Columns

On the morning of my 54th birthday, I found a dead mouse underneath my birdfeeder. Besides being dead, the mouse looked fine. Who or what caused its death? Our cats stay indoors. There were no signs of meteor impact where I found the body.

It used to be easy to get older. I would just hang around and do stuff or not do stuff and I would get older. Worst case, I'd wake up with a nuclear-grade headache and a 21-day penicillin prescription, no wiser but definitely older than before.

I have a blue baseball hat and, in the center, where a team logo would go, it's embroidered with the image of a glass of wine. Everything about this hat is optimistic.

Memorial Day has come and gone, which means cottages are opening up and Airbnbs are getting busy. The town comes alive this time of year, and with more traffic on the road, more emergencies can happen.

Why is gas in the Brunswick area at least 10 cents per gallon more than, for example, Damariscotta to the north or Kennebunk to the south? Although one might occasionally find a price equal to Brunswick's, this is uncommon, and our area always seems to lead the way in Maine. Why?

Maine has more cases of Lyme disease per capita than any other state, but it doesn't need to hamper our enjoyment of the outdoors. As a doctor with 30 years of experience in emergency rooms, I'm here to share common questions and answers about Lyme disease so fellow Harpswellians can continue their favorite activities without undue fear.

I am at the checkout counter at Twice Told Tales used bookshop in Brunswick. In my hand is the second volume of Edmund Morris' three-volume set about the life of Theodore Roosevelt. The volunteer cashier, an older woman, hair turned white from wisdom, takes my book and requests $5.

Spring conjures one miracle on top of another. Life's groundswell happens beyond our senses, so it's in motion before we pick up the signs. I imagine a sorcerer, like Mickey Mouse in "Fantasia," conducting nature's orchestra.

Many of you loyal and long-suffering readers will remember the nice lady who asked me if I knew my first name. She was a victim of the system for which she worked. It made her look silly, but it gave me a column that month. Along those same lines…