It has been years since I’ve bothered to try out making New Year resolutions. I say try out because I’ve never been one to be interested in such a thing. I assume most people don’t keep them even if they make them because why else would there be so many out there claiming they can […]

My preferred way of celebrating the arrival of a new year is to spend the evening playing board games, indulging in Maine lobster stew, and snacking on appetizers. Around the world people celebrate New Year’s Eve religious or superstitious traditions. I’ve assembled 22 I found interesting. 1. In Finland people cast molten metal into a […]

It was Christmas Eve, 1970. The snow, as I recall, began early. My mother, a florist, went to work, and my dad filled in making deliveries. We all knew that traveling would be difficult and that they would, for sure, be getting home late. I was home with my older sister. By late afternoon, the […]

Every one of my favorite childhood stories seems to have the thread of compassion, helping those who have less, and looking for the upside when everything seems upside down. The Little Match Girl, by Hans Christian Anderson is one of these books. The Little Match Girl, first published in 1845, during Victorian times, initially instigated […]

“When a poor person has died of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed” (Mother Theresa) I choose not to take Mother Theresa’s words at face value.  She wasn’t […]

When I write about the holiday season in America, always running in the back of my mind is the thought that the holiday season is both easy and hard. It’s magical, and it’s tragic. It’s necessary and superfluous. Some years, perhaps as do you, I struggle to get through. And yet, in other years, I […]

If you notice and love the scents of November, then this week’s column is for you. If you enjoy the idea of slowing down and enjoying the process of fall sliding into winter, then this week’s column is for you. October is grand with its colors and pumpkin spice everything for those who enjoy pumpkin […]

Veterans Day offers an opportunity to think about what it is to be a hero. My paternal side of my family raised firefighters and police officers. I think about how, through the years they gathered and shared stories of their experiences. I do not remember any of them referring to themselves or each other as […]

Inspiration for this week’s column came from an answer to an online word game. My husband suggested the word “vestal.” Vestal? This answer surprised me. Of course, I had to ask how he knew such a word. He said, “I think I heard it in a song.” The mystery deepened. Sure enough, “16 Vestal Virgins” […]

If you Google food freedom, you’re likely to come up with references regarding eating habits. However, on Tuesday, November 2, Mainers will vote on a different perspective of food freedom. They will vote on a constitutional amendment that expands on Maine’s food sovereignty law passed in 2017. Question 3 reads, “to declare that all individuals […]