follow that qar!

My GENERATE day was cool and bright from morning to night, an adventure for edging ahead. Its true start was the bridge walk, a brisk excursion after the drive. My aim was to log a letterbox and I did. I also enjoyed a second fortuitous find, a sign left behind. Then I was off to the Andross entry. "Accidental collisions," Adam Burk said, and my note taking began. It was TEDxDirigo Sunday and I sat self-satisfied. The first talk was excellent: Voot Yin of MDIBL and Novo Biosciences Inc focused on tissue regeneration with ZF143 (ZF for zebra fish, which regrow a clipped tail at an astonishing rate; ZF143 for "a nontoxic drug that rescues defects in regeneration"). Might humans effectively regenerate damaged tissue with such a drug? That's what he hopes to find out. Along the way, I assume there'll be scads of "induced amputations" among sacrificial subjects: fishes, salamanders, and other lesser creatures. Three cheers for Alicia ...

Pretty sure it was 120 at 0135, but got caught by a fade. Wrote TUT. Probably AUT.

Bag Ladies Tea claims to be a specialty tea company, but their tea is not special. It's the packaging that counts. Their 17 offerings appear to differ only in the design of the box or tin they come in and the tags attached to their tea bag strings. "English breakfast" is as far as the website goes to describe the tea itself, which at $12.50 for 24 bags ought to be a premium selection. If you're looking for a cute gift go ahead and order a box, but if you're looking for tea keep searching.

His "How I became a poet" was the first catch. Whose definition, why someone writes? It's a wound that needs healing. Let a poem be itself. Ya gotta be smart enough to ask what it wants to do. (What is this about instructive direction?) Poems don't care. They have a loving nature. "You never get it right on the first draft." Size 14 shoes as a boy. Today he wears comfortably broken walking shoes. Then New Hampshire, now Maine. "Rains then quick thaws that so transform the world." He read The Abandonment and I thought of Stafford reading I Had a Brother. Giving form to the darkness. Who said "God damns every time he is asked"? It. On Water. And a pantoum. Name that poet.

Gift teas two: Irish Breakfast and Makaibari Estate Darjeeling, both from Mad Hat, A Tea Company . Both recommended, though neither emphatically. Sure, if this tea "palace" was close by, rather than in downtown Tacoma, I'd be happy to stop in for a taste. But no cross-country ordering has been inspired by an Irish Breakfast that is much like most others in my experience or a tea type that's never been a fave. The autumnal flush organic darjeeling, with a more pronounced flavor than other darjeelings I've tried, was perhaps the most enjoyable such tea in my slim history. That bodes well if by chance I find myself at 1130 Commerce. Why Mad Hat has been compelled to make controvertible "duh" statements en français on its packets, I haven't the foggiest. The Irish Breakfast specified Ceci n'est pas un Donkey .

A little after eight. Cold.

Good night, then.

Not sure what the spike is about. Happened on earlier pass, too.

Inside for the morning, we watched a kind neighbor snowthrow the mountain at the end of the driveway. That still left plenty for me. Nemo dropped an unprecedented single-storm snowfall, I'd say, at least for our 13 years here. Blowing and drifting make an estimate unwise, but I can't resist stating 25 inches.* I've seen taller piles once or twice, but this time we went from near-bare ground to waist-deep drifts overnight. It's hard to get shovel leverage with snow that high. 2+ days digging and there's still no route to the compost pile, or out the back door, for that matter. The weather station recorded only one gust above 30 mph, so no blizzard here, but it was nonetheless breezy. Sustained winds in the teens. 2/8 2118 29mph 44deg 2/8 2310 29 36 2/9 0249 28 37 2/9 0909 30 348 The weather station reported -3.1 temperature and -35 wind chill for 2pm on the 9th. Seems that has to be a glitch, but it was definitely cold and windy out there. Kept birds fed an...

Gift of tickets to Maine Red Claws versus Springfield Armor sent four of us to Portland, three for our third and one for her first time courtside. Good Saturday night crowd and tight game with the finish in our favor. Dajuan Summers , Micah Downs , and Shelvin Mack caught my home-team eye, while Christian Polk and Ben Uzoh were the Armor threats I most noticed. We recommend not sitting in the cheap corner seats.