Digital Citizenship Week is just around the corner, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it. Already connected to homes and back pockets around the globe, with the onslaught of the pandemic, the internet became an ever-more necessary presence in all our lives. Pretty much overnight, video chat rooms became how we went to work, […]
Mainewhile
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Policy changes needed to end ‘preventable’ officer deaths
This has been a sad week for Maine. Last Thursday, Hancock County Deputy Luke Gross died in the line of duty when he was struck by a vehicle at the scene of an accident. While finishing high school, my eldest, Eilon, was simultaneously enrolled in the law enforcement program run through the Hancock County Technical […]
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Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Food for thought
Farming and food have been much on my mind of late. I suppose it is just that time of year. Once the mornings get crisp, I am all about apple picking, pumpkin pie, hot cider and making soup. This is the time of harvest fairs and stocking up. Coincidentally, some really cool stories about emerging […]
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
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
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
Mainewhile: Sorrow both here and abroad
This week I packed up the youngest, along with most of his belongings, and the two of us took a road trip to settle him in at college. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that the “empty nest” phenomenon is real. Never did I think it was possible to simultaneously feel so much joy and […]
Posted inThe Forecaster
Letter: Balentine’s ‘like-minded’ readers are many
Steve Romanoff’s letter titled “Balentine only serves like-minded readers” (Aug. 12) prompts this response. Mr. Balentine is one of three or four opinion columnists who are published in The Forecaster. True, Balentine voices an opinion that may often appeal to conservatives. What do the others voice? 1. Heather Martin makes “nice,” woke, left-of-center comments about […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Women making strides at the Olympics
We were sitting around the dining room table the other night talking about the Olympics and the conversation wandered to the original games in ancient Greece. Among some of the more bizarre and gruesome bits of trivia and history was the relatively “common knowledge” nugget that the original games were played entirely in the nude. […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: In support of death with dignity
A good friend lost a good dog last night. Angus was one of those kind souls who was always there for his people with a smile, a wag and eyes that held great depths of soul. He loved his pack and his pack loved him. He lived a long and good life filled with woody […]