Articles
The Cranberry Report: The Joy of our Lives
There is a lot of good energy around the islands these days. People are coming together more. From yoga classes to island sustainability meetings to weekly literary discussions to establishing a food buying club, several young adults have enthusiastically encouraged the rest of us to consider reducing our carbon footprints and to find more creative
The Cranberry Report: “I don’t know what goes on, on that island, but whatever it is, it’s good.”
In the middle of February, ten members of the Islesford Volunteer Fire Department left their island homes and families to dedicate more than 40 hours to complete intense training activities at the Mississippi State Fire Academy (MSFA) in Jackson. Islesford Fire Chief Courtney Chaplin spent months working out the logistics of the training and travel
Cranberry Report: Winter survival is a highly-honed island art
Twenty-five years ago in February, my husband and I were learning to be parents of 1 month old twin boys. There was little sleep to be had in our house, but we knew there was a couple in Lincoln, Maine who had just given birth to triplets. Many times we got through an overwhelming moment
The Cranberry Report: “Green” comes in different shades
Back-to-back snowstorms ended the old year and rang in the new leaving trees overburdened with a weighty white coating. Their bending and breaking branches caused power and phone outages in the Cranberry Isles. Luckily, the inconveniences of these storms did not last long. Our efficient Islesford and Great Cranberry snowplow operators, Cory Alley and Blair
The Cranberry Report: Snakes on the Boat
Fall is in full swing on the islands. The leaves are changing color and people are starting to put their gardens to bed. Soon they will harvest seaweed and kelp from the beaches to provide a warm fertilizing blanket to protect the gardens over the winter. On September 27, the Gott ferry arrived at Islesford
The Cranberry Report:Season’s End
Summer has come to an end in the Cranberry Isles. The Beal and Bunker mailboat and Cranberry Cove ferry have shortened their schedules for the off-season and the Islesford Dock Restaurant is closed until next June. Though there are still daytime visitors who come by boat to wander the islands for an hour or so,
The Cranberry Report: More Wind, Less Daylight
After a surplus of gorgeous weather in September and October, November has a different kind of beauty. The angle of the sun is noticeably lower, infusing afternoon light with the glow of brushed pewter. It is the kind of sky that gives bare trees a crisp outline and predicts approaching snow and colder weather. Next
The Cranberry Report: A Taste Reminiscent of Doughnuts
The weather at the end of June was glorious, followed by a run of foggy, rainy days in July that gave vacationing residents a chance to catch up on their reading, and working residents a chance to feel like they weren’t missing all the fun. Regardless of the weather, everyone is busy with the summer
The Cranberry Report: Bright Birds, Bright Graduates
On a recent mail boat trip to Northeast Harbor, Jennifer Westphal, a resident of Great Cranberry Island said to me, “Hey, you’re a bird watcher aren’t you? I want to tell you about something.” In early May she noticed a lemon yellow bird with a black head, black wings and a black tail. It was
Cranberry Report: Make Your Own Job
After a nasty northeaster, spring returned to the Cranberry Isles in the last week of April. Neighbors came together under beautiful skies to perform community service in observation of Earth Day. On Islesford, Island Institute fellow Eric Dyer organized a beach cleanup, followed by a community supper and a showing of the movie, “An Inconvenient