If you don’t know what diatoms are, you can get a little primer by reading last week’s Intertidal. In short, they are tiny single-celled plants that are part of the soup of plankton that lives in the ocean and creates much of its food. Part of this soup is made of plants that produce food […]

For some unknown reason, I’ve always liked visiting cemeteries. I’m not quite sure why but walking through a graveyard always brings me a certain peace. I feel a spiritual connection with people who lived many years ago (or very recently depending on the chronology). I imagine their lives, their stories, what life was like during […]

There are Boston Red Sox fans and New York Yankee fans. In New England, except for southern Connecticut, we lean toward the Sox. However, pretty much everyone, regardless of affiliation, loves baseball. In my salad days, I was very involved in coaching basketball at the elite high school and college levels. The competition was fiercely […]

The national Democratic Party is in full panic now, its leaders in a headlong flight like something from a 1950’s sci-fi flick where terrorized townspeople flee a 10-story tall monster crushing cars and flattening buildings. It’s not some Godzilla-like creature risen from the ocean depths. Just a cranky, white-haired 78-year-old socialist from Vermont leading a […]

Why I am voting for Bernie My first vote for President was in 1952 when my dad, a staunch Republican, brought home an absentee ballot and stood over me as I sat at the dining table and voted for Eisenhauer. I hope Bernie gets the nomination because I fear for the health of our democracy.  […]

Maine’s March 3 presidential primary will consume all the available political air for the next three weeks. After that, the U.S. Senate race featuring Susan Collins’s attempt to win an unprecedented fifth term will take center stage through the June 9 primary election. It will be an interesting show. The candidates, through Dec. 31, have […]

Imagine, for a moment, during these bleak wintry Maine days that you’re in a warmer climate, Florida say. You’re living with 100,000 other senior citizens in the Villages, America’s largest gated community, located about 45 miles northwest of Orlando. The place abounds with golf courses and tennis courts, restaurants and bars. The population is overwhelmingly […]

Living in Texas, I should probably be a bit abashed about telling Mainers who should represent them in the senate. After all, I have my own senators to worry about. In matters of national interest, however, a senator of one state is, in a sense, a senator of every state. Casting herself as an independent-minded […]