Working Waterfront

The island approach to medicine

In 1954, crying and clinging to my Dad’s hand with my good arm, I was brought to Dr. Ralph Earle’s office. He walked quickly toward me but then turned and whispered to Dot, his receptionist. She got up, grabbed her hat and left. Then he walked me, still sobbing and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In praise of the amazing bean

Each year, drying beans ripen in the garden to provide a winter’s worth of baked beans, bean soup, or even refried beans. Traditional Maine varieties like Marfax, Tiger’s Eye, and Jacobs Cattle join Back Coco, Pintos, and Silver Cloud Cannellini. Once dried enough in the barn that the pods snap… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Challenges with a purpose is island life

A newcomer to the island, upon hearing about some of the inconveniences and stressors of island life, asked me, in all seriousness, “So why do you stay?” There are times when I ask myself the same question. Like on a dark, rolling December ferry ride, shivering in my car (because… SEE MORE

The Union Congregational Church on Isle au Haut. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

An island church history

The Union Congregational Church on Isle au Haut was founded in 1857 and built by island residents on a hill overlooking the village and thoroughfare. The Rev. Joshua Eaton was the first pastor, and there were seven original members, five of them named Turner. [caption id="attachment_28835" align="alignleft" width="400"] The Union… SEE MORE

Ted Hoskins, who served for many years as minister on Isle au Haut, supervises children ringing the church bell. PHOTO: COURTESY PAUL LEWIS

Working Waterfront

A Ted talk—Isle au Haut’s long-time minister Ted Hoskins on island history

What follows is an excerpt from an interview conducted, recorded, and transcribed by Kris Carlson-Lewis of Ted Hoskins at the Isle au Haut Parsonage on Aug. 22, 2012. It first appeared in a recent issue of the Isle au Haut Historical Society’s newsletter. It has been edited for length and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering my ‘summer girl’ days

How did we get to September already? July felt like August and August felt like a gust of wind. Surely, after the time warp that was summer 2021, I could avoid experiencing the strange mix of emotions that hits me around Labor Day. But no, here it is, right on… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The essential kitchen arts

Art, according to one Merriam-Webster definition, is a skill acquired by experience, study, or observation. Let’s tweak that to “and/or” observation. If that definition works for you, then, because it’s a joy to practice an art, let’s apply it to the part of daily life that starts in the kitchen.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Don’t mow the milkweed

Not too far from my house, on one of my usual walking routes, is a huge field. A house sits on the field far back from the road, so that any signs of habitation are invisible to passersby, but the field covers an immense swath of South Shore Road. It… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

It’s time to build leadership skills

Discussions about leadership are everywhere—in books, in the media, in our daily conversations. But what does leadership mean? How do you define an effective leader? At the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, we recognize that community projects cannot move forward without effective leaders at the helm. As a… SEE MORE

From left: Arachnologist Dr. Kefyn Catley, Maine Master Naturalist Donne Sinderson, and Dana Wilde examine specimens while spider hunting along the shore in Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge. PHOTO: BRUCE WENNING.

Working Waterfront

Spider haven and the mystery of Islesboro’s up-island arachnid

On Islesboro, there are some really big spiders. So startlingly big, that a legend has grown up in recent decades about an “up-island spider" living on the upper end of the island and rumored to be as large as 8 inches from toe to toe. It has red eyes. Its… SEE MORE