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Over the years, I have seen a great many animals near our island summer home in Harpswell: cormorants, gulls, owls, hummingbirds, ospreys, red squirrels, wild turkeys, eagles, crows, terns, occasional woodpeckers, seals, fisher cats, deer (who are surprisingly good swimmers) and vols (who destroy the garden with relish). All of them are part of the local ecosystem. We habitate together. They go about their daily routines, and I go about mine.

This year, the Harpswell Anchor turned 5, my parents will celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary, and our country will turn 250 years old!

In days of yore, people spent a very long time trying to figure out exactly what was happening and why it was only happening in "yore." Even now, in the post-yore era, there remains a good deal of confusion about the exact timing of this period in history.

I'm perplexed, and I know it isn't just me who feels this way. The weather in Maine has been a bit inconsistent lately. April was rainy and cold. May was cold, wet and windy. June is supposed to be the meteorological beginning of summer, but our heat pump remained on.

Perhaps it's just me, but I can remember a time when folks appeared to have more empathy and compassion. The ideas of giving and kindness sometimes seem to have been dimmed by what I call "me first" syndrome.

It is with gratitude and excitement that I am bringing "Intertidal" to the Harpswell Anchor, a paper I wrote for regularly several years ago and have always eagerly read.

The day began with fog, cold, and breezy drizzle, yet ended with sunshine, typical for coastal Maine in the spring. Arrayed along Pine Point in Scarborough, we tried to keep our binoculars and spotting scopes clear. The mouth of the Nonesuch River exiting the famous Scarborough Marsh is a favorite destination for bird-watching throughout the year, and the birds did not disappoint.

DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Thank you, your honor. Members of the jury, you have heard the testimony and reviewed the evidence. You will shortly decide whether my client is guilty of three counts of over-accessorizing his bed by placing too many pillows on it.

Imagine you're stuck in traffic on the Mass Pike with no radio and your passenger is droning on about whether there should have been room for Jack on the floating door in "Titanic." That's how bored I want you to be.