Many of us learn about children. We read about parenting classes, about nursing, about potty training, about how to get kids to read. But for years I have been learning from children. One Friday night, Anna, a babysitter, read “Good Night Moon” to my 2½-year-old granddaughter Brooke. Anna had reminded Brooke to spit out the […]
Forecaster opinion
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Forum: Make sure your vote matters
The most important way we can take part in our democracy is voting. The election this Nov. 3 is an especially critical one to take part in, as we will be choosing a president, a U.S. senator and representative, our entire state legislature and a host of local offices. With so much on the ballot […]
advertisement
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
The Universal Notebook: COVID civic corrective?
An article about Lisbon, Portugal, in the Aug. 17 New York Magazine made me think about Maine in general and Portland in particular. It seems that between one-third and one-half of working class housing in some parts of Lisbon have been converted to hostels, hotels and Airbnbs, driving local people out of the city. Sound […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Maine could be a country
We were sitting outside the snack shack at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor last week when my mother, a resident of the smallest state in the Union, said something we’ll both long remember: “Maine could be a country,” the keen observer from Rhode Island said as we chomped on an oatmeal cookie […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Mainewhile: Big conversations overdue at cusp of summer’s end
You can feel it. The air has a crispness to it, the sunlight slants at a different angle, the breezes mean business. Summer is coming to a close and autumn is on our doorstep. Usually, this is my favorite time of year. Soup and pumpkins, sweaters and cider. Usually, this is when we are stocking […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Over Easy: Just like in the movies
I had a childhood friend who based his preference for movies on whether the movie was in color or in black and white. When we would make plans for going to the Apollo Theatre for a Sunday matinee, he would ask, “Is it in technicolor?” Didn’t care what it was about (a John Wayne war […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Pandemic pet peeves, part II
This week’s Here’s Something continues a three-part series concerning pet peeves inspired by life during the coronavirus. Without further adieu, let’s get to it: It’s severely frustrating, five months into this outbreak, that we don’t even know where this new coronavirus originated. Was it from the “wet markets” in Wuhan, or was it deliberately or […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion
The Universal Notebook: Veterans for Trump?
A few weeks back I saw a car at an ice cream stand with a Go Army sticker and a Trump-Pence sticker. I wanted to ask the driver how anyone in the military could support a draft dodger like Trump, but I didn’t want to disrespect the elderly vet. How any active duty military or […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Life Unwound: Shifting tides
My son Zac published a note and recipe in the very fun book, “Tasty Pride: Seventy-five Recipes and Stories from the Queer Community.” He wrote: “Growing up in an almost unnervingly progressive and accepting home meant that coming out was, well, underwhelming. My ‘Yep, I’m gay’ moment unfurled over Chinese takeout. My mother asked, “Do you […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Forum: Wellness and distance learning
As North Yarmouth Academy prepares to welcome students back to campus full time on Sept. 8, it is important to reflect on lessons we learned that will continue to benefit our students well into the future. In March 2020, the entire world was thrust into a period of distance learning. This represented a major challenge […]