George Sparacio, left, gives UPS driver helper Joseph Ouellette some directions Thursday in Gardiner. Ouellette said he covers several miles a day delivering packages with the push cart. “It’s good exercise,” he said of his part-time job. Sparacio was walking near his home.

Dana Philippi walks into the rain Friday in Augusta. Philippi was returning to his office in a heavy rain.

Jeanne Chamberland, left, 88, of St. Agatha and her sister, Lillian Bussier, 84, of Lewiston, laugh after viewing a photo Friday of their mother, Emma Gagnon, pouring buttermilk. The photo, captured by Farm Security Administration photographer John Collier Jr. while documenting the Gagnon family’s potato farm in Frenchville, is on display at the Maine State Museum in Augusta. Gagnon, a mother of 11 children, passed away from tetanus at the age of 42, two years after the photo was created. It was the first time Chamberland saw the photo.

Nancy Russell, of Readfield, moves mush away from the walkway of her shed Tuesday, as rain descends upon the fresh coat of snow. “It’s a lovely day to shovel,” Russell remarked. “It will all turn to ice if I don’t shovel it now.”

Santa Claus and Elizabeth Conary stroll down Water Street in Gardiner on Thursday. Stores were doing brisk business at midday in the middle of the holiday shopping season, beneath clear-blue skies. Kringle and Conary stopped and chatted with several shoppers and merchants during their constitutional through town.

Jana Christman, left, leads her friend, Emily Boedeker, 11, center, and daughter, Emma Christman, 12, past the Litchfield Country Store on horseback Sunday. The trio were riding along the edge of the road with their steeds before taking to trails through the woods to loop back to their Litchfield homes.

Olive Taverner laughs Wednesday after dismounting the sidecar of a motorcycle following, a ride in 20 degree F temperatures through Augusta. The 91-year-old said the bike ride, courtesy of the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association, was on the bucket list she composed upon retiring as a teacher in 1986. The resident of Gray Birch Long Term Care in Augusta said the only wish she has to left to complete on the list is a helicopter ride. The side car journey was, she said, “just wonderful.”

Myra Macfie herds a hen away from the road outside her Hallowell home on Wednesday. Macfie has nine free-range hens which provide her eggs, and a bantam rooster that sat in a lawn chair and crowed as Macfie rounded up the miscreant flock.

Members of Cub Scout Pack 222, of Palermo, observe soliders with the Maine Army National Guard’s Maine Military Funeral Honors Program folding the U.S. flag Tuesday, at the Augusta State Armory. After watching the soldiers present the colors, the Scouts practiced proper flag etiquette under the supervision of the Guardsmen, who provide honor burials for veterans.

Monmouth Middle School principal Steve Philbrook is taped to a wall in the gym on Monday, during a schoolwide assembly of students and faculty. The students were promised a chance to tape the principal to the wall if they assembled more food items than last year for the annual Cottrell-Taylor food drive. Students from the 4th through 8th grades surpassed last year’s collection by gathering 3,454 nonperishable items to donate during the holidays to several area families. After a several rolls of tape were applied, a box beneath Philbrook’s feet was removed, and he remained firmly in place until faculty cut him loose.