I enjoy some light reading in bed before turning out the lights and finishing with Fulghum, I looked through my library and decided to revisit Everyone Is Entitled to My Opinion. You’ve…
Columns
Weekend nights, the Bag was the place to be. No bands, just good friends, good company
Autumn is a time of contemplation, a time to be still
Many of us have noticed there is less daylight time, giving us shorter days to be outdoors.
Darkness arrives sooner on our doorstep.
A…
‘He said the meat is fake, but the movement is real’
Sometimes I stumble onto news items that make me scratch my head. I see it all the time, but only see a few that prompt me to write about it.…
The chipmunk was once called “chitmunk” from the native Ottawa word meaning “red squirrel.” Nothing is any cuter than a chipmunk, unless it’s two chipmunks. Everyone will not agree with me on that…
a bountiful summer for monarchs in Maine
During my annual fall pilgrimage to Monhegan Island to enjoy the spectacle of bird migration, I’ve found myself paying more and more attention in recent years to butterflies—especially the…
Down by the sea
It was 113 years ago on August 30 that Camden saw one of its largest parades. The date was August 30, 1906, when the town paid tribute to William Conway, a Civil War veteran, who had been dead…
Someone will always produce a study to substantiate the result you want
Several years ago, I wrote a piece about “studying” and how I thought I would be pretty good at it. I would be willing to study anything for anyone and give them the answer they were looking for.…
By late summer, birdsong has quieted. Shorebirds’ southward migration is underway. Fledged birds—from sparrows to hawks—are newly on their own. Robins are considering a third nesting. And…
Down by the sea
How much thought have you given to the “Soldiers' Monument” that stands to attention in Harbor Park, as you pass by it whenever you go through Main Street in Camden? It took only eight women to…
Down East, periwinkles, called ‘wrinkles,’ are harvested for food
Who here on the coast of Maine doesn't have their handful of shells, mussel shells on a windowsill, or little jar of periwinkles? Who doesn't pick up one or two from the beach each summer, to be…
Where It’s At
Twenty-five.
There are 25 journeys to be taken through the paintings of Belfast-based artist David Estey at Studio 53 Fine Art through July 28. The works were created between 2015 and 2019…
‘that is what you drive if you are not in a nursing home’
After purchasing at least 25 automobiles of all makes, models, and colors, I retired and decided to trade my van in for a sporty car. The salesman, with whom I had traded many years, said, “I have…
Politics and ice cream
I like ice cream. Back when the cholesterol scare was in full force, I had some tests as part of regular screening and there was concern about my cholesterol levels.…
June is the month when we recognize the many students who have spent 13 years studying to prepare for college or work. Many students have sent in their applications and made the decision for the…
Industrial Arts
On Sunday, June 23, at about 9:30 a.m., about 40-some residents of (and a few regular visitors to) Matinicus Island assembled at the harbor, waiting for the arrival of a small group of lobster…
Jupiter is currently 14 times brighter than the planet Saturn
While we were driving home to the Midcoast from an event in central Maine recently, just past sunset, fields of lush green grass glowed on either side of the car. As the passenger, I kept watch…
It’s hard to leave your house without hearing about the epidemic brown tail moth, but it takes a special community to stand comparing rashes in the grocery store while scrambling for the next…
The stories make us who we are
I’m going to state right off the bat that I want something from you readers. Nothing for me, but something important for you.
I arrived very late…
I certainly do not want to start a Revolution
People keep asking, “Why don't you write about James Richards, because he was the first settler of Camden.”
Well I thought everyone knew about him, but because my paternal grandmother was a…
As the trees begin to leaf out, songbirds are slowly but surely returning. Waking in the morning to birdsong feels like the renewal of some kind of blessing. Even on a bleak and chilly day in May…
The “sentinels of the Maine Coast” are numerous, with a lot of history, and they come in various sizes, shapes, colors and vary in height. All are very popular with tourists and…
Transformations
This week, four local writers, all students of Kathrin Seitz, reflect on the seasons, and matters of life.
Flint
by Gabrielle Attra
Scraps. Dust.…
An excellent source of protein, eggs are a sought-after wild food
In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins gets into a riddle competition with Gollum in their first fateful meeting. One of Bilbo's riddles is this:…
One night, I was parked with my girlfriend and some Camden guys came by...
That was the thing to do. Before American Graffiti, here in the Midcoast, cruising was a popular pastime. There were several routes that were…
Other animals
The time of year has come to shuffle off the carapace of winter and greet the spring. Our part of the world is tilting towards the sun and the days are lengthening; snow has melted, and…
‘Sit, be still and listen’
A clinical trial funded by the National Cancer Institute developed a program to improve the health of spousal family caregivers. In reviewing it, I found it to be valuable for all caregivers. This…
This week in Lincolnville... errh.... Louisiana
“Well folks, we made it.” That was our pilot speaking as our plane taxied to a stop on the runway, wind-driven rain lashing at the windows. The past hour’s “turbulence” had left us all a bit tense…
Eva Murray: Part 2: Truck calls, the opiate crisis, August as the cruelest month, and the importance of eating together
Sharon Daley, RN is the first and to date the only nurse associated with the telemedicine program on the Maine Seacoast Mission vessel Sunbeam, which makes regular visits to many of Maine’s…
According to the calendar, it's now officially spring. As those of us in Maine know full well, however, we could just as easily experience a blizzard at this point as a beautiful spring day. But…
Meeting tonight
ROCKPORT — The Select Board in Rockport will convene at 7 p.m., this evening, March 25, for a meeting that will be drawing many interested citizens and committees to the Geoffrey C. Parker Meeting…
You need a break from the articles about the 1900s. But a big event happened in 1969 that needs to be remembered, because the first settler, James Richards, arrived in Camden by boat in 1769. Two…
Eva Murray: Industrial Arts
Part 1: A discussion with the captain and the engineer about breaking ice, the needs of a steel boat, and the substitute mission vessel Moonbeam
For over a century the Maine…
Growing up in Camden surrounded by caring adults
During a good natured recent ribbing on Facebook, Dave Dickey mentioned several people who supported him in his youth growing up in Camden. There is talk…
‘I have heard a lot of tourists say that nowhere they have traveled was there a prettier ride than up the Old Penobscot River’
No, I never did have a ride on the “Boston Boat,” but I do remember going to meet it when my grandfather came back from Boston. He was private captain for Charles Dana Gibson, one of…
if you keep them in water until the leaves emerge, rooted cuttings can be easily transplanted into soil
A friend once told me that when he first moved to Maine years ago, to try homesteading in the boonies of Montville, his 80-year old neighbor told him that every winter she counted down the days…
The wildlife around us
Since writing my last article I’ve gotten several interesting questions about wildlife, so I figured I’d answer them together and all at once.
…
Industrial Arts: A reply to ‘How’s your winter been?’
A few out-of-state friends have asked how things are going. I enjoy this time of year, but they don’t believe me.
I don’t like the cold rain we…
A lot has happened on this tiny Camden street: industry, romance, business
There have been many changes in all of the business district of Camden-by-the-Sea since its first days of incorporation in 1771.
One section that has come to mind is Tannery…
Lyme Time with Paula Jackson Jones
If you are struggling and feeling hopeless, please read this.
I just got off the phone with a 29-year-old woman who has two young children and…
How are caregivers surviving?
One in seven middle-aged adults provides physical, emotional or financial support to an aging parent, child or other family member. They are unpaid and are considered the “sandwich generation” who…
Whenever I can, I have coffee with a great group of guys. Coffee is really just an excuse to get together and the crowd is awesome. If you don’t have a…
Great Horned Owl pair is nesting by late January, early February in Maine
When we think of springtime, we think of birds returning from southern climes to brighten our trees once more. Of waking to flourishes of birdsong each morning. Of birds pairing up and nesting.…
Other Animals
As we settle into the brunt of winter and the winds feel more biting every day, I think it’s a good time to remember our outdoor neighbors.
The…
Tour Lewiston, Auburn, Farmington, Skowhegan – and everything in between
Freezing rain was falling in Augusta as I grabbed my box lunch and boarded a bus, bound for three days in Central and Western Maine. I wasn’…
Last Sunday, I was standing in the kitchen with my husband having just prepared a rather elegant (read: complicated) dinner when I glanced down at my hand and saw the gaping hole. One of the three…
Industrial Arts
Birding “well out to sea” isn’t just about the puffins.
My mother-in-law always swore that she had once seen a mountain bluebird on Matinicus Island, back when she lived here in the 1970s…
Down by the sea
In a recent article, “Importance of Advertising,” I mentioned the steamer that I had not before heard about, and maybe because it was in an article printed in 1899. The booklet was Camden by…
The Interstate Shuffle, Blaming Siri, Einstein’s Theory Explained
Of course, anyone can tell from this column’s title that I’ve been talking to Siri. She’s (usually) so accommodating, looking up obscure facts for me in seconds. Like how many miles between…
Down to the sea
All newspapers and booklets depend on advertising to help pay for the publishing, and they have for many years. I believe that the contents of the newspaper depend upon the amount of…
Transformations
They were about as unlikely a couple as you could find. Like pairing Pilsner with pecan pie, or sauerkraut with bourbon.…
