Two surprises to begin. When my daughter was little, on every St. Patrick’s Day, I would take her out in the neighborhood to look for leprechauns; maybe where the rascals had hidden their pot of gold. We’d sneak about on tippy toes, with stealthy, little-girl steps, looking sharp for anything green. (They wear green, see, […]

It was the four of us, a Volvo 240 and a 20-foot U-Haul. We were moving to Maine. Originally, my parents had fallen in love with a charming cape in Bowdoinham. I remember that its interior was filled with unique nooks, like a kitchen pantry that felt like a secret hideaway. But, as the token […]

Walking out of a coffee shop on a dreary December afternoon last year, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a familiar face. My high school poetry teacher, Martin Steingesser, was walking through Portland wearing his signature cap and glasses. Shuffling through a disarray of paperwork, he seemed deep in thought as he […]

It’s a cool, cloudy Tuesday in late August 1966. Alone near dusk in the new park, I’m a lucky guy. I made it through my first year of college and have this summer job as a state park ranger in my hometown. They hired a bunch of us to help open the new park at […]

When I first started gifting new, free books door to door, I never expected I’d baby-sit a reader’s snake on the family’s front steps while the reader was busy ordering titles. But these are the kinds of surprising adventures that pop up in my day now. Walking Books Library, which gives new books, offers a […]