People in Alabama remember hurricanes by name. Katrina (2005) spread devastation from New Orleans to Mississippi, leaving Gulf Shores looking like a war zone. Ivan (2004) dropped 4 inches of rain on Mobile Bay going one way, then circled back and dropped 8 more. Neighbors always ask newcomers if you were here and remember the last […]

Being youngsters in the third grade of a grammar school in Maine, we were always hopeful that the next winter storm would give us a day off. Perhaps we would spend the day with the firemen at Portland’s Engine No. 11 nearby. It seemed especially delicious because the fire barn was right next door to […]

The Ice Storm of ’98 was a catalyst for change in my life. It brought to a head the dissatisfaction I’d felt in my marriage, which I’d roiled against for years. Having avoided grabbing ahold of a choice to make my own, finally I saw the lay of the land from a new angle. It […]

“Don’t pick up the baby. Whatever you do, don’t pick up the baby.” My father-in-law’s voice boomed over the intercom from the flying bridge of his vessel, the Marnie II, as I sat frozen in fear in the salon below. The 32-foot-long boat tossed and turned in 10-foot seas as rain pounded down, thunder crashed […]