This week, almost two years to the day that we shut our doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing a mask at Portland Public Schools became optional for our staff and students. This is a milestone moment for us, so I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight this and other changes in our health […]
Forecaster Opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Getting tangled in the weird web of life
I’ve got three words for you: Giant. Parachuting. Spiders. Yes, yes my friends, to whoever carelessly said out loud, “This year could not get any weirder,” I would ask you to stop speaking. Challenge not the gods of irony for lo, you have brought down upon us massive spiders with striped legs and brightly colored […]
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Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: Having a happy birthday is all about perspective as you age
My granddaughter exclaimed, “It’s February, my birthday month. I’ll be 7! I can’t WAIT to be older!” Me? “March, ugh, my birthday month!” What a difference! I notice more gray sprouts at the temples, more wrinkles, more age spots on my hands. The effect of longtime living in gravity takes its toll; my flesh sags […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Forum: ‘Active hope’ required in fight against global warming
It’s hard to avoid hearing about floods, droughts, heat waves, fires and rising sea levels and not feel worried. If you’re concerned about climate change, you’re not alone. A recent survey of young people in 10 countries found that more than half reported feeling sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless and guilty about global warming (The […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Through My Lens: It’s time to talk about global gun control
Think about the lasting effects gun violence can have on Americans. That brief moment when someone opens fire at a school, a restaurant or in the mall, and people die while others are traumatized by what they hear and see. Shootings over the last years have sparked a debate on gun control in the United […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: The many moving parts in the Ukraine invasion
Pick an image, any image, coming out of Ukraine right now and it will break your heart. People evacuating the city with their pets, young couples preparing to defend their homes, the soldier who gave his life to detonate a bridge, the older woman who defied invading Russian soldiers. Heartbreaking, every one. If, for some […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: Look up to keep from feeling down
I pick up the phone on what my Florida friends say is a miserable, cold, Maine winter day. My good friend, my age, says, “I’m in the ER with my husband. He woke up with no memory of anything that happened last month. The doctors suspect a stroke.” I say, “I am so sorry. I […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Forum: Now that we know better, we’d better act
I never met my grandfather. He died quickly from cancer. Maybe curable today. He left his wife, my mom and her little brother in this world back in 1957. Mom would tell us “he was so hard-working, and kind, and a community leader.” One of my seven siblings would cut her off: “Yeah, yeah, Mom, […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Sustainably Speaking: PassivHaus is proactive when it comes to energy loss
If your house is like mine, it is an inefficient envelope that loses heat through windows, walls, roof and basement. According to the Maine Climate Council’s “Maine Won’t Wait” executive summary, given that 72% of a building’s energy is devoted to heating it, energy loss is a big problem in Maine, where winters are cold […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Why can’t we take a spin with style?
Presidents Day is a strange holiday. It began as a day to commemorate George Washington and Abraham Lincoln but seems to be mostly about sales and big bargains. Ads, flyers, giant banners flapping in the wind. All the stores join the action, but the big daddy, the apex predator if you will, is undoubtedly the […]