Columns

When I was 11, my parents moved our family from a small apartment in the Bronx to a 200-year-old farm about 70 miles from New York City. There, we experienced our first power outages.

This month's words are "happy holidays." It is a wonderful time of year to see old friends and family during the holiday season. There are a lot of celebrations and parties for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, and a large number of dedicated law enforcement officers are out trying to keep the roads safe for travel.

Have you ever thought about what type of grandmother you would like to be? I actually think about it quite frequently. Even though I could decide not to have children in the future, I dream about being an older woman with an extended family to care for.

Whenever November arrives, it reminds me of a line from a song by the late Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" — "When the gales of November come early."

That bad four-letter word, snow, will be here soon! Let's get ready ahead of time. Have your vehicles checked out. Get proper snow tires — don't wait till the last minute. The fine for inadequate tires (bald tires) is $150 for one and goes up from there.

I'm writing this during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you'll read it in a moment when thoughts turn to gratitude. The pink ribbons of breast cancer awareness, and the teal, green and pink ribbons of metastatic breast cancer awareness, have given way to bumpy gourds and mums.

Ah, October! My favorite month, and not just because I have a birthday in October. We pretty much get our town back from the seasonal invaders, and things quiet down. Even the leaf peepers have bailed.

The young girl had been to the library before with her mother and was, as usual, walking toward the kids section when she suddenly stopped. To her left was a wall full of transparent backpacks, each filled with items to explore the beach, the woods and other areas of interest in Harpswell.

Question: There is a series of yellow dots, numbered one through 18, painted on the surface of Lowell's Cove Road between Lane Road and Tree Tops Lane. Why are those dots and numbers there, and what do they represent?

The storms of January took out our pier, gangway, and the float where I normally tie up my fishing boat. But neighbors in Harpswell are kind and generous — even to outsiders like me. Without a dock and float to tie up my boat, a neighbor lets me tie my boat to his mooring.