me through the week. I belong to the local YMCA, so I took up showering there. I found paper plates and bowls to cut down on my washing of dishes. No one appreciates the convenience of opening a faucet to obtain hot running water until there is zero water in your pipes.

Signs of Recovery: One factor that may have helped restore my well was that my tenant, who was living in my basement apartment since April just moved to a larger rental he’ll now be sharing with his girlfriend.

Understanding the Science: Air temperature is the key player in reducing evaporation rates, including shorter days and lower sun levels in New England. Summer evaporation rates can run 5 to 10 times higher than winter rates in many areas of North America. Cooler temperatures and shorter days in the Fall significantly reduce evaporation compared to summer months. Combined with the recent rain and reduced water usage my tenant moving out, these factors likely all contributed to my well’s recovery

Looking Ahead: This is really good news, however, this spring or summer I plan to have a deep well drilled that will mitigate the chance that I’ll be without water in the future. Also son Lincoln has been advising me to invest in a traditional drilled well.

Shallow wells are vulnerable to seasonal fluctuations and drought conditions, so, having a more reliable water source will provide me real peace of mind. A drilled well typically reaches much more stable water tables that aren’t as affected by surface conditions and weather patterns.

Full Circle: So, the I Ching reading I received—the image of a lake without water, with counsel to maintain faith and hope during difficult times—seems particularly apt for my situation. I’ve lived through exactly that metaphor, forcing alternative actions for two weeks, when I retained a positive attitude and implemented practical problem-solving.

I just received a phone call from a well drilling service that let me know that his company has successfully drilled a half dozen wells close to my property. He sending me an estimate. I am taking steps to ensure more stability going forward, which is both pragmatic and hopeful!

As of this week, my well went dry. With a few days of rain predicted it is possible that my twelve foot deep well will recharge but the race against the freezing ground surface will likely shut off my chances of easy access to water. It’s never gone dry in 47 years.

I need to drill a deep well but the demand is so great that my best hope so far is to have a well drilled in the spring. Long wait lists.

Posted below is yesterday’s Bangor Daily News on the severity of the current Maine coastal drought.

“Numer­ous rivers in east­ern and north­ern Maine have dropped to record low levels this month or are approach­ing them as the driest con­di­tions in the state in more than 20 years keep get­ting worse.

Bod­ies of water are low in Aroostook, Pen­ob­scot and Wash­ing­ton counties, the National Weather Ser­vice’s Cari­bou office said Sunday.

Below the sur­face, ground­wa­ter is also depleted. Wells are run­ning dry around the state, with the 439 repor­ted so far eas­ily out­pa­cing num­bers from recent years, includ­ing Maine’s last drought in 2022, when 95 wells went dry, accord­ing to data repor­ted to the state.

Con­di­tions are now drier than Dix­mont-based well driller Tre­vor Gould or his father, who star­ted in the busi­ness in 1972 but is now retired, can remem­ber.

“He’s amazed how dry it is, I’m amazed how dry it is,” the younger Gould said, describ­ing dirt that feels like powder in dug trenches and is as imper­meable as con­crete at the sur­face. “It’s ridicu­lous.”

Almost 75 per­cent of the state is now in severe or extreme drought after the sixth driest sum­mer on record, accord­ing to the National Drought Mon­itor, and the rest — primar­ily north­ern counties — is in mod­er­ate drought. Nearly all of Oxford, Frank­lin, Waldo, Han­cock and Wash­ing­ton counties are in extreme drought, accord­ing to the site.

The Upper St. John River in Aroostook County, the St. Fran­cis River along the New Brun­swick bor­der and the Mat­t­awamkeag River in Pen­ob­scot County are see­ing the low­est flows since records have been kept, which range from 73 to 90 years for those bod­ies of water, accord­ing to the weather ser­vice.

So are the north branch of the Pen­ob­scot River in Rock­wood, near Que­bec, and Libby Brook in North­field, though records there don’t go back as far, the ser­vice said.

Nearly the entire Pis­cata­quis River is close to its low­est flow in 123 years of recor­ded his­tory, as is the Pen­ob­scot River at West Enfield, though it is heav­ily con­trolled by a dam.

In Cherry­field, the Nar­raguagus River is also approach­ing its low­est flow in 77 years, accord­ing to the weather ser­vice. That has reduced fish pas­sage and access to hab­itat for young Atlantic sal­mon, the Depart­ment of Mar­ine Resources repor­ted to the state drought task force earlier this month.

Below the sur­face, hun­dreds of wells have gone dry around the state; 55 per­cent of Main­ers used private wells for their drink­ing water in 2023, accord­ing to the latest state data avail­able. A vol­un­tary site run by the Maine Emer­gency Man­age­ment Agency lis­ted 439 dry wells this year as of Monday. The major­ity are in Oxford County, fol­lowed by Somer­set, Frank­lin and Cum­ber­land counties.

That data is self-repor­ted and depends on people know­ing about the site, the drought task force said earlier this month, so it is pos­sible that the prob­lem has been more wide­spread than the data on the site sug­gests.

But com­pan­ies that drill deep wells, in place of shal­lower dug ones, are facing more demand for their ser­vices this sea­son. Car­mel Well Drilling, which serves greater Bangor and bey­ond, has seen a 30 to 40 per­cent increase in calls this year from people who are out of water or run­ning dry, accord­ing to owner Kevin Hol­land.

The com­pany is see­ing a large volume of work that he also attrib­utes in part to a short­age of water well drillers.

A new drilled well can range from $6,000 to $12,000, sev­eral Bangor-area drillers said.

Maine’s most recent major drought was in 2001 and 2002, when around 17,000 private wells dried up, crops suffered mil­lions of dol­lars of dam­age and even­tu­ally mil­lions of dol­lars worth of upgrades were spent on water mains and con­nec­tion points, accord­ing to the National Integ­rated Drought Inform­a­tion Sys­tem.

Rain­fall is pre­dicted in north­ern and east­ern Maine this week, but isn’t expec­ted to make a dent in drought con­di­tions, accord­ing to the weather ser­vice; it would take 10 to 15 inches of slow, steady rain to do that before the ground freezes.”