“Peace is every step.” – Mindfulness teacher Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) Valentine’s Day. We pass newspaper stands in pharmacies: COVID numbers up, climate temperatures up and down, stock market down. Messages of hate. We read sour headlines, then lift our gaze to the sweets. Candy hearts with messages of love. Chocolate. Sometimes I don’t know […]
American Journal Opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Inventor of airplane car deserves plenty of props this month
Hello, February. Welcome! February is a funny month. It is short and cold, and everyone starts yearning for spring even though it’s really still a good way off. Worse, we all have to suffer through Valentine’s Day smack dab in the middle of the month. Ugh. On the upside, thanks to February also being the […]
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Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Sustainably Speaking: Small steps lead to big results in climate change fight
Editor’s note: Sustainably Speaking is a new monthly column written by members of the Freeport Sustainability Advisory Board that addresses ways to combat climate change and other environmental challenges. This time of year 15 years ago, my husband and I would have been suiting up in our snowshoes to walk out, across the bay, to […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Through My Lens: Somalis have warm spot for cold American winters
Why are Somalis choosing to live in one of the coldest states in the U.S.? I had been asked this question many times. The answer lies in Somali music and poetry. The lyrics are full of a fictional world: A world of clouds and thunder, rainy, cold and snowy – yet green, full of rivers, […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: America shouldn’t be playing along in the Winter Olympics
As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. That’s especially true when leadership fails. And right now, American political leadership is failing on many levels. If the last year hasn’t made it abundantly clear already, President Biden is failing when it comes to causing inflation by […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: The future for Maine farms could include happy trails and horses
Small family farms are a huge part of what makes Maine special. Farms provide jobs, drive local economies, maintain cultural connections and keep land open. More importantly, last year when the supply chain broke down and supermarket shelves were empty, our small farms literally kept us fed. Despite all this, they’re in trouble. A recent […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: Hope springs eternal – or does it? That depends …
This week I reread holiday cards and saw in many of them, “Here’s hoping for an easier 2022. Let’s hope for an end to all this darkness.” Packing up hope messages, I remembered a lecture I gave years ago in South Carolina. I stood ready to speak, the “mindfulness woman” there to teach “some things […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Through My Lens: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’
Growing up in Somalia, I did not hear about Martin Luther King Jr. I had not heard the slavery stories of the United States and the persecution that African Americans have experienced. In fact, the whole experience seemed so distant that I thought the colonial stories of Somalia I heard on the radio every night […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Goldfish experiment is food for thought
I had planned to write this week about the new guidance on masks and the omicron variant. I think it is positively astounding how fast scientific research is moving and tracking the virus as it morphs and changes – and knowledge is power, right? Given that the data is pretty clear that this variant requires […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Honor Betty White by taking up challenge in her name
Betty White, Betty White, amazing Betty White. At half her age, I wish I was even one quarter as cool. With her death, the internet, in one of those all-too-rare moments when it actually proves to be a worthwhile tool of goodness, quickly spawned the idea of The Betty White Challenge. Although I quite recently […]