Working Waterfront

The care that backs up caretaking

My husband Bill went off-island to visit family during Vinalhaven’s two-week March break, so naturally Penrose and I both got sick. Pen came down with it first, an upper-respiratory crud that had made the rounds through the high school before filtering down to the younger kids. She spent a delightful… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Class clashes and conspiracy logic

Land of Cockaigne By Jeffrey Lewis, Haus Publishing Ltd. (2022) The central thing you need to know about the protagonist family in Jeffrey Lewis’s novel Land of Cockaigne is that they are from away. Walter and Catherine “Charley” Rath arrived in Sneeds Harbor, located somewhere along the rim of Mount… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering conflict on the home front

Memories of long-ago events are cemented into our hearts and minds when they are baptized in emotion. Where were you when…? Without a visceral response at the “what,” the exact “where” gets fuzzy. With other big news events in recent weeks—another school shooting, the legal woes of an ex-president—an important… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ocean acidification threatens blue economy

In a state renowned for its lobster and shellfish, Mainers understand the importance of a healthy ocean. But you don’t have to spend your mornings on a fishing boat hauling in the day’s catch or even live near the coast to be affected by our changing and warming seas. Ocean… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A marriage story, viewed from one side

A delightful compatibility has marked our marriage from day one. Not simply because she routinely anticipates my every need, including the many I did not and do not anticipate or the many others I wasn’t even cognizant of—until I become repeatedly and dimly aware that something has become easier or… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How a bill becomes law, Maine edition

The other day, I found myself in Augusta attending a legislative committee hearing and conversing about how a bill becomes a law with somebody who was at the legislature for the first time. So here is the short story: Bill ideas, or really just bill titles, need to be submitted… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Letters to the editor—’A distinct voice,’ and ‘perception’

A distinct voice To the editor: Phil Crossman and his skin color and the adjectives used to describe it in his Observer column apparently rubbed at least one person in the wrong way (“Unacceptable,” letters to the editor, December/January issue). My spouse and I lived two wonderful years in Maine… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Out of my lane—pinch-hitting as art teacher

As I settle into middle age, I find I can enjoy a sense of easy competency in most of the things I do. After 18 years of teaching and directing plays, I no longer fret over every detail, but can plan more generally and pivot and problem-solve as needed. I… SEE MORE

This photo from our February/March issue generated details from our readers.

Working Waterfront

A tree’s demise prompts stories

The photo we ran on page 9 in the February/March issue showed a large tree with its roots torn from the ground, leaning onto wires and another tree (and possibly a house) with a Rockland police vehicle parked nearby. We asked readers from more information, and as usual, they came… SEE MORE

A view of the harbor on Swan's Island. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Hearing stories of love and loss

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. Being a “person from away” is not a new experience for me. I was born in the Southeast where my… SEE MORE