Our Blog is here to help keep you informed about new local projects, concerns, and news events going on in Maine and the country.
CAREGIVING | HUMAN TRAFFICKING | FOOD | SPIRITUAL | BUILDING COMMUNITY
Topic ~ Caregiving
Keep the Spirit of Christmas All Through the Year
For the last few weeks, I have seen the hashtags #christmasiscancelled and #christmasisnotcancelled. Of course, the Christmas spirit isn’t something that can be canceled or not canceled. Remember in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas when the Grinch puzzled over the fact...
Blessings Are Everywhere Looking for You
In A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charlie Brown asks Lucy what she wants for Christmas. She responds, “Real Estate.” As an adult, I understand this response as a sad commentary on Christmas commercialism. I am slowly feeling the spirit of Christmas. Looking back at...
Releasing Emotional Memories
End of the year celebrations usually includes traditions. There are ancient traditions - Santa still comes down the chimney! Letting go of the old – no to having green bean casserole again. A time for new ones – replace the green bean casserole with a fruit salad....
Topic ~ Human Trafficking
Bill Hall’s American Classic Tea
While vacationing, I took advantage of opportunities to interview restaurant owners, chefs, and the owner of the only tea plantation in America, Bigelow Classic Tea. America’s soil is not typically appropriate for tea growing. Since 1987, Bill Hall, in partnership...
Human Trafficking – Consumers Have the Power to End It
Published in Franklin Journal I recently did a two and a half hour presentation on human trafficking. Usually, my presentations are shorter, but this was a special request. It’s an intense topic and quite involved. Both during and after, I appreciated the many...
The Great Latke and the Traditional Hanukkah Doughnut
Hanukkah, known as “festival of lights” begins this year at sunset Saturday, December 24, and goes through Sunday, January 1. It's the first time since 1978 Hanukkah has begun the same night as Christmas Eve. What beautiful, combined, loving energy this can bring to...
Topic ~ Food
Can Agroecology Save Our Communities and Our Planet?
Agroecology is a term that's been around awhile; a scientific discipline developed as an answer to not only counteract the damage caused by industrial farming practices but as a deterrent to causing more harm. It studies how different aspects of the agroecosystem...
Mni Wiconi is Lakota for Water is Life. Why Should We Care?
The Lakota phrase Mni Wiconi meaning Water is Life inspires and encourages humanity to protect, honor, and respect the water. Why should we care? In their explanation of the existence of life, scientists, politicians, and religious leaders have failed to understand...
First Lessons in Honoring and Respecting Water
Water is life. Every river, brook, stream, lake, sea, and ocean is essential to all life and from which we get all life. Watching a stream as it travels, you can see how humble it is, and yet, it carries minerals, sticks, leaves, and assists fish and frogs. Water...
Topic ~ Spiritual
Pearl Harbor Day Asks Us to Remember
Last night, I was drawn outside by a red light shining on the backyard fence. I should check to see that it was nothing to be concerned about, although I suspected it was due to the outdoor Christmas lights. It was, and my concern was alleviated. I was dressed only in...
In Every Ending the Beginning is Already There
"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." (T.S.Elliot) You are the love you have been waiting for. Last weekend, I was at an all-weekend workshop on the Maine...
Gratitude is an Active Commitment – A Positive Force for Change
Abundance is not having more than you need; it's having what you need. Many of us turn introspective when discussing gratitude and abundance this time of year. Abundance is a matter of perspective. For some, it is not enough, no matter how much they have. For others,...
The Kindness of Autumn
Rudeneja (ROO-den-Ay-HA) is a Lithuanian word for describing when the weather begins to feel like Autumn --- dying, mouldering leaves, the feel of crispy leaves and twigs crunching beneath our feet—the sound of cracking branches and crackling fires in fireplaces....
Topic ~ Building Community
Pearl Harbor Day Asks Us to Remember
Last night, I was drawn outside by a red light shining on the backyard fence. I should check to see that it was nothing to be concerned about, although I suspected it was due to the outdoor Christmas lights. It was, and my concern was alleviated. I was dressed only in...
In Every Ending the Beginning is Already There
"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." (T.S.Elliot) You are the love you have been waiting for. Last weekend, I was at an all-weekend workshop on the Maine...
Gratitude is an Active Commitment – A Positive Force for Change
Abundance is not having more than you need; it's having what you need. Many of us turn introspective when discussing gratitude and abundance this time of year. Abundance is a matter of perspective. For some, it is not enough, no matter how much they have. For others,...
The Kindness of Autumn
Rudeneja (ROO-den-Ay-HA) is a Lithuanian word for describing when the weather begins to feel like Autumn --- dying, mouldering leaves, the feel of crispy leaves and twigs crunching beneath our feet—the sound of cracking branches and crackling fires in fireplaces....