Have you asked yourself, 

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Dear Community,

My name is Chloe Maxmin, and I am the new State Senator representing almost all of Lincoln County, plus the towns of Washington and Windsor in the Maine Senate. I spent the…

All owls are inherently mysterious to us humans for any number of reasons. We don’t see even the most common species very often, and sometimes our only experience with them is hearing their calls…

For the last 44 weeks, I have used this space to comment on the news. Much of it has been devoted to ways we cope with Mr. COVID-19.

Last week, as our nation was focused on the humongous…

My wife and I and Gardiner Savings bought the old fire station on Route 27 in Boothbay in 1995. It’s still there across the street from the old town garage/office which has been…

This January’s winter tale at Oak Point Farm is truly one to stir the imagination of every child, no matter how old.

In Kate Messner’s story, “Over and Under the Snow,” winter is explored…

We heard on the news this morning that 2020 was the warmest year ever recorded in Portland, Maine. Across the state, we are seeing open water in rivers and lakes that we would have expected to be…

This is the sunrise we were hoping for on Dec. 31, but it wasn't. There was a sunrise on the 31st, but it was not visible behind a thick bank of clouds as viewed looking toward…

Like a lot of OFs (Old Fellas?) my age, I welcomed in the new year with a snore.

Tradition says you are supposed to stay up until midnight and greet the new year with adult beverages,…

The next program for Garden Club of Wiscasset features Arnold Arboretum curatorial assistant Kathryn Richardson. The presentation is an overview of the history and mission of Arnold Arboretum of…

Let’s turn the calendar back about 30 years or so when Wiscasset Middle High School was Wiscasset High School. Mid-winter was the time of year when many of us looked forward to Friday night and…

We wrote last week about our experience participating…

I was sitting on an overturned bucket aboard Red Hook with Mark Stover at the helm, Alva Achorn at the ready, and perfect summer sunshine all around. Don Viens was nearby on the dock with…

The year 2020 will soon be in our collective rearview mirror. When the clock marks the end of a year like no other, we all will be glad to put 2020 behind us. It was a year where we learned that…

With his two faces, the Roman god of change and beginnings, Janus, looked back to the past and forward toward the future. We become Janus-like on New Year’s Eve, reliving the happiest moments of…

The day started with the temperature in the single digits. It was the day of the 121^st annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The CBCs take place in the period spanning from mid-…

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, I and thousands of other American service members lived in a semi-tropical land known as Viet Nam.

It wasn’t my idea, but somehow America had…

Every now and then (more then than now), it’s fun to rummage through some old files well preserved in shoe boxes under the bed and in closets throughout the property. Looking at images from back…

Faithful readers will remember our trip to Ogunquit to look for Maine’s second-ever-documented rock wren…

“Will you keep the cash ... Or, take a chance on what's behind curtain #3?”

“It's a holiday vacation in beautiful Boothbay Harbor, Maine!” When you visit…

We all have been stuck at home for the last 40 weeks as the world and our nation went through one of the most divisive presidential campaigns in our history. We have finally settled on this year’s…

Roseate terns are rather special birds. They nest on islands here in the Gulf of Maine—and two-thousand miles south of here on a tiny reef island off of the island nation of Aruba!

Here in…

I've been stalking Wayne Closson for years. Ever since I photographed for the wedding of his daughter, Megan. We had a grand time and Wayne had no choice! Father of the bride had…

On Monday, we remembered the Japanese navy's terrible attack on the American base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

It was a Sunday morning, just before 8 a.m., when hundreds of Japanese planes…

Horace Lee and Ethelyn Giles helped us buy our first house in 1978. It was a complicated purchase due to some unusual circumstances. We had no knowledge of real estate but we were…

Last week, we would have loved to pack some presents, jump in the car, and drive to the Midwest so we could sit down with the kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, but we didn't.

Like lots…

It’s a familiar story. Rare bird shows up. Birders finally find a break in the work and home schedule to go look for it. Arrive just in time to hear that it has not been seen for several hours.…

Typically, Garden Club of Wiscasset members have a festive December meeting making holiday baskets for Meals on Wheels recipients, libraries, town offices and local assisted-care homes. Due to…

As we enjoy seeing birds that nest far to our north arrive for the winter here in Maine—birds like buffleheads, horned grebes, snow buntings, common redpolls, and others—we have been thinking…

So, guess who will not be coming to dinner?

For several years, about this time, we have moved to our horse barn/bunk house for the winter. Easier to heat,…

For the last 33 weeks, we have been ensnarled in this plague they call a pandemic. This week, instead of griping about this or that facet of life under siege which annoys us all, allow me a few…

We all want to help the birds we love. We put up feeders filled with seed and suet. Some people go so far as to buy special foods like mealworms for them. We make bird houses and erect them around…

For any Opera House August event, a window seat with a cooling breeze would be nice. In fact, once the lights go down in the House, a mix with fresh air helps everyone breathe a…

They are still counting the ballots in Georgia – it is a recount – by hand. Five million pieces of paper are being counted, one at a time. The president's supporters and the two Republican…

First of all, let me say that when I first heard the name Ella Beauregard, I was reminded of someone like a Formula One race car driver. Someone like, say, Ayrton Senna, the great…

Maintaining the focus to realize a dream that takes many decades to accomplish is extremely hard to do. Few people can do what it takes to carry such a dream to completion.

Our dear friend…

It looks like we have elected the 46th president. At least that is what the TV networks say. They also predicted that it would be a blowout, that a Blue Wave would invite Democrats into the White…

By the time you read this, Election Day proper will have come and gone, and who knows what you will be experiencing? Whatever it is, we hope that this column will be a welcome diversion.

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By the time this missive clears the watchful eye of editor Kevin Burnham, we will know the name of our new state senator and state representative. I am a fan of both Holly Stover and Stephanie…

The Harbor Framers space in the Small Mall always made me recall a watering hole I used to vist during my teaching years, on Bleecker Street in New York City. There was something…

Over the many years of our time here in wonderful Maine, I have had opportunities to photograph an extraordinary variety of boats. From turnabouts at the various summer sailing…

By the time you read this, you will have already voted or are planning to vote. In any event, according to the polls and experts on both sides, you have already made up your mind. The gaggle of…

This edition of Salt 'n Spar features a chapter I wrote but never used in “The Town Crier,” my most recently published book of mostly Wiscasset-themed stories. It was based on interviews I did in…

Reflecting has always been a fall thing for me. I'm not sure why, but leaf changes, cooler temperatures and shorter days make me think back over the year. Something about how summer ends. The…

When it comes to climate change, we know that the most important thing that we humans can do is to dramatically cut down the amount of carbon we are injecting into the atmosphere. But we also know…

Thank the Almighty. It won’t be much longer until it’s over. In a week or so, the calendar turns to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. It will be Election Day.

By then,…

What do you do when the place you call home becomes unlivable? …

As we mark the 31st week of hiding in our homes from COVID-19, it is a beautiful fall day. A chilly breeze ruffles the leaves as the nuthatches try to hang on to the feeder. Mums stand guard by…

Some weekend, when you are looking for something to do, try a short adventure drive to the fascinating “Wizard of Odds and Ends” antiques extravaganza in Head Tide. It is the first right after the…

Maybe it’s just the name: wheatear. Or maybe it came from looking at the illustration and reading about it in our old “Peterson Field Guide to the Birds” when we were first becoming birders. But…