Working Waterfront

Comfort me with mac and cheese

If ever there was a time when we all needed comforting, surely it is now. If ever there was a time when comfort food was a good idea, surely it is now. After we have filled our plates with mashed potatoes, tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate pudding, baked… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What the flood took, and what it didn’t

When we went to bed on Saturday night, the only thing on our minds was the leak between the addition and the original part of the house. The northeast wind and driving rain had forced a little trickle of water through the part of the house that had yet to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster lady’s story meets lobster kids

The Lobster Lady By Alexandra Hinrichs, illustrations by Jamie Hogan; Charlesbridge Publishing (2023) Island Readers & Writers, an organization connecting children and books in communities on Maine’s islands and Washington County, recently sent Alison Johnson, director of its school programs, with author Alexandra Hinrichs, to Vinalhaven to speak to its… SEE MORE

Jody Bush leads participants after an instructional trek through John Bush’s adjacent forest. PHOTO: KATE HOTCHKISS TAYLOR

Working Waterfront

Seeing the forest and the trees

Chuck Gadzik of Vinalhaven led a community walk devoted to resilient and diverse forests on the islands earlier this year. SEE MORE

Victor Diaz is the new chaplain for Chebeague Island’s church.

Working Waterfront

Chebeague chooses new chaplain

“Victor is able to speak to all generations,” she says. “I feel like he stands in the middle and can speak to our traditional, older population as well as attract others who are younger, like millennials.” SEE MORE

Sean and Andi Creeley. PHOTO: COURTESY SEAN CREELEY

Working Waterfront

New owners for Penobscot Island Air

A business providing a vital link to Maine’s offshore islands has new owners. Sean and Andi Creeley, who are based in Portsmouth, N.H., purchased Penobscot Island Air in November from Terry Waters. In a telephone interview, Sean Creeley said he expects little to change in the operation of the business,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The horror, the horror…

Over the years I’ve made the most of Halloween. It came naturally because haunts and hauntings were a part of the lives of my three younger brothers and me. I and then the others, as they put in their respective appearances, bounced around the island, from one rent to another… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Wood, fire, and rocks

Cooking food made it possible for ancient human bodies to divert energy from digesting food to evolving larger brains, according to biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham, who wrote Catching Fire, a book to warm a cook’s heart. For millennia, pre-historic humankind cooked food before they made pottery, before metal of any… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A room of one’s own

Whatever the subject matter of my column is, the overarching theme is always life on North Haven. As Bill and I enter our 19th year on this little unbridged slice of heaven (most of the time), I’ve had occasion to think about the number one, bottom line condition that makes… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When Vinalhaven had (lots of) fish

When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community By Janna Malamud Smith (DownEast Books, 2023) I’ve been talking about When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community on Vinalhaven with everyone I know. Even at a recent funeral. The story… SEE MORE