I grew up with cats and have owned more cats than I care to divulge. Cats are my passion. Every one of them has made an impression on me, but none more deeply felt than Martin, a tuxedo cat with more grit than most living beings I have known. Marty (as he came to be […]
Meetinghouse
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Brenda E. Smith, Belfast: ‘Hello, I’m Jane’
In 1981 a staffer at Friends of the River called to ask if I would be a volunteer guide on a trip meant to sweeten a mail list exchange with California politician Tom Hayden. “He might bring a special guest with him.” The staffer dangled the enticing carrot, daring me to refuse. At that time […]
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Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Jan Wejchert, Waldoboro: A place off the map
The No. 7 train, the IRT, speeds along underground in its final rush to get to Times Square. Traveling deep underground, from Fifth Avenue to Broadway it skirts the southern border of the great Central Park. On this particular spring morning in the ’70s, my buddy Paul and I knew we had extra time before […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Ann Pike, Wilton: International visitors of the fowl kind
After a long starless night, day finally made itself known. Weak winter light crawled over Maine’s eastern shores, then over its western foothills. By the time it reached the town of Wilton, international guests had already arrived. The usual schedule for overnight layovers is November. But this group arrived in the early morning last Dec. […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Lynne Benoit-Vachon, Wells: Weathering a family adventure in Maine’s great outdoors
The lakes and mountains of western Maine were home in the 1970s. My energetic parents kept my brother, my sister and me busy with outdoor activities through the changing seasons. We did everything together from a rustic camp they built on the shores of Long Pond, five miles south of Rangeley. We fished, swam, canoed, […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Susan Davis Doughty, Scarborough: Grit made news our family business
What comes to mind when you hear the word “grit”? Gravelly dirt or maybe determination? When I hear the word “grit,” I think of the smell of printer’s ink from Linotype machines and the clack-clack of teletype spitting out the latest news from Associated Press or UPI. I hear current events at the dinner table. […]
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Peter Vose, Falmouth: The friend who didn’t let adversity get in the way of joy
Kim Mathews and I had much in common: Both our fathers were Maine school superintendents, we both majored in English at small Maine liberal arts colleges – he at Bates and I at Colby – and, in the early 1980s, we were both teaching at Gray-New Gloucester High School. But we did not share this: […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Sally Connolly, Scarborough: Giving students roots and wings
Teaching is planting seeds in young minds. Learning colors, counting and ABCs lifts the sprout up above the ground. Changes come quickly; standing, walking, talking; each day more exciting than the last – the seedling begs eagerly for its next lesson and growth spurt. We hustle to enrich the soil, be it grit or soft […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Karin Olsen Gamache, Georgetown: Surviving occupation, then making their way in a new land
Grit. I can’t imagine anyone reflecting on grit without thinking about what is happening in Ukraine right now. Their incredible strength and resilience in the face of a brutal dictator are beyond belief. We all are holding our collective breath and hoping this needless war will end soon. On a more personal level, my next […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Nancy Riggs Robart, Kennebunk: A grandmother with a mind for minor rule-bending
When I see the little brass bell on the shelf behind the glass windows atop my grandmother’s secretary desk, I think “mischief.” One of my fondest memories is visiting my maternal grandmother, Winne, as a child. You see, I wasn’t visiting her at her house; my visits took place at “the castle,” which is what […]