A recent “homeowner-style event” at my house, I’ll spare you the details, got me thinking about septic systems. I know, not exactly the most glamorous of topics, and perhaps if you are currently snacking, you want to read this piece later. But, like the title of the much beloved children’s book makes clear, everyone poops. […]

The Penobscot Maritime Heritage Association is hosting a festival of tall ships, and it is causing some waves. The issue is the late inclusion of a boat named Nao Santa Maria, a replica of one of the three ships sailed by Christopher Columbus. Initially, I wasn’t going to write about this because the organizers of […]

Summer is really and truly here! The days are hot, the fireflies are out at night and our downtowns are ripe for a solid game of “license plate bingo.” Is there anything more glorious than summer in Maine? This summer seems a little bit extra. I don’t know about you, but lockdown made me really […]

The most basic, fundamental, bedrock principle of our democracy (or republic if you prefer) is the power of the vote. Everything about how we say we work as a nation – and I acknowledge there is a larger conversation lurking behind that sentence – rests on the vote. It was the guiding star of those […]

Happy solstice! Derived from the Latin words for “sun” (sol) and “still” or “stopped,” solstice marks the point at which our planet’s relationship with the sun once again alters. It is the opposite point from the equinox, literally “equal night,” and it is a time of extremes. At the solstice, the Earth is at its […]