— 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 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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
If a chair is broken, you fix it. If a seam has come undone, you sew it. If a clock has the wrong time, you adjust the hands to make it right again. And if a neighbor or friend needs help, you help. Every morning the numbers are higher than they were when you went […]
Classmates and teachers we have known are like chapters in a big book of life we carry. On some of the pages are interactions or relationships we might have had with any of them: a hug, a smile, a stern look, laughter, tears, winning ways, some losses, love and breakups, friends, foes, mentors and icons. […]
