Perspectives

Carol Lord, manager of technical services at Curtis Memorial Library, discovered how much she loved being in the library when she volunteered to shelve books. She had tried several other careers, but decided the library was for her. She has been at Curtis for 25 years and knows the collections especially well, as part of her job is coordinating and overseeing the annual new books budget.

When you mention that the holidays are around the corner, people tend to fall into one of two categories. There's the bright-eyed bunch who exclaim, "Yes! I'm so excited for the snow and seeing family!" Then there are those who sigh, "I can't believe it's here already. I just want it to be over."

It's the holiday season and maybe it's me, but I'm just not feeling it this year like I usually do. In my heart I know it's the lack of snowfall. When I was young, storms would dump copious amounts of snow in December. We would go downtown and see store windows decorated for the season. The streets were lined with lights and garland that ended at a large tree covered in snow that glittered with colorful lights. It was simply glorious.

"Do I have anything between my teeth?" Allison asks. She is preparing to go to the gym and has just eaten a poppy seed bagel for breakfast. I am sitting at the kitchen counter, also eating a poppy seed bagel. As I munch on my own bagel, she stands before me and gives me a radiant smile that allows me a good view of all her teeth.

Dear Santa, I'm feeling salty and it's not because walking through Harpswell's mineral-laden sea air is like a day at the spa.

Long ago and not far away there was a land of Sufficient. "Plenty" had not yet come, but in the land of Sufficient we had what we needed. Oh, there were signs of Plenty here and there during the summers, but mostly we had just what we needed. For us, that was Plenty.

Monday was a blustery, drizzly day, the kind of day when you wonder whether it is worth it to journey out. And yet, Harpswell Aging at Home's Lunch with Friends was bustling with lively conversation over delicious food provided by local organizations. Our table's discussion, which included a new resident of Bailey Island, took a familiar turn. How do you explain to visitors what an exceptional and supportive place Harpswell is?

For years, my folks made the long drive from the Finger Lakes region of New York to take in the thrills and chills of the Fryeburg Fair in Maine. Dating from 1851, the fair is a major attraction for western Maine, with up to 300,000 attendees. Having grown up on a small hill farm, Dad loved the old steam-powered farm machines and the pulling contests among giant draft horses, like the famous Percherons and Clydesdales. The foliage of early October was a bonus for the trip.

Sometimes I look to the past for inspiration. Like here on Page 84 from the July 26, 1925, New York Times. The ad fills up more than three-quarters of the page and includes four photographs.