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Happy birthday, St. John Valley ~ Bonne fête, Vallée Saint-Jean

A group of refugees came here more than 230 years ago. They landed somewhere around Saint David and were welcomed by local residents who helped them settle down.

An extinction revolution

I can only talk about this personally, because it’s about my part or lack of participation.

Conclusion de P’tit Jean

Tous d'un coup, Gros Gris ouvre un oeille pi y dit, "Vite, P'tite Jean! Y faut s'sauver toute suite. Meque l'vieux magicien ouaie que shu pas mort, y va nous tuer tous 'es deux!"

Teacher, Teacher

That was a fun little "ditty" to ask teachers and parents for their help in teaching kids about clouds. There are easy-to-recognize cloud clues that often develop well before a thunderstorm arrives. Learning them makes kids "WeatherSmart.”

Musings on Russians

A friend of mine passed a stack of books to me on one of my favorite subjects: Russia. I’ve always been an admirer of that country’s culture and history to the extent of wanting to learn the language at one point. The opportunity never came up however, though I did manage the Cyrillic alphabet.

P’tit Jean va chez l’vieux magicien

P'tit Jean étais l'esclave du p'tit vieux pour l'restant de sa vie. C'étais si simple que ça.

Dot and Milford: friends on the Allagash

When I first arrived for work in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway- at the ripe old age of 19 years, I had the privilege of meeting some very interesting people.

Driving with a blindfold on

Recently, I gave a "County Weather Hazards" presentation to a great group of 44 fifth-graders from Mapleton. Their teachers, Mrs. Bernier and Ms. Black, understood the importance of exposing their young charges to the weather hazards we really have to pay attention to here in The County.

E.A. Williams Cartoon — April 3, 2017

E.A. Williams cartoon for April 3, 2019.

The freshet is at hand

If you live near a river, you’re always on alert at this time of the year. And this year is particularly concerning, since we entered the final week of March with a good 10 inches of water sitting on the ground, in the form of a still-deep snowpack. And knowing it’ll all be gone in a month certainly warrants concern.

It’s time to ‘keep calm and carry on’

The Brits have a saying that was part of their war effort during the Blitz that goes “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

E.A. Williams cartoon — March 27, 2019

E.A. Williams cartoon for March 27, 2019.

Even the sky was celebrating

Before the Caribou Viking boys took down Cape Elizabeth for the gold ball, they had to get by Hermon.

Find those pearls of wisdom

The New England Historic Genealogical Society’s e-zine always has a survey for its readers. One of their recent issues asked if you could talk to any of your ancestors, without regard to language barriers or time, who would it be?

P’tit Jean et le vieux magicien

Notez b'en: Le conte traditionel de Petit Jean qui m'a été conté par M. Thadée Lausier de Grand Isle dans les années 1970 quand j'travaillais pour Roger Paradis est presque 2,500 mots de long.

Lawmakers in 1919 tried to neuter Acadians by banning their language in schools

On April 1, 1919, the Maine Legislature passed an English-only bill that targeted the Acadians of Aroostook County.

Extreme weather

If you are reading this on the date of publication, that means it’s Feb. 20, which is a big day for my family, for it was on this date, Febr. 20, 1919, exactly 100 years ago, that my mother, Esther, was born. And it was my dear mother who instilled in me my love of nature, and, through that, I discovered light and landscape, leading to my passion for weather.

It came at night, Part I

As the skies darkened over the little Puerto Rican island of Vieques in September of 2017, Adry and her husband Jesus hunkered down with their two young children in a small middle room of their family home to wait.

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