Articles
Domestic Field Notes
He knew better. But he was tired. As if that were an excuse. It was bedtime at the end of a long day when the field naturalist’s wife announced that there was a rodent in the bedroom, which they were going to have to catch before they could climb into bed. Such are the portents
Sustaining Storytelling
Linguists remind us that storytelling is as old as our ability to produce successive sounds to convey meaning — as if our hominid brains could remember a time when our ancestors first sat around a fire describing how they had gotten that mastodon to run into a cleverly disguised pit just prior to dinner. Actually
Energy for ME
Following a recent offshore wind energy seminar hosted by the Island Institute and attended by a motly mix of 40-or-so Midcoast residents from Boothbay to Belfast, one of the participants, a new (year-round) resident to Maine, asked me what in my wildest dreams I might hope for the future of offshore wind in the Gulf
The Blur of Summer
The shrill keening of Arctic terns as they dive-bomb flashes of sliver-sided brit seems to encompass all the intensity of a Maine island summer in a single second of sound and sight. Arctic terns, like most islanders, live at a furious pace during the precious few weeks between Independence and Labor days, feeding young, dodging
Island Diaspora
Once a year many family members who have left their islands behind—whether from preference or necessity—return to the nest for a taste of the best of island life that August has to offer. But this year, July’s endlessly sunny weather beat August’s uncharacteristic fogs, frontal rains and its late hurricane all to pieces. It must
Moments in Time
Sweet are the sounds and scents of summers on islands, when we set aside careworn worries that we collect like polished stones, and in those moments, hours or weeks, breathe in the pure contentment of moments suspended in time. Everyone has their own catalog of the unforgettable sense of an island summer. Here are a
Listening to the Scenery
Driving on Route 1 from the mid-Maine coast toward an island meeting Downeast when you are dealing with an implacable ferry schedule on the other end requires careful calibration. First, of course, you consider the season and the condition of the roads. In late spring you can generally count on avoiding delays from the icy
The Climate Change Hoax: Ask the Greenland Norse
This is going to be a little painful, but stick with me for a brief tour of how the obscure history of the disappearance of a civilization informs our emerging scientific understanding of climate change. Let’s begin with a subject we know quite a lot about-the expansion of Norse culture across vast areas of remote
Why successful island leaders go far
Those pundits who think inside-the-beltway politics are intense clearly have not spent a great deal of time discussing issues in New England’s small towns, where all politics are local; nor are they likely to have visited many island communities where all politics are personal. An island community’s real leaders are often not the apparent leaders
Lifeboat Ethics
People who move to island communities from elsewhere often imagine their new lives will be simpler and more peaceful than in those places–usually an urban or suburban community–they have left behind. But nothing could be further from the truth. To be a hermit, you need your own island; the last place you should go to