Produced by Maine Poetry Central and Dennis Camire This week’s poem, by Bob MacLaughlin, humorously explores how someone “from away” invariably comes to fit in with his Maine neighbors who, like all of us, seem eager to want to find a simple reason to like a newly transplanted “out-a-stata.”   Having Bought The Farm Waldoboro, […]

There has been a lot of talk about beans this year — well, pulses, really, a category including dried beans, lentils and peas — no doubt propelled by the United Nations’ declaration of 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. But more than just talk, there has been action, too, with a new crop of […]

She’s one of the new faces of CoverGirl. And she’s wearing a hijab. Nura Afia’s YouTube channel has thousands and thousands of subscribers.You can see her there, giving a smoky eye makeup tutorial or going over a skin care routine.And now you’ll be able to see the 24-year-old Afia — a beauty blogger who wears […]

It should come as no surprise that plants play a vital role in maintaining our atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen through the well-known process of photosynthesis. (Thanks, high school earth science class.)But certain plant varieties go a step further by reducing airborne toxins, including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and benzene, from the air […]

The pest goes by many names. I have a friend who calls them mutant spiders. The exterminator at my neighbor’s house calls them criders. The bug is also called spider cricket, spricket, cave cricket and camel cricket.From here forward, I’ll just refer to them as spider crickets.During the summer and fall, spider crickets seek dark […]

“Have you no sense of decency?”Those six words, uttered on June 9, 1954, by Army lawyer Joseph Welch before a Senate subcommittee went a long way to bringing down one of the most powerful men in politics at the time, the virulently anti-communist Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy. Sixty-four years later, indecency is in vogue again. […]