Life Downeast

Just another Bangor Daily News site

BDN Maine

Menu

Skip to content
  • Contact
  • About RJ Heller
  • Life Downeast
  • Creative Work
  • History Speaks
  • Maine Reads
  • Random Thoughts

Missing hugs and handshakes

August 25, 2020Random Thoughtscontact, Downeast, handshakes, hugs, love, peace, people
By RJ Heller

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend, and he asked how I was faring in this time of uncertainty. I said I was doing all right, but that I have found I really miss handshakes and hugs. He laughed as he found it amusing. I laughed, too, but I still miss […]

The Making of Budworm Farm …Book Review

August 12, 2020Maine ReadsAndrea Suarez Hill, Chandler River, Jonesboro, life, Maine, moments, poetry, time
By RJ Heller

Home is important to all of us. Once we spend time breathing life into it — inhaling and exhaling acceptance of everything a place is — only then does a house become a home. A wonderful new collection of poems by Andrea Suarez Hill, The Making of Budworm Farm, is that story of how a […]

Wyeth, then and now

August 12, 2020Life DowneastAndrew Wyeth, art, Christina's World, Kuerner, last painting, Maine, Olson, paintings, Wind from the Sea
By RJ Heller

— With the passing of Betsy Wyeth this past April, the memories of my first experience with the art of Andrew Wyeth came bubbling to the surface. I remember driving a winding road up a hill. The blue sky opened with a Cheshire-like grin seemingly to say, “Just wait and see.” At the end of […]

To the graduates of this ‘lost’ year

July 24, 2020Random Thoughts2020, essential, footprints, future, Graduation, life, service
By RJ Heller

To those students that graduated this year — Bravo! You’ve done it. Not only did you navigate years of hallways, books and sometimes socially awkward situations, you persevered through this haze of microbes disrupting life right now. Because of your parents, classmates, teachers and a supportive community, we all are one step closer to a […]

And then there are names of boats

July 11, 2020Life DowneastBoats, Downeast, fishermen, Maine, names, stories
By RJ Heller

I think often of when that first local fisherman saw his boat for the first time. He stood there and admired the beauty of its sleek lines. It was a boat made of wood, and it was named for something or someone he loved very much. A boat’s name truly is the mooring the soul […]

Hermit: The Mysterious Life of Jim Whyte …Book Review

July 2, 2020Maine Readshermit, historical fiction, Jeffrey Ryan, Maine
By RJ Heller

“Stories,” said Campbell. “Every one of us has one. And they die along with us if we don’t share them. Jim Whyte knew. That’s why he told me so much toward the end.” Maine is a unique place. Given its vast geographic expanse, a person can easily get lost within its woods and mountains whether […]

Newspapers and other lost things in life

June 19, 2020Random Thoughtsbaseball cards, bikes, downtown, Hess's, memories, newspaper, play, Yesterday
By RJ Heller

Remember when you misplaced your rabbit’s foot? You scoured every inch of your room and then moved through the rest of the house searching for it. Nothing. Then outside you went, past your bike laid on its side. Curled baseball cards hanging by clothespins on tire spokes looked up at you as around they went, […]

Walking in Thoreau’s footsteps

May 29, 2020Home, Life DowneastHenry David Thoreau, Katahdin, Life Downeast, Maine, nature, Walden, woods
By RJ Heller

I found Thoreau the same way many people did — his name on a high school reading syllabus, with the book title Walden, next to it. And as with many 17- year-olds, the syllabus quickly found its way to the backseat of my car. There it mingled with the other litter that inhabits a teen’s […]

Just wait till next year!

May 15, 2020Random ThoughtsAmerica, Baseball, Boston, fans, Fenway Park, Red Sox, Yankees
By RJ Heller

Plenty has changed over the course of a month. Life as we knew it has stopped. After a brief pause to regroup, some monumental restrictions have been enacted that will prolong our return to normal. But we will return to normal. That’s the good news. The bad news is: Sports of all kinds are on […]

The Bird Artist …Book Review

April 21, 2020Maine Readsartist, birds, fiction, Howard Norman, life, lighthouse, murder, Newfoundland, Witless Bay
By RJ Heller

“My name is Fabian Vas. I live in Witless Bay, Newfoundland. You would not have heard of me. Obscurity is not necessarily failure, though; I am a bird artist, and have more or less made a living at it. Yet I murdered the lighthouse keeper, Botho August, and that is an equal part of how […]

Posts navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

RJ Heller

RJ Heller

Having arrived here from Pennsylvania over four years ago, there has been plenty to learn and even more to observe. This place is different, but I mean that in a good way. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, I am a college graduate with a teaching degree, a business founder and seller, and a father of two children with my wife Stephanie; life has been full and somewhat adventurous, but finding Maine remains a high watermark in my life.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 32 other subscribers

Blogs

Be a BDN blogger | Browse BDN blogs
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies.
To find out more, as well as how to remove or block these, see here: Our Cookie Policy
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Archives

  • April 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]
Life Downeast is a member of the BDN Maine Blog network.

Bangor Daily News

  • Archives
  • News
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Outdoors
  • Homestead
  • TV Listings
  • Obituaries
  • Things to Do
  • Custom Publications
  • Coupons
  • Weather
  • Storm Cancellations

About Us

  • BDN History
  • BDN 120 Years
  • Contact Us
  • Purchase Photos
  • Newspapers in Education
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe

  • Bangor Daily News Subscriptions
  • Manage Your Subscription
  • Email Updates
  • RSS

Sales and Marketing

  • Classifieds
  • Print and Online Advertising
  • Custom Publications and The Weekly
  • Advertising Staff Directory
  • Creative Services-Guide to Sending Files

On Facebook

  • The Bangor Daily News
  • Midcoast
  • Portland
  • Aroostook
  • Downeast
  • Hancock
  • Katahdin and Lincoln Lakes Region

  • Food
  • Outdoors
  • Maine Families
  • BDN Blogs

  • Editorial and Opinion

  • Maine Sports
  • High School Sports

On Twitter

  • @bangordailynews
  • @bdnpolitics
  • @bdnmaineblogs
  • @bdnmainefocus