My mother died a year ago between Christmas and New Year’s. I’ve thought about her often and that song from the musical “Rent” keeps reappearing: “How do you measure a year? In daylights? In sunsets? In midnights? In cups of coffee? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?” How do we measure a life? […]
Forecaster opinion
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Superintendent’s Notebook: New year, no resolutions
Just about the time people stop asking “How was your Christmas?” they start asking about New Year’s resolutions. But after this year, committing to exercising more or eating better just doesn’t seem to sufficiently acknowledge the bigger picture. We’ve learned a lot about making the most of life, caring about others in tangible ways, appreciating […]
advertisement
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Guest Column: Today’s America is unrecognizable
President Trump tweeted Dec. 30 about a website called Africa World News that recognized him to be the Africa World Man of 2020. This website is not much known in Africa. In fact, it may not be even physically located in Africa. The president saw it; it said something good about him, he tweeted it. […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Let go of outrage
There is something so fantastic, so inspiring about the start of a new year. I mean, I know that in purely scientific terms, Jan. 1st is just another day. But it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like the moment for fresh starts, new beginnings, like the whole world is a blank slate just waiting […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Lakes Region Weekly, The Forecaster
Guest column: Red Cross grateful for Mainers who support its mission
As one of the longest and most challenging years of our lives draws to a close – with the promise of a vaccine offset by the gravity of staggering infection rates and devastating loss of loved ones – we would like to take a moment to reflect on the amazing resilience of our Red Cross […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Over Easy: ‘Inaugural’ – a poem
‘Twas the night before inaugural, and at the White House the soon-to-be Ex-president was feeding fake news to a pack of reporters. Though the hour was late and the votes all collected, the Ex-president still claimed to win the election. “Of course it was rigged,” he said in a tweet, “it’s the greatest fraud in […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Predictions from the all-knowing Magic 8-Ball
When I worked at Current Publishing, a family of weekly newspapers covering southern Maine before the company was sold in 2015 to the Forecaster family of publications (which is now owned by MaineToday Media), we had a fun newsroom tradition of asking the Magic 8-Ball to predict events for the following year. Reporters and editors […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: And then there’s the pie
Hey everyone, how were your holidays? I am willing to bet they were a bit weird, probably not at all the way they usually are, or the way you wanted. I missed my family, I missed the board games. I even missed the ritual of trying to get comfortable at night in the near-tropical heat […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: Resolve to simply be still in 2021
New Year’s Resolutions? Oh my, not again. Every year. And every year they fail because we (or maybe I) resolve to do something in the future. In 2021, I will finally (fill in the blank) lose those last 5 pounds. I will … I will, I will. What if we resolve to do something that […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Time for GOP to ‘bell the cat’
My grandparents were Republicans. My mom’s parents. I actually don’t know what party my father’s parents claimed. But mom’s parents were staunch and proud Republicans. Technically, my mom was, too. When she and my dad married, they flipped a coin to decide who would register with which party, each agreeing to choose one so they […]