Down the Road
Down the Road
Where the wild things is
Yeah, I know. That's terrible language in the title. But I didn't want to use the correct verb, "are," because it's already used in a book -- a book that is actually worth reading in contrast to this bit of wildlife rambling.
Mar 14, 2010 - 6:13:19 AM
Down the Road
How to walk -- or how not to
I am reading The Lost Art of Walking by Geoff Nicholson, a fascinating book about not only how to walk -- well, actually, not so much that -- as about a lot of tales of walkers -- some the writer says are well known.
Mar 8, 2010 - 12:22:24 AM
Down the Road
Spring (trail) fever
As soon as the weather permits, Dolores and I are headed over to the Frye Mountain area to take a look at the Hogback Trail on the mountain of that same name.
Mar 1, 2010 - 1:31:24 AM
Down the Road
Goin' Green, not some other direction
What if a vote for Lynne Williams turns out to be a vote for Lynne Williams? How will I know unless I vote for Lynne Williams? And then how will I know my vote actually went toward Lynne Williams becoming our next governor?
Feb 14, 2010 - 12:15:08 AM
Down the Road
January thaw -- what is it? Why can't it stay?
I remember one dark, bleak, January night when we lived over in western Maine, hearing the water drip off the roof. This was January thaw, all right, but it was still a dark and scary night.
Feb 8, 2010 - 12:10:58 AM
Down the Road
Trains don't go 'choo choo' no mo
According to Wikipedia, "The Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad ran from Burnham Junction in on the Maine Central Railroad to the small seaport of Belfast. It was originally leased by the Maine Central as the Belfast Branch.
Jan 31, 2010 - 1:13:18 AM
Down the Road
Move over, deer
In case you're wondering and aren't close up and personal with the deer waiting in the woods near your house for some of that molasses-dipped grain, of course deer talk to you -- if you're listening carefully.
Jan 26, 2010 - 12:10:37 AM
Down the Road
Called by God -- send money
This week we received a "prayer letter" from an acquaintance. The bottom line was, in my ever-so-accurate rendition of the letter, "God called me to this ministry. Send me money so I can do it full-time."
Jan 20, 2010 - 12:33:25 AM
Down the Road
Watch that ice! Wish I could still listen to it
I first moved to Maine in 1965 and heard during those cold winter nights the booming of the ice out on Songo Pond. It was so cold the ice pushed against itself and snapped, sounding like rifle shots. We now live a quarter mile from Lower Patten Pond. Here I've never heard the ice snap nor boom at night.
Jan 10, 2010 - 12:18:52 AM
Down the Road
The miracle of getting your story there
I went through about four laptops a year, because they didn't like having coffee or Italian sandwich oil spilled or dripped into them. The paper gave me another one each time one ingested too much coffee or veggie oil and had the leaked-into one repaired.
Jan 3, 2010 - 12:10:56 AM
Down the Road
Happy Yesteryears
Anyhow, Happy New Year. I hope your past New Years have been as much fun and meaningful as mine and the one coming will treat you right.
Dec 27, 2009 - 12:15:26 AM
Down the Road
Oh Christmas tree, where came ye from
Our antique, somewhat rusty bow saw brought the just-right timber down in just under 30 seconds. Now we just need to decorate it, which with our somewhat busy schedules we ought to have completed before Easter.
Dec 20, 2009 - 12:15:51 AM
Down the Road
God is the major computer geek
Paul Weiss had taught me a little spiritual trick -- and he wasn't even a member of my church, whatever that church might be since I no longer go to church because I'm tired of churchgoers and ministers fighting and arguing and always "being right," especially about politics.
Dec 13, 2009 - 12:27:59 AM
Down the Road
Her credit card wouldn't work
"Leap for joy when you encounter troubles." The words following explain that troubles give God the opportunity to help you build character.
Dec 6, 2009 - 12:25:31 AM
Down the Road
Never again, the pain was too much
We first saw Springer the day we went to the house we had just leased. We found a missing window panel on the front door, heard a noise inside, and out leaped Springer.
Nov 29, 2009 - 12:03:28 AM
Down the Road
Thankful for so much
I'm thankful to the God described in the New Testament, the One Who states that He through His Son, Jesus the Savior and Messiah, has fulfilled on our behalf all the requirements established in the Old Testament and promises that by resting in His Son, by golly you'll be okay and you'll be able to accept others -- no matter what they believe.
Nov 23, 2009 - 6:20:36 AM
Down the Road
Keep me away from the hospital
I've noticed unhappily that since I began using my rottweiler stick, people have begun calling me 'sir.' They also ask if they can "get the door" for me, or they reach out to grab the door. A week or so ago, a woman visiting the recycling center asked if I needed a hand with the box I was lugging in to the center. I replied that, thanks, I didn't a hand; I needed a leg. She smiled, which was nice, because few nice looking women except Dolores smile at me.
Nov 16, 2009 - 12:11:24 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Booties and Other Bus Tales
Passengers frequently leave items on Island Explorer buses, things like cell phones, cameras, wallets, very occasionally a child, never a dog, but yesterday a bootie.
Aug 11, 2009 - 10:31:05 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: The Map was Wrong, I tell You!
On a sunny June day we were driving way out in the country, and I made a wrong turn.
Jul 30, 2009 - 11:32:48 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Questions About Hiking
Where is the parking lot at the very northern end of the Appalachian Trail? Where is the parking lot on the top of Katahdin?
Jul 24, 2009 - 12:38:27 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: When We'll Retire
The other day Dolores asked me when I was going to retire.
Jul 7, 2009 - 1:01:19 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Spiders -- Tiny House Guests, Till They Have Babies
As has happened before, I've asked Ken Anderson, the editor of Magic City News if I could use in "Down the Road a Piece" a really interesting piece he e-mailed me. He has agreed for me to share with you this buggy tale of a mother and her many, many -- even more than that -- kiddos...a tale which makes me wonder when being kind is being too kind, or unkind to we who are being kind. But give Ken credit for trying to be kind to his tenants, who failed to reciprocate... not because they were being mean, but just doing what came naturally.
Jul 2, 2009 - 3:07:43 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Birds of a Feather - Bump Softly and Entertain
The other day while I was working in the shed, I felt a soft bump on the side of my head.
Jun 16, 2009 - 11:45:10 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Property Lines Are So Much Fun
We've been dreaming of a little getaway camp on a lake, kind of like the one in On Golden Pond.
Jun 8, 2009 - 12:06:37 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Technology -- Gotcha, and Me
The other day when I was looking at CD photos from the film developing company we have been using, I noticed that the photos were no longer high resolution. The quality had been reduced but the price had not.
Jun 2, 2009 - 11:22:50 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Memorial Day -- Not Pleasant Memories
I've only known a few veterans, including a couple from World War II and one from the Vietnam conflict. None wanted to talk about their memories.
May 24, 2009 - 12:28:12 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: True Tales That Could Be True
A man, whose name I won't share except that it may rhyme with Ted, Ned, or Red, was stationed in the West while in the Army.
May 20, 2009 - 10:26:42 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Surprised by Christianity and "The Ministry"
I was raised with religion as a kind of side issue to everyday life -- a Sunday thing.
May 10, 2009 - 3:30:41 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: The Walking Stick and the Pedometer
I learned this past week I can walk a half-mile on a quarter-mile path, a quarter-mile on a half-mile path, and take 1000 steps without even getting up.
May 6, 2009 - 10:47:10 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: How to (or not to) Take Road Trips
Ken Anderson, our publisher, just returned home from a year in North Carolina,1 working on a project there. But now, unlike Lassie because he and his wife drove rather than galloped, they returned home and Ken has already written and published part of his trip.
Apr 27, 2009 - 10:51:41 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: MATC Members Hear of Renewed Redington, Black Nubble Wind Power Plan
Neither the Maine Appalachian Trail Club nor the other major outdoor conservation groups in Maine are opposed to wind power as a "green" way to produce electricity and reduce our dependence on polluting sources of energy, such as oil, MATC Ad Hoc Committee on Wind Power Steve Clark told the nearly 100 MATC members attending the MATC annual meeting last Saturday.
Apr 22, 2009 - 10:56:20 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Easter, Religious or Secular -- Maybe Both
As I was waiting in my bus Friday to start up from a "stop" sign, I noticed a movement at the edge of the woods across the road.
Apr 12, 2009 - 10:54:22 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Another Annual MATC Meeting -- Already
They say time flies when you're having fun. I say time flies.
Apr 8, 2009 - 10:46:56 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Answer to Prayer, Angelic Help, or Coincidence?
The teenager appeared very upset as she waded in to where we were, on the beach at a lake near Bangor.
Apr 1, 2009 - 10:51:34 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Logging, the Right Way and My Way
I don't what made both of us do it at the same moment, but both of us ran.
Mar 23, 2009 - 10:12:45 AM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: That Season Missed by the Tourist Brochures
There is a rule about driving in mud season: if you are still moving, don't take your foot off the gas.
Mar 16, 2009 - 12:11:17 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Losing My Job Moved Me Forward
While driving my bus out of Bar Harbor about 6:45 a.m. Friday after dropping of the Jackson Lab employees, I saw a doe waiting to cross the road. I stopped. She looked both ways and then gingerly stepped onto the pavement -- pavement, not covered with ice and snow -- and crossed to a wooded uphill on the west side of the road.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:43:51 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Oh Yes, the Beauty of Winter
As I look out the study window today, the woods, like those in Robert Frost's poem, are dark and green -- above the ground that is. The ground remains white with two to three feet of snow.
Mar 1, 2009 - 7:00:42 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: The Winter Skinny From the National Weather Service
Last week I asked the National Weather Service for some real facts, instead of the "facts" I've remembered, and they didn't respond. After writing last week about snow, snow, snow, cold, cold, cold, and, oh yes, snow and cold, M.C. Walker, a NWS Meteorologist, this week sent some information.
Feb 25, 2009 - 1:11:41 PM
Down the Road
Down the Road a Piece: Those Winters From the Bad Old Days
Maineiacs love to share tales of those "good old fashioned Maine winters," the ones where the snow was up to the second-story windows and you had to walk to and from school five miles through two feet of snow -- uphill both ways, of course.
Feb 16, 2009 - 2:12:57 PM
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