It was 1965 and a late fall afternoon in the Hill Country of Texas when a surprise visitor dropped into the newsroom of The College Star, on the second floor of Old Main, a majestic, Victorian Gothic style building on the campus of Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos. That afternoon the newsroom was […]
Surprise
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Jody Rich, Waterville: Sitting separately, savoring the same dishes
Al Roker had just signed off from the Macy’s Day Parade. Ro and I stood for a stretch. “Is that a car in our driveway?” “Oh! It’s Deb!” We were expecting some potatoes. We had delivered portions of the annually requested shrimp and grits, and creamed onions, the day before to her, to Niece Elise, […]
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Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Brenda E. Smith, Belfast: Turning the tables on the family prankster
My brother has a little unsolved mystery in his life. It has perplexed him for almost 25 years. I know the answer, but I won’t tell, and I hope you won’t either. In June 1995 he turned 40 years old. Back then, 40 was a dreaded milestone, a halfway marker in life. I wanted to […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Carole Cochran, Boothbay Harbor: Lights, camera – minus a few of the amenities
We were asked by my brother-in-law, a film producer in California, to be in a river trip movie on the West Coast. It was to be sponsored and paid for by a national river rafting company. Not having been on the Oregon coast, or on whitewater, or in a kayak, or in a movie, we […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Kym Dakin, Yarmouth: Stomping and roaring away from an unwelcome surprise
It’s the dawn of a new millennium. My daughter Skyler is 3. I’m … a lot older than that. And there we were at the kitchen table on a snowy morning mastering the art of Monster Feet. The day before, we had just seen the movie “Monsters Inc.,” so Sky was pretty charged up about […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Lee Van Dyke, Portland: Waiting for the light to show me what’s really there
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, […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Gary Moore, Cumberland: Young horseman learns not to dally on the midway
It was always a special, exciting day when we took Sugar Haven to one of the fairs to race. It was my job to bring her to her stall in the paddock, brush and rub her down while waiting for our race to be called by the marshal. I was the groom. Fetching her harness […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Beatrice Talmage, Portland: A new home and a lifelong friend
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 […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Krysteana Scribner, Calais: Chance meeting renews faith in my chosen path
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 […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
David Agan, Wells: ‘Governor Baxter would like to speak with you’
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 […]