Columns

This season encourages walking in the early morning hours. The air is fresh and sweet, and often filled with a variety of birdsongs. This morning I heard one of the defining calls of the area, the high-pitched tones of an osprey overhead.

It was a fluke, really. My husband and I were taking a walk on Lookout Point Road. I saw a sign that said, "Seams by the Sea." I thought it a clever sign and made a mental note.

Finally, it's a sunny, spring-like day, bringing all the sweet promises of warm, gentle breezes, children laughing and playing, and, in due course, summer.

May is one of the best months of the year, a time when we climb out of the recliner, shake off the winter cobwebs and shift our patooties into high gear. Mud season is behind us, summer beckons and spring is bursting out all over.

The World Health Organization needs my help. If you haven't heard, the current COVID variants are named after Greek letters and there are only 24 letters available. WHO is seeking a new "nomenclature" to use after omega — the last Greek letter — is assigned.

Driving by the now-closed B&M factory in Portland last week, it made me sad to think I will no longer smell the beans baking when I ​pass​ by. Nothing beats the aroma of a pot of beans ​baking​ in the oven.

I was recently asked to consider writing a column about the positive things about growing old. Hahahahahahaha! No, seriously. Initially, I found the proposition to be absurd, but it quickly ramped up all the way to hilarious in an oxymoronic kind of way.

I deeply admire the tenacity of door-to-door vacuum sellers. Or should it be admired? This scene happened decades ago and no one since then has shown up at my house asking permission to scatter debris everywhere.

The battle of Mobile Bay was an important turning point in the American Civil War. Commanded by David Farragut, the Union Navy prevailed in August of 1864.

Spring is in the air here in Maine … finally. Beneath the melting snow and ice are blooms and flowers ready to grace us with their beauty. Time to celebrate new beginnings.