Maine's Coast for the Proletariat

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Over 97% of Maine’ s coast is privately owned and much of that is behind lots of signs telling us we can’t go there. How on earth are the rest of us to get to salt water? Enter the Maine Coastal Public Access Guides.

Several years ago, I was a writer on this project and since then I’ve shared secret beaches, picnic tables, kayak launches, quiet places to take a lawn chair, and excellent tide pools to explore with kids.

(read more . . . )

Do We Wait Till it Dies? Cabbis Scrabble

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“Do we have to wait until it dies?” asked my husband, watching a struggling caddis fly cover the Scrabble square he wanted to use.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “They’re landing and taking off again.”

Lured by lantern light against the dark woods and even darker river, at least four types of furiously just-hatched caddis changed the game. (read more)

Are Maine Winters Murder?

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It was late.  The snow was still falling furiously and I was still typing furiously, finally getting down a scene where my narrator Patton and her dog Pock face death. (Deadly Turn is due out in 2019). Snowplows rumbled on roads across the cove, swinging their lights back and forth over my desk. I typed on in Patton’s voice:
“ ‘Don’t look,’ I yelled at Pock, dragging him up the rock. (read more)