Given the wide range of weather/climate disruptions witnessed during past decades – e.g., severe droughts on the West Coast/middle America, some concomitant with raging wild fires, torrential rains and 100- and 500-year flood events, record-setting heat waves, more numerous/ stronger hurricanes and tornadoes, enhanced melting of polar ice caps – it is now evident that […]
Lakes Region Weekly opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Through My Lens: 9/11 anniversary brings chance for change
Twenty years after 9/11, the United States still has a chance to correct what went wrong. If social media existed at the time, the hashtag #IstandwiththeUnitedStates would have taken over the world and people would have written from every corner of the globe. If 9/11 happened today, it may not have been a trending hashtag. […]
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Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: You can recover from a stroke, but work to prevent one
Last year at this time, my parents spent their 66th anniversary together in the hospital. My father died the next day. In a lot of ways, we were extraordinarily lucky. My father was 89. He lived a full and extraordinary life, was beloved by all of us and, what’s more, he was aware of being […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Remember the Maine ties to Sept. 11
They say as people get older, they get wiser. I don’t think so. There are many wise young people and too many old fools. I also don’t see politicians getting wiser as they age. They callous over. They spin lies. They believe their own fairy-tale views of the world. Proof of that is last month’s […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: What are your hungers?
Grocery shopping, I spotted a box labeled, “Entertaining Crackers.” I chuckled. “I’ve never found crackers to be entertaining.” The sign leading to another aisle read, “Functional water.” I laughed. “Isn’t all water functional?” I wondered about how we market food, advertisers desperate for sales, to entice, as if a buyer might say, “These crackers will […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: MOFGA marks milestone
Yours truly has just celebrated a birthday. This one was a milestone year and I was eyeing it a little dubiously when I discovered to my great joy that I share this particular milestone with one of my most favorite organizations, the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association – MOFGA to its friends. MOFGA was […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Forum: Anti-vaxxers are nothing new
Having spent nearly two years in hospitals with polio as a child, I am incredibly grateful that by the time my own children came along, pediatricians automatically provided the polio vaccine. I can still remember the fear infantile paralysis brought to American parents each summer. Everyone avoided crowds and public places for swimming and movie theaters were forbidden. […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Play is serious business
Remember when getting ready for a new school year meant a new backpack and a fresh pack of pencils? Man, I miss that. Last year we were figuring out how to manage returning mid-pandemic. We navigated cohorts, figured out Zoom and became experts on different types of sanitizer. This year, we are figuring out how […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Through My Lens: Music and culture should be integrated
It is about time immigrant leaders in the state of Maine start embracing music and cultural integration. It is common these days for people to group themselves in faith or culture and stay together tightly for safety reasons, particularly in the past few years under Trump’s leadership. While I think that is not a bad […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Life Unwound: What questions are you asking?
Do you ever wake up empty? I mean, do you first think versions of hollow questions like “What’s for breakfast?” or “Do I look fat in that shirt?” You know, questions that trigger “ugh, another day, blah.” Me, too. “Ugh” questions don’t nudge us out of bed like poet Mary Oliver’s, “What is it you […]