What’s in a book’s title? It can be a pretty good tip-off about what to expect in the book, and might even suggest not just what information the contents will deliver but the attitude with which it is. This title, with its humor, and the cover art of plastic ducks with smiley beaks surfing a
August by Rote
I was listening to some TV news, in the background of my morning routine, when I heard that someone, somewhere, had narrowly survived an encounter with a shark. Didn’t I hear the same news last week, and also the week before? Life seems repetitive to me on this mid-August Monday, and I consider the recurring
Salmon Farms Challenged in Nova Scotia
A coalition of Canadian conservation groups and fishing communities has appealed a ruling allowing two salmon aquaculture sites in St. Mary’s Bay. The coalition asks the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to overrule the provincial government’s approval of two new farms that can grow up to two million salmon in the bay, which is part of
Islesboro Debates Solution to Lyme Disease
How could there be any controversy about eradicating Lyme disease on Islesboro? The evidence from Monhegan is clear: no deer, no disease. Yet the recommendations of Islesboro’s Tick-Borne Disease Prevention Committee for reducing the deer population to 10 per square mile with a special two-week shotgun hunt is generating a lot of debate. At an
Frenchboro Starts Recycling Program
One of the least glamorous but most unavoidable issues impacting island life is that of garbage. What comes on the island in the form of food packaging, online shopping deliveries, and boat parts must somehow find its way off the island in the form of trash. Trash removal from island is expensive and complicated, requiring
Loaves and Lobsters
Maine lobsters—they just keep a’ coming. And no one can quite point to the reason why the lobster fishery over the last two decades has brought an unexplained bounty to the Maine coast. For the 40 years between 1950 and 1990, the commercial lobster landings in the state hovered between 16 and 24 million pounds,
Maine’s Delegates Act to Preserve the Nation’s Working Waterfront
“Healthy oceans are everyone’s business,” began Dr. Jane Lubchenco, National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration administrator. “Healthy oceans support healthy seafood and food security, while supplying jobs and strengthening the economy.” One billion people worldwide depend on seafood for a primary source of protein, and Americans consume about five billion pounds of seafood annually, according to
Frenchboro Fire Department Receives $50,000 Grant
When Frenchboro resident Jay Desjardin went to the post office recently to pick up his mail, he found an envelope containing a check for $50,000 made out to the Town of Frenchboro by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. The grant money was awarded to the Frenchboro Fire Department to be used towards the
Island Busking
The Maine islands are known for many things—their rocky shoreline, lobstering communities, fiercely independent inhabitants—but street musicians are not one of them. On Vinalhaven, 15-year-old Frank Morton and his friends may be changing that. Beginning last summer and continuing this year, Frank, his older brother John and their friends Theo Brown and Francis Warren have
Family Ties and Tales From Harbor de Grace
One of my favorite views of Long Island is when I careen down Fern Avenue on my bicycle, heading from east to west along the south side of the island, and below me is Harbor de Grace, in all its splendor. White cottages on grand expanses of lawn in the foreground, the sparkling cove with