Hi, dear readers. Here I am again in the third week of August with more Marilyn Beane’s World news of my and my sweetheart husband Elden Beane’s lives at Crawford Commons Assisted Living, 132 Middle Road, Union, ME 04862-0628.

Back during World War II (yes, I am old enough to at least have been alive then) I remember the little square banners with a star on them that a very sad but proud mother or father, or both, would have displayed in one of the windows of their home, signifying that a son (or later, maybe even a daughter) had been lost in the war, killed in some place named something like Okinawa or The Black Forest.

The new film “A German Life” draws on 30 hours of conversation with Brunhilde Pomsel, the 105-year-old former secretary to Hitler’s propaganda minister. The film mirrors everything she has done wrong, she admits, “but really, I didn’t do anything other than type in Goebbels’ office. It was just another job.” Indeed: classic disinformation. Just as Exxon and the Koch brothers have been distorting the energy and climate debate by pouring tens of millions of dollars into groups that deny climate change, funding campaigns like Fueling U.S. Forward, fuelingusforward.com. Fueling U.S. Forward is aimed at “rebranding” fossil fuels by carefully crafted oil-industry messages reminiscent of BP rebranding itself “Beyond Petroleum” and Shell, Chevron, and others publishing ads portraying oil as green.

Blackberries abound this year, despite the overall lack of rain, and they are ripe this week. At our house, we gather some each morning and begin our day with their sweetness for breakfast. I think of a dear friend when I pick blackberries – she’s passed now – yet one summer she and I picked huge bowls of them. She made a pie from the berries that endures in my mind’s eye as one of the best ever eaten.

Didn’t catch that much of the Olympics, but what fun it was to watch all these citizens of the world compete to the limit of their hearts, minds, and bodies. Something for everyone – rugby, field hockey, badminton, table tennis, beach volleyball, archery, swimming, decathlon – whew, I’m out of breath just thinking about this!

Another very busy week is in the books. The crew of S.B. Nichols got a week’s vacation to rest their weary bodies and they came back on Monday morning, Aug. 22, ready to go. Boy, what a little bit of a break can do for you!

The Washington Schoolhouse received its crowning weathervane last week. It has taken many years and a lot of work on the part of the schoolhouse board to complete this project. The majority of the weathervane is original to the school. The quill and the ball were newly fabricated in steel instead of the original wood and then painted with gold leaf. Mike Alderson and Shawn Hickey were the brave men on top of the cupola installing the weathervane. Leon McCorkle of Padebco Custom Boats was manning the crane.

“Blueberries: Their color and flavor have no imitators. We cannot confuse them. We cannot forget them.” — Judith Horstman

Some info on our tin recycling barrels:
Although the sign on our barrels may read tin, you may also put other items in these barrels. Aluminum products are also OK, as are empty aerosol cans. It is also very helpful if the open containers are rinsed out, especially in the summer. Residue on cans is a real attraction for flies. Small, empty propane tanks may also be put in the tin barrels.

Retirement gives some of the lucky ones (I include myself) an unusual opportunity to make nature observations. While unscientific, to be sure, they give us a look at what’s happening in the natural world around us.

Hi, dear readers! Here is your Marilyn Beane’s World columnist with another new week in August with more news about my sweetheart’s and my life at Crawford Commons Assisted Living, 132 Middle Road in Union, ME 04862-0628.