The new exhibit upstairs at Boothbay Region Art Foundation features color images Eva McDermott captured on Lofoten Island, Norway and Isle of Skye, Scotland – digitally and with film. McDermott…

Ever heard of the term “conservation birding?”

We hadn’t until this past week when we came across an academic paper that used the term in the title. The authors described a theoretical…

I’ve always enjoyed a good historical fiction tale. Phillipa Gregory is one of my favorites. I devoured her first novel of “The Wideacre Trilogy,” entitled “Wideacre.” I found myself immersed in…

Last night's snow really caught me by surprise! The mild weather we've been having made me think we were done with the white stuff, but my memory is short. The 2020 April storm should have made me…

I love Easter.

It is a holy day for much of the Christian world, where many hold fast to the ancient doctrines. Bless them all.

For some, especially those caught up in the…

Let’s celebrate the waning days of “Women's History Month” to recognize a few Wiscasset ladies for making our community a better place to raise children and call home sweet home.

One that…

I recently voted for one of the most important bills that Congress will ever pass: the American Rescue Plan. First and foremost, this comprehensive legislation will rapidly get shots into arms to…

Some birds are just inherently mysterious. Think of species that stay to themselves, rather than hang out in big garish flocks the crows and geese and ducks do. Or that hardly make a sound, or if…

I came to Maine by accident twice. My first visit was in 1963 with two hometown friends from our small town in central Pennsylvania. We traveled in a two-door 1961 Plymouth Valiant. John was…

Our founding fathers, those wise fellas who sat down to invent the American government, knew communication is vital. They lived in a time before we used the smartphone, the internet, or satellites…

The numbers are in. The Federal Trade Commission released its report of fraud complaints from last year, and it was historically high, due in large part to COVID-19 and the economic downturn.…

Jenny Bennett used to write for the Boothbay Register. I remember thinking, ahhhh, a new voice at the paper. Lovely. Her writing was clear and sharp, to the point with no messing about. But,…

Once again, Mother Nature pulled a fast one on us.

Last week, she pulled the clouds away and let the rays of a warm spring-like sun begin melting the glacier at the bottom of the driveway…

Last week, I had the honor of introducing one of my bills, LD…

The sounds of spring. What are they for you? For us, there are many. Even the first whistled “hey-sweetie” songs of black-capped chickadees, which may begin in January, are a reminder that spring…

This seems like a great time of the year to think about the summer, and when we think about summer, we think about Camp Knickerbocker! Camp K has been a staple in our community for 36 years.…

A careful scan of the ocean here in mid-coast Maine in late winter (or “early spring,” if you are more of the hopeful bent) will often yield a bonanza of sea ducks. The males will often be in or…

Recently I was asked to take my clothes off four times. This is not a common occurrence although it wasn't the first time! The awkward part was being asked to to do this for different people in…

For the last year, the headline on this column began with the words Week XX.

It was my way of calling attention to the time we spent trying to cope with the pandemic called COVID-19 and…

I’ve taken hundreds of photographs over the years. Many have been shared by people on Facebook and the internet, and one even found its way into the National Enquirer. You heard correctly, the…

In partnership with LincolnHealth, the Boothbay Region YMCA [and Central Lincoln County YMCA] offer the community evidence-based health intervention (EBHI) programs to assist in chronic disease…

There is a large area of farm fields not too far from where we live that is a favorite spot for us to check for birds just about any time of the year. Last week we counted 18 bald eagles there.…

“Birds of a feather flock together,” or so it seems.

These are not snowy owls, nor were they intended to be. They are, as is abundantly clear, in-flight…

It has been almost a year since we were invaded by an invisible enemy called COVID-19.

At first, we didn’t think much of it. It was not even a bother, just something the talking heads…

My first look at the Wiscasset Newspaper came in the autumn of 1978. I was living in Fort Collins, Colorado finishing my senior year at Colorado State University where I majored in journalism. I…

Reincarnation. Some believe, some don’t. In Carol Parker’s debut novel, “The Fish Dress,” the influence of a past life, or lives, can explain a lot about what’s influencing us in our current…

Y Arts rolls on

It’s strange to think that just a year ago, Y Arts had returned from the Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta where they had spent the weekend in person with…

Faithful reader Diane R. sent along a photo of a bird they had seen recently paddling around in tidal water just off the shore somewhere in the Midcoast area. They had questions about its identity…

Aunt Bea and Uncle Bud MacLeod purchased land in Rangeley in the early 1970s. At the time they were living on a 50-acre farm in Glen Moore, Pennsylvania. As it turned out they were a bit ahead of…

Is this the "Winter of Our Discontent?”

With apologies to the Bard and John Steinbeck, last year could qualify as well.

After all, for the last 50 weeks, we have been in the midst…

For most of us, the past year has been the longest and hardest in memory. But in mid-December, we started to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Maine began receiving the first doses of the…

Our illustrious editor, Kevin Burnham, emailed us last week to say that he had recently seen a big-billed, blue bird with a wild hairdo sitting on the Southport bridge. A first reaction might be…

Welcome aboard everyone. For this week's adventure we will do a little travel back to a time of Goudy and Stevens Shipyard, eventually a Hodgdon Yachts facility, now…

Dear grandkids and great grandkids, too,

Last week, as we endured the 49th week of a pandemic, our nation watched the Senate acquit the former president of siccing a mob on the Capitol to…

February being Black History Month brings to mind the story of Pendy Gustus and Kezia Shiney, two Black women who over 200 years ago called Wiscasset home.

The women were servants to Moses…

The snow white path leading into the forested area we know as Cross River Preserve lay before me. With my pamphlet for Boothbay Region Land Trust’s Self-Guided Winter Tree Identification Walk in…

I seem to recall from my WBLM “daze” (my misspelling) that Mercury retrograde, as advised by the “Cosmic Muffin,” was probably not the best time to hang the laundry out to dry. Don't ask me why,…

It took 48 weeks, but I finally got the shot.

That’s right. It took just 48 weeks from the time the CDC declared the pandemic for Big Pharma to conjure up a vaccine and protect me from…

A friend of ours has become seriously consumed with learning and studying bird sounds. He began recording them regularly with his iPhone this past fall and then learned how to make sonagrams of…

Full STEAM ahead

Fit Kids is the Boothbay Region YMCA’s after-school program, which supports working families while fostering each child’s cognitive, social-emotional, and physical…

Most people in Maine eagerly look forward to the return of the bird species that is commonly referred to as the “redwing.” That’s the slightly-smaller-than-a-robin sized blackbird with the bright…

One of the coolest things about my weekly adventure in our local weekly is the feedback I receive from those who dare to follow along. Take, for example, last week’s photo story.

…

The last 47 weeks have been a real pain in the tush. We have cocooned at home, seeing no one, not even family, except for my sainted mother-in-law, who popped in occasionally. Our wayward brood…

In a 2011 speech to young leaders, Michelle Obama noted, “You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever…

Many of you may have been fortunate enough to have at your feeders in the late fall and early winter any number of special winter visitors: irruptive finches or other birds whose breeding range…

I brushed my teeth with Solanpas. I thought it was a tube of Crest toothpaste. It had a numbing affect. Not a great addition to my seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

In case you have been living in a hole for the last year, you know that few days pass when we don't use the word protest in our daily conversations.

Some of us can still remember the years…

One of the greatest stories of ecological rebirth happened (and is happening) right here in Maine. It’s a story of people and communities and organizations and businesses finding ways to cooperate…

The negative from which this image was made has not seen the light of day in over 30 years. That would make it one of my younger offspring in my collection of processed films of…

Dear Grandkids and Great Grandkids, 

How do I explain it to you in a few words? As I write this column on Sunday evening, I have no idea what will happen in the coming week. Nobody does.…