Articles
Empty Nesting
In the midst of the inescapable parental experiences of changing a particularly messy diaper or of trying to comfort a squalling child with an ear infection in the middle of the night, there may be no parent who does not silently yearn for the serenity of the empty nest after the long slog of child
Unbridging Barrier Islands – A Sandy Moment
Who knows what rich brew of psychological, spiritual and sexual urges draw humankind to shorelines in ever increasing numbers? But it is a fact that over half of the population of the U.S. now lives in the coastal zone—a 30 percent increase over the past three decades—and more of us are moving to America’s shores
Putting Down the Family Car
Over the weekend, I had to put down the family car. Figuring out why I would hang on to a 16-year-old VW Golf well past the point when any of its dashboard panels worked, guessing your speed and gas reserves, would probably require years of therapy. Still the decision was painful. It might have something
New England’s Island Energy Future
All islands are different, but have a lot in common. That is one of the mantras we repeat all the time at the Island Institute, and was a theme of a conference week and a half ago, when over 50 islanders from around New England gathered in in person and via video links to discuss
A Line in the Sand
Around every strip of sandy beach, you can find signs of a marsh of some kind—a salt marsh, a fresh water marsh or one of the infinite variations of brackish marshes. Something in us does not love a marsh, but everything in us loves the sandy strand. Was there ever a teenager who did not
Dirty Weather
A major coastal storm, like Sandy, which was a hurricane wrapped in a northeasterly gale that came ashore on a spring tide at high water along a 600-mile length of the Atlantic coastline, temporarily reminds us of the power of Mother Nature to interrupt our orderly lives. Mariners, like those aboard the Bounty, which went
Look Up and Be Amazed
As much as we may like to think of ourselves as capable of spontaneous enthusiasm, we remain creatures of habit. Maybe this default condition is a legacy of the past ten thousand years when most of us were yoked behind a plow and we got used to stepping into a furrow and plunging forward head
Internal Debate
(Recorded surreptitiously) Romney: Hi Barak, it’s Mitt. Obama: Hi Mitt, what’s up? Romney: Look, I know it’s been a tough campaign season, but I have a proposition that I think will be good for both of us. I propose we agree not to mention anything about global warming or climate change during
Science and Technology for the Global Island Village
Washington, which devises acronym for everything it does, has a relatively new one for its educational policy goals, called “S.T.E.M.” learning, meaning the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in our schools and colleges. And the reason is simple: no other type of learning has the potential to create not just millions of jobs
Dirigo – 21st Century Working Waterfronts
Dirigo — the Maine state motto (“I lead”). When Maine voters passed a constitutional referendum in 2005 to provide tax relief to protect commercial fishing properties and to fund a $2 million bond to acquire permanent access for future fisheries, there were only 20 miles of working waterfronts left along more than 5000 miles of