Hey folks, as some of you who are loyal readers of my scribblin’s know, I am not very pleased with the way Main Street in town has looked this summer. Between trash and cigarette butts, it hasn’t looked too good. But hats are off to the Damariscotta-Newcastle Rotary Club, under the leadership of President Rick Hagen, as they put a team of folks to work this past week picking up a truckload of trash between the bridge and the Baptist church!

The porch at Hodgdon Green, the assisted-living home in Damariscotta, is being used daily this summer as residents and guests enjoy this special spot. Not only humans, but Mother Robin has raised her brood under the eves, flying in and out to feed those wide-open mouths. Great entertainment for porch sitters.

Fixing problems

If firing a staff member to fix a problem does not solve the problem, this must at least raise the possibility that the fired person was not the problem. Then what was? More specifically, who was?

Surprise! Long Cove News is back!

Thank you to Marilyn Hughes for the phone call on Saturday, July 22, which pushed me into action. Plus my sister-in-law, Tori, jotted down their Maine summer vacation highlights to go along with some of what’s been happening since my last writing of April 25, although if you caught it, I did in May, but it was actually Lori Crook’s column under my name/column.

This Wednesday night, July 26, Alden Robinson and Neil Pearlman will be performing at the Brown Church as the summer concerts continue. The following Wednesday will feature Heather Hardy, Dave Martin, and April Reed-Cox performing alternative folk. Concerts begin at 7:30 p.m.

Many of you, my dear readers, have commented on the stories of my two cats over the past few years. When I’m out and about town, I’ll often run into someone who invariably asks about the cats. I’m happy to oblige them with a story or two; it’s nice to know people are reading the column! Today I will give you an update – as I’ve not mentioned them here in these lines of late.

Hey folks, I’m back! In the truckin’ business we’re always on a trip to somewhere, I guess, that’s how we make money, but there is a line from a great song by the Grateful Dead, “What a long, strange trip it’s been,” and folks.

Mid-July in Maine. It probably doesn’t get much better than this. Beaches, lakes, ponds, cookouts, seafood, and the list goes on. I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy some of these special activities of Maine.

I have been given the rather daunting task of coming up with a name for this column, and I have stressed over it a considerable amount. After all, whatever I call this creation will be stuck with it for the length of time I continue to write it. I understand why it is that it takes people a long time to come up with a name for their pet. I have had some difficulty in this area as well. I find in that case that a nickname is quickly adopted. But that doesn’t work for something as eternal as print.

“But I never saw a tick” and “I never got a bullseye rash” are two very common comments I get when I talk to people who tested positive for a tickborne disease. So why is that?