Maine in 2040: Can You Imagine It?
Instead of relying solely on models and charts, what if we tried to visualize just how different our lives might be in a climate-altered Maine two decades hence? What follows is an imaginative portrait...
Category: Sense of Place
Caught in a Jam: Facing Overtourism
Traffic congestion at Acadia National Park. Photo courtesy of Friends of Acadia. Overtourism, a new term for a growing global phenomenon, captures how popular destinations can become overrun and degraded, diminishing both visitor...
Taking a Bird’s-eye View
On Mother’s Day, I received a surprise gift. In the peach tree just outside our kitchen, an eastern bluebird and Baltimore oriole alighted simultaneously. It was approaching dusk, and the departing sun lit up...
Dimming the Lights
A boundless dome of darkness overhead – lit only by crystalline stars – is one of Maine’s most imperiled natural assets. The Milky Way visible above Acadia National Park cannot be seen with the...
The Unifying Power of Place
There’s great comfort to being in a place where – even in solitude – you’re not alone. When no other humans are at my extended family’s rustic camp, I’m still surrounded. The picnic table,...
The Dangers of Hierarchical Thinking
“The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man’s heart away from nature becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too.”...
Pointless Pollution, Maddening Noise
It’s a gorgeous summer morning, fragrant with the scents of lilac and abelia, but my office windows are shut. A swarm of leaf blowers has descended just down the road, generating plumes of dust...
Field-grown Perennials?
Shopping didn’t used to require a glossary. But now there’s a profusion of labels like “pasture butter” and “field-grown perennial” that require translation. Consider the latter term: what portion of the plant’s life is...
