Around every strip of sandy beach, you can find signs of a marsh of some kind—a salt marsh, a fresh water marsh or one of the infinite variations of brackish marshes. Something in us does not love a marsh, but everything in us loves the sandy strand. Was there ever a teenager who did not
A Shrinking Island Community Invests in the Future Anyway
In early October I took a walk. Along the way, I chatted with Matinicus Elementary’s “ed. tech.” and a local mom outside the one-room school as six kids played on the swings. I passed Matinicus Island Rescue’s first aid storage shed, which now contains four (not two) backboards and all sorts of other helpful equipment,
Grant Affirms Apprenticeship in Wooden Boatbuilding
At Great Harbor Boatworks in Southwest Harbor, Richard Stanley and his apprentice, Ryan Snow, are standing in back of a half-built, 19-foot daysailer. Stanley hunches forward, one eye closed, observing the alignment of a plumb bob. He steps aside and tells Snow to observe how the bob hangs. “You keep sighting it,” Stanley says. “The
Dirty Weather
A major coastal storm, like Sandy, which was a hurricane wrapped in a northeasterly gale that came ashore on a spring tide at high water along a 600-mile length of the Atlantic coastline, temporarily reminds us of the power of Mother Nature to interrupt our orderly lives. Mariners, like those aboard the Bounty, which went
Invasive Seaweed Creeping Up Maine Coast
This summer, divers discovered invasive red seaweed in the waters off of Cape Elizabeth. The Asian seaweed, Heterosiphonia japonica, has been making its way up the coast since establishing itself in Rhode Island around 2009, and it has been causing problems for lobstermen and beachgoers along the way. There is concern among scientists that the
Remembering the Past While Looking to the Future
On Swan’s Island, there is a grand, old three-story building that stands proudly along the side of Harbor Road. For Swan’s Islanders it is a place that holds precious memories. That place is the Odd Fellows Hall. Today, there are very few active members left in the Swan’s Island chapter of the International Order of
Rural-Urban Medical Collaboration
A three-year collaboration between Mount Desert Island Hospital and an urban medical complex in Philadelphia brings leading technology and techniques to MDI while also providing urban practitioners with experience in rural health care delivery. Now in its second year, the privately-funded collaboration between MDI and the Perelman School of Medicine is viewed as a model
Look Up and Be Amazed
As much as we may like to think of ourselves as capable of spontaneous enthusiasm, we remain creatures of habit. Maybe this default condition is a legacy of the past ten thousand years when most of us were yoked behind a plow and we got used to stepping into a furrow and plunging forward head
Recipes From a True Maine Cook
Sandra Oliver’s Maine Home Cooking reflects the beauty and simplicity of the great state of Maine. The sense of rich history and the Maine tradition of quality are felt through Oliver’s words on every page. Jennifer Smith-Mayo’s photography allows us into Sandy’s quintessential Maine kitchen. The tangible simplicity is palpable and I was quickly transported to my
Candidates Island-Hop for Votes
If you’re fishing for votes in House District 36, you’re going to spend some time at sea. That’s the word from the candidates: Incumbent Rep. Walter Kumiega of Little Deer Isle, and Kim Strauss of Bass Harbor. They both live on bridged islands, but the legislative district extends across part of Mount Desert and Tremont