You can still love an activity even if you’re not good at it. That’s true with cross country skiing and me. Beginning the sport in my forties, I’ve never progressed beyond mediocrity. Something I thoroughly enjoy, it’s gentler on my aging body than most other favored pursuits. The School of Medicine at the University of […]

A lot has changed since I started hiking Ragged Mountain in the 1970s. Part of a coastal mountain range called the Camden Hills, back then the only trail leading to the summit began in a pasture on the Gillette Road in Rockport. Crossing private properties, the path went through an evolution of closings and re-openings, […]

Except for three years in the Army, I’ve lived my entire life in Maine. One would surmise that after seven decades experiencing Maine winters, they wouldn’t come as a surprise. However, for some inexplicable reason the first significant winter storm always seems to catch me unprepared. I’m not alone. A few inches of white stuff […]

Perhaps the best kept whitewater secret in coastal Maine is a three mile stretch of the Cathance River in my hometown of Topsham. Located in the northeastern, rural part of town, it is a Class II through V creek run that consists of four rapids followed by four runnable waterfalls. Most of the action occurs […]

Birthdays never bothered me until I turned sixty-nine. It was then that I realized my next solemn remembrance would be seventy. By anyone’s definition, seventy is old. Depending upon one’s perspective, it may not be ancient or completely over-the-hill, but seriously old. Just recently, there was a news announcement about an accident in Hampden. The […]