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As the weather warms up and the snowcapped hills of western Maine thaw, the fifth season of the year begins: mud season. White gym shoes are stored away. Every step you take in the grass comes with a slight sinking feeling. Businesses close as small towns enter a short hibernation before the busy summer months. But even when things are at their quietest, there is still an anticipatory energy that keeps people moving. Everyone knows that in a few long, long weeks, the trees will bud and the sun will shine.

Silas Coombs, 2, of Albany Township, runs through puddles in Bethel on Feb. 24. (Rose Lincoln/Staff Writer)
Deer tracks are visible March 10 in soft gravel in Upton. (Rose Lincoln/Staff Writer)
A duck drinks from a muddy puddle April 14 at Grasshopper Hill Farm in Rangeley. (Quentin Blais/Staff Writer)
A mud season closure sign hangs April 9 in the window of Northern Lights Inc. in Rangeley. (Quentin Blais/Staff Writer)
Lorraine Bell, who lives on a dirt road in Bethel, washes her car April 10 at Mac’s Car Wash in Bethel. “It’s muddy; you expect it when you live in New England,” Bell said. (Rose Lincoln/Staff Writer)
A pig stands in its pen at Grasshopper Hill Farm on April 2 in Rangeley. (Quentin Blais/Staff Writer)

Bethel Citizen writer and photographer Rose Lincoln lives in Bethel with her husband and a rotating cast of visiting dogs, family, and friends. A photojournalist for several years, she worked alongside...

Quentin Blais, an Illinois native, is the community reporter for the Rangeley Highlander. He covers Rangeley and the surrounding towns in northern Franklin County. Quentin studied photography and journalism...

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