When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed 20 years ago, there were many promises of how it would create jobs for United States workers, strengthen our trade balance and lower…

On a snowy evening last December, I made the hour and fifteen-minute trek back to my hometown for an “in-store appearance” at a locally owned Maine bookstore.

I’m pleased to report that many…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make…

MATINICUS — We are down to something like 26 residents (and presumably no visitors) on the island at the moment, almost approximating a delightful solitude,…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…

Since October 1, it’s a little harder to get a reverse mortgage and there are new limits on how much can be taken out the first year.  This is designed to tap home equity slowly and steadily and…

A nest is "...a house built by and for the body, taking its form from the inside, like a shell, in an intimacy that works physically. The form of the nest is commanded by the inside. 'On the…

In the late ’70s, as a struggling young illustrator, I was happy to secure a paying job doing the cover art and illustrations for a book written by (of all people) my former high school English…

I’ve got to weigh in on this school consolidation concept. Mostly, I just make fun of stuff and joke around, but this is the biggest mess that I’ve seen recently and it keeps getting bigger.…

Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…

The Affordable Care Act went into effect this month, but if you are not yet covered by health insurance, you have until March 31 this year to finalize your plans and enroll.

If you are…

Camden's harbor, "where the mountains meet the sea," is so old it probably was there after the last glacier. The harbor, along with Mount Battie and Mount Megunticook, were used by the early…

I feel sorry for the boys sitting in chairs for an hour at a time in Kindergarten.  School is essentially toxic to most boys.

Of the 20 architects in Camden, all of them would rank as above…

It's not often a person can trace back a skill (or set of skills) to one singular point of origin. Generally, wanting to learn about something new is a culmination of various conversations,…

The new year is always a good time to look back at the challenges that we have met, and to look forward with hope to those that lie ahead. It continues to be a…

We are finally wrapping up the extended movable feast known rather loosely as "Christmas." For my gang, calling it "the holidays" is not an obligatory nod to political correctness and is more than…

As I write this, I’m gazing through a hazy curtain of sea smoke at the village of St. Stephen, Canada, barely more than a stone’s throw across the frozen St. Croix River from our warm cozy…

If you have a child between the ages of 5 and 15, your home life will likely be full of talk of Minecraft.

If you have in fact been living under a piece of redstone for the last year,…

Dreams are an important part of developing our intuition. We dream every night (sometimes we don't remember) and our dreams are unique each time but may contain symbols that are familiar. When we…

I don’t consider myself some sort of grammar nut. I read stuff and think, “that’s not right,” but rarely correct people. When it’s funny or makes no sense, I’ll be the first to jump on board and…

Goodness, where has the time gotten to? It hardly seems possible that enough of those old black and white calendar pages have already flipped across the flickering…

Each year the IRS lists the worst tax scams. Here are some:

• Identity theft tops the list, often used to file fake claims for fraudulent refunds. Get IRS help at 800-908- 4490.

• Fake…

Nothing is going on here. There is no news. All is well.

Each time we check the thermometer the temperature has dropped a bit more, but the three Really Scientific Weather Instruments…

As we move into the New Year this is a great time to set intentions that will help you to reach your goals. I talk about intentions rather than resolutions, because intentions are much easier to…

Well, there's a lot going on in the world. I've been traveling a little and then the holidays; but when I need inspiration to write all I need to do is go to the news.

It's difficult to…

A group of local writers gathered recently in Camden to celebrate holiday story-telling.

And what Christmas holiday gathering of writers would be complete without A Christmas Carol…

So much of my life I've lived by the "don't sweat the small stuff" mindset. I don't hold grudges, I let things roll off my back. I let people feel like they've won if it's clear they need to feel…

My father, a welder, was unemployed during the 1960 Christmas season. Since he hadn’t received a paycheck since late October, his children had accepted that…

At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, the dark road in front of our little school was lined with trucks and jeeps as most of the few islanders still here assembled to see what the school kids had…

The coconut cake
Everyone tells me they love
For its flavor, its moist crumb,
Its airy cloud of frosting,
Could taste sweeter

While I enjoy all the merriment the winter holidays offer, I’m also prone to the occasional stretch of “SAD-ness” around this time of year. It’s not the sort of sadness where you find yourself…

Believe it or not we all have psychic gifts that we can access within us. We all have the capability to utilize the knowing that intuitive understanding can provide. There are many types of…

This week's economic releases showed that the U.S. economy continued to expand, but has not accelerated since the government shutdown. Most equity markets were lower on the week in anticipation of…

Students, grads and their parents are facing changes in the student loan program. Rates are up for new subsidized Stafford loans; efforts in Congress to restore the old 3.4-percent rate for new…

The first significant snow of the season falls around my house today, and I have an armload of balsam tips piled up ready to become a couple of wreaths, and the woodpile is giving off a pleasing…

One morning in the spring of 2012, friends Jenny and Steve were preparing to leave their Dexter home for work when their dog began barking. Steve looked out to where the…

What are the driving forces behind the ways our homes work and look? The intertwining DNA of Maine homes is a conversation between technology and culture. Architect and historian Christopher Glass…

This is an introduction to Licia Morelli, a new video columnist posting on PenBayPilot.com. We look forward to learning from her, now that we know about her, and maybe even having our own “A-…

Although our current status as “empty nesters” affords us the luxury of a leisurely approach to holiday activities like decorating, shopping and entertaining, such was not the case just a few…

It just occurred to me that I am awfully close to the time where all the lies and deceit I have been weaving for the last eight years are going to be coming to the surface very soon. This includes…

After a series of daily equity market declines, Friday's November Employment Report turned the U.S. markets around. The upside surprise generated positive returns for the week in some of the U.S.…

We've all admired the National Geographic photos of the serene white owls perched like solitary buddhas on the Arctic tundra. For some birders and photographers…

Holidays are often difficult for anyone who has experienced the death of someone they loved. Rather than being times of family togetherness, sharing and thanksgiving; holidays can bring…

I'm making a list of the things that I'll need on my own:

A whisk.

Why a whisk?

A whisk for the eggs that I'll scramble.

But I don't like my eggs scrambled.

I like…

As education continues to take the spotlight of public discussion, it appears that there is real little forward progress. We have declining test scores,…

Well it’s that time of year again. Christmas shopping! There’s always a big push to “shop local” and I think that’s cool, but I don’t know what it means. We just had “Shop Local Saturday” right…

Economic releases portrayed continued slow growth in the global economy. Equity and bond markets were little changed in this shortened Thanksgiving-holiday week. Credit spreads declined,…

By now my regular readers will have figured out that I’m a certified (some would argue “certifiable”) car nut. Never one to hide my obsession under a bushel, I’ve gradually become the “answer man…

Being chosen as an executor indicates respect for your intelligence and fair-mindedness—but the job comes with challenges, hard work and maybe complaints. Should you say yes?

An executor…

Holiday travel is often a runaround on a good day, and the usual complications of island logistics can make even a routine trip across the bay into a three-day…