We bought 20 acres of land on Maryland's eastern shore in 1997 by Fairlee Creek, a beautiful tidal channel that connects with the Chesapeake Bay. Early in 1998, we completed construction of a cozy Lindal Cedar Home, which offered Linda and me a wonderful window on the remarkable wildlife of our region.
Every winter, the creek by our home hosts thousands of waterfowl that overwinter here, or use our creek as a staging area for their migrations to and from points south. Our primary winter visitors are tundra (whistling) swans and Canada geese, but we also have seen families of trumpeter swans, which are extremely rare in Maryland. And mergansers and many other species frequent our creek during the spring migration. Although we usually host several dozen tundra swans, Linda recently counted over three hundred of them, many of which departed soon thereafter for other places.
So you might think that we could settle into this wildlife paradise without a worry in the world, but you'd be wrong! Although we eastern shore Marylanders often pride ourselves in the belief that if we get winter snow it will melt in a couple of days, that is not always the case. When Nor'easters strike, all bets are off!
What you see here is the back of our home, what one sees when driving up to visit us. You will also see the results of a Nor'easter, which on two separate occasions last year inundated our area. The equipment you see is a Kubota tractor we use for such occasions, equipped with a rear plow blade and a front loader. That's our power snow shovel!
We were hit with two serious snow storms last winter, on February 4 and 10, 2010. Unfortunately, when they occurred I was flat on my back at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore awaiting a lung transplant after a devastating lung infection of unknown origin. But fortunately, Linda was able to make the 3-hour round trip drive to Baltimore to keep my spirits up, while dealing with all of that snow and taking care of many pets that we have in our home. Luckily, the same blizzard that filled our 1,000 foot driveway prevented the movement of organs for transplant. And in the interim, my condition improved. The lung they thought I needed then could not be delivered because of the storm, and I have recovered without the need for a transplant. So not all storms are bad!
And through it all, this place remains very special to both of us.
Norm
Last edited by Norm Dulak; 02-15-2011 at 11:05 AM.
To show you a different look at the depth of the snow, this is our deck on the other side of the house, the side that overlooks the creek and its wildlife, after the first of those storms. Of course, all that snow had to be hand shoveled over the railing.
The large tree in the background is a favorite haunt of a pair of bald eagles that nest in the area. Pretty cool to be able to step out on the deck and see those magnificent birds, or even view them through a skylight in our home without even going outside!
Last edited by Norm Dulak; 02-15-2011 at 11:21 AM.
Norm, that is an amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Your home is beautiful - pretty much what I've always dreamed of owning (only maybe a bit further south!)
February Challenge (Home) -- Our Special Place
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