Tag Archives: Life in Maine

Brighten Up

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There’s no shortage of depressing topics to tackle on any given day. For whatever reason of late, the news seems worse than ever.  Even our local stories have been angling towards the negative.

I was thinking about offering my two cents worth about our “fiscally conservative” governor granting raises ranging from seven to 23 percent to a group of his administrators. Then, like nearly everyone else, I’ve gotten sucked into the Marcy’s Diner news and Facebook vortex. But alas, the thought of stirring up controversy on a perfect Friday morning during the height of Maine’s tourist season is just too freakin’ depressing.

So instead, I’m touching down today on talk about female empowerment and volunteerism. Can’t get in any trouble with that, can you? Continue reading →

At the Festival

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I’ve probably written more about Moxie than any Mainer. I might even be approaching Frank Potter’s legendary output—who knows. Clearly, given that Mr. Potter’s Moxie canon is print-based and pre-interwebs, we know that he wasn’t Moxie blogging.

When I rewind back to 2004, the memories are still fresh of the late Sue Conroy, convincing me to take on the PR and marketing that year, joining the small band putting on the Moxie Festival. That was merely year 22 (if my Moxie math is right) of what’s now become the 33rd running of one of Maine’s, if not the nation’s, most unique and intriguing summer festivals. What began with 13 postcards and 500 people (according to one version) blossomed into a festival attracting upwards of 50,000 people to Central Maine and the sleepy town of Lisbon Falls. Continue reading →

Season to Season

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One of these days, it’s going to start feeling like the season called spring that began last Friday. Not only hasn’t it been very warm over the past few days, the winds of March have made it feel like we’re still in the grip of winter’s icy claws. Of course, this stretch of March has some checkered history.

Actually, Saturday wasn’t too bad. Compared to Sunday’s wind-tunnel-of-a-day, the upper 30s made my run in the morning quite pleasant. Miss Mary actually coaxed me out for a 5-miler. Knock on wood, my leg and hip issues from last year at this time seem to be in my rearview mirror.

I’m sure it won’t be long before I can put away my heavy field coat, ax, and not spend part of each day chopping and lugging firewood to fill the wood box. I’ll be able put my fire-building skills away, too—save for an occasional fire in the ole’ fire pit this summer.

May flowers

April showers will give way to May flowers.

Continue reading →

Writing About Maine’s Outliers

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I’ve lived in Maine for all but five years of my life. After questing to find spiritual nirvana—in Indiana, of all places—our family unit returned to the Pine Tree State in 1987 and I’ve been here ever since. Sometimes I even write a book or two about some aspect of Maine’s history, trying to relate it to the present.

There are times when I don’t even know my native state. The recent influx of flatlanders and people from away now doing all the writing about the state has created a portrait of my home state that I barely recognize. Somehow, this new brand of scrivener has convinced the rest of us that we are more than the feudal serfs we’ve always been. Continue reading →

Summer’s Last Hurrah

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I’m not sure you can truly appreciate a late September weekend like the one we just had, unless you’ve lived through a couple of interminable winters similar to last year’s. Perhaps, but I doubt it.

Erica's Seafood--the best lobster roll in Maine? Quite possibly.

Erica’s Seafood–the best lobster roll in Maine? Quite possibly.

A hasty, last minute decision to conclude our 2014 lobster roll campaign resulted in a 25-mile Sunday drive down the South Harpswell side of the peninsula, and a final tasting of succulent lobster meat, stuffed into a buttered roll at Erica’s Seafood. Continue reading →

Looking Back and Moving Ahead

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All week, I’ve felt pressure from being behind the eight ball of work and deadlines. How was I going to juggle each of the balls I had in the air and not drop at least one of them?

Thursday happened to be my day for visiting two communities in rural Franklin County. They are where I’m engaged in a part-time grant project focused on Maine’s aging population.

Every other week, I leave my house just prior to 8:00 AM and usually don’t return until 6:30 or 7:00. I have two community teams I’m working with. I also end up logging more than 200 miles of windshield time.  I am enjoying getting back to grassroots organizing and connecting dots. Continue reading →

One More Bump in the Road

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First I fall off my bike and puncture my lung. Next, I’m being told “thanks, but no thanks,” in heading up an important workforce initiative.

I’ve been involved with the Maine Business Leadership Network for a year now. I was hired last August to serve as the first director of Maine’s only affiliate of the USBLN. I found out yesterday that the Maine State Chamber of Commerce isn’t “renewing my contract.” There are a number of things I could say; I’m certainly feeling a confluence of emotions, and having a variety of thoughts, some better not articulated at the moment. Apparently this is normal when you get kicked to the curb. I will say that I don’t feel like a year was a long enough period of time to prove the efficacy of what I was trying to do in leading the organization.  I’m sure some might disagree. Continue reading →

How Diverse Are We? (day 2)

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Mt. Battie just after sunrise.

Mt. Battie just after sunrise, shrouded in fog.

Day #2 began early, very early, with blogging and then a run into Camden at sunrise. It ended much later, visiting and old friend in Rockland. In-between, my second day at the Samoset for the #MEHRC2013 convention brought the following:

  •  Cy Wakeman and reality-based rules for the workplace and leadership

  • Diversity and HR’s role facilitating that journey, with Shilpa Pherwani (my favorite workshop)

  • Networking with old friends

  • Pamela Green unleashing HR’s power

  • Networking with new friends

  • A late afternoon swim

  • Visiting with an old friend in Rockland Continue reading →

Coping with weather and boys who cry “wolf”

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When we were young, we became familiar with the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”  It is one of Aesop’s Fables and is numbered 210 on the Perry Index for those who care about these things. The moral of the story, and Aesop’s Fables always had a moral, was that “a liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.” Continue reading →