Dear Readers,

Did you notice what happened this weekend? Or rather, what did not happen?

The answer is snow. There was no new snow falling on the drive, or the hill, or the back deck, or the roads.

In fact, the sun came out, and a warm breeze prompted my bride and I to go over to Ocean Point and take a walk. 

While reveling in the sunny day, we saw big waves crashing against Green Island and even bigger ones breaking on shore. Amidst the foam, a trio of kayakers darted in and out of the waves, working off the rust, while a lone lobsterman in an open skiff was working not far from the mouth of the Damariscotta.

On the way out to the Point, we noticed there seems to be some homebuilding going on. I know the folks at Knickerbocker have some projects and master builder Billy Dighton is doing a big project in Bayville. 

A huge residence on the Townsend Gut is going up not far from the Southport bridge. Modular builders seem to be doing a bit better.

On the East Boothbay waterfront, the folks at Washburn & Doughty have contracted to build four of their mighty tugboats and are advertising for shipyard workers to help them.

In the harbor, several shops have moved into larger quarters and are expanding. The venerable Ebb Tide is closed for remodeling for the first time in years, but I hope they don’t remodel their recipe for peach shortcake.

I am told some of the motels are updating their rooms. And one of the top real estate pros tells me she had a good year in 2012 and looks forward to 2013.

Down the coast, L.L.Bean announced its profits have reached the prerecession levels. That prompted them to award workers a bonus equal to 7.5 percent of their annual wage. 

All this evidence is anecdotal. It is not a scientific study. Does this mean the biggest economic recession since the great depression of the 1930s is over, and we can all join hands and sing “Ding, Dong, the Witch is dead?” No, of course not. 

But maybe, just maybe, things might be looking up a bit.

Meanwhile last weekend featured lots of sun (and no snow). We turned our clocks forward on Sunday and I noticed some daffodils peeking through the snow not far from the foundation of the house.

It won’t be long before the osprey return and once again attempt to build a huge nest on the chimney of a friend’s Linekin Bay home. And all of us know, that is a true signal of the end of winter and the beginning of spring. I can’t wait.

Now, if we can just get through March without another storm coming up the coast.

Our biggest news was that we became rustlers. No, we did not get on horses and steal the neighbor’s cattle.

We drove over to a friend's house, walked to a huge forsythia bush and clipped a dozen or so long branches. 

For the record, we had permission from the owner, so the “rustling” was on the up and up.