Columns

During the winter months, our local population of oceangoing ducks soars as migrants arrive from hundreds or thousands of miles to the north.

With several holidays coming this month, many of us are planning some sort of celebration. Some may travel to be with friends and/or family, while others may choose to have a quiet holiday at home.

When you ask people why they give, the answer is almost never "the tax deduction." However, if Uncle Sam rewards you for being philanthropic, that is a welcome bonus!

As if I needed objective evidence for the alleged incompetence at the BMV bureaucracy, I visited there to renew my driver's license recently.

I love a magic moment. Not the cocktail or the song but the warmth, strength and connection — a fleeting and magical sense of deep peace from knowing I'm in the exact right place at the exact right time.

We sent our only child off to college this fall and are suffering from a form of nostalgia that some call empty nest syndrome. This is definitely a transitional moment for our family, and it has led me to revisit old photographs and memories of our son, Sam, when he was little.

September's sun warmed me as I listened to migrating warblers and local birds. Then I heard the soft brush of movement against a spruce tree to my left. Slowly turning, I saw two predators padding down the trail, unaware of my presence.

Of the many blessings to celebrate this holiday, gratitude for our friends, cooks, and volunteers who help neighbors in need within our community certainly tops the list.

September, the first month of autumn, brings with it the suggestion of the season to follow. Although still three months away, the wonders of frostbitten cheeks, slips and falls on icy surfaces...

For most of her 80-plus years, Marjorie Johnson lived in a modest house on Bailey Island, on the side of a hill overlooking Mackerel Cove. Her father was a fisherman; her mother, the proprietor of a summer boardinghouse and cottages known as The Willows.