Working Waterfront

What can we learn from Maine’s coastal vote?

Do elections hold a mirror to our values, fears, dreams, and desires? Or do the choices we make on the ballot drift this way and that, just as our tastes in music and films do? Both may be true. But trying to explain why people voted this way or that… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Discomfort food

Hard times like this pandemic leave us hankering for comfort food: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, pasta, ice cream. Have you heard about Covid 15? That’s the weight we packed on while stuck at home. But what’s discomfort food? Food that hurts the cook to prepare. Like sharp points… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine, the drought, and yes, wildfires

As the ash from California sequoias and Oregon redwoods created a haze on what should have been a sunny day, I began to wonder, could our forest burn? What is the risk to my and to my neighbors’ houses and to the deer, turkeys, and barred owls that live in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Moving through these mood-inspiring times

It’s Oct. 4 and we are about seven months (feels like 20) into this COVID pandemic. I don’t have much to write because there is not a whole heck of a lot going on. “What did you do today?” “Not much, you?” “I don’t really remember.” My moods are like… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cohabitating with the chickadees

I’m not an ornithologist but I do enjoy providing for and being entertained by birds, and I can count on that happening day after day as, ever accommodating, we monitor feeders on all sides from each kitchen window, nearly always mindful of our responsibilities. On those rare occasions when I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The way forward is through

A good friend of mine often says that when faced with difficult situations, “The only way forward is through.” To say that we are faced with difficult situations right now would be the understatement of the century. One of the greatest challenges we face at the moment is a crisis… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island complexity explained by four islanders

By Tom Groening Consider the extremes in how islands are portrayed in literature, film, and on TV. The island setting often is used to show how the very best of community values can thrive, or how the very worst of human nature can fester. In Richard Russo’s Empire Falls, the protagonist’s… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering my dramatic friend John

By Phil Crossman A few years ago, my friend John called to say he was in distress and having a hard time breathing. I called the ambulance and then went right up to his place, a couple of miles out of town. He was lying on the floor and, gasping,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bait shortage could hit lobster fishery hard

PEACH FREDERICK A bait bin being lifted at Rockland's Fish Pier. By Susie Arnold There is no question that herring is going to be in short supply in 2019 and the years to come. Based on the recent poor stock assessment of the Atlantic herring population, the New England Fisheries… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

And they might make good Christmas presents, too

By Sandy Oliver Whole stores are dedicated to helping cooks do their job. Right after bookstores, and just before yarn shops, kitchen stores are my favorite places to browse, though goodness knows there is not much time for that these days, what with taking fewer mainland trips and many more… SEE MORE