Stuff about me
My name is Keith Michaud and this is “Letters From Away,” a blog written by a Mainer living outside the comfortable and sane confines of New England. The blog is intended for Mainers, whether they live in the Pine Tree State or beyond, and for anyone who has loved ’em, been baffled by ’em or both. Ayuh, I am “from away.” Worse still, I live on the Left Coast – in California. Enjoy! Or not. Your choice.
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Monthly Archives: June 2010
Tilting at windmills
Windmill farm near Mars Hill, Maine. Photo by Kelly McInnis.
Past readers know that I very much like the use of alternative energy – solar, wind, wave.
Wind energy – from both onshore and offshore wind farms – has received a big push in Maine the past couple of years. There is plenty of wind to go around in Maine, especially along the coast, and harnessing that wind will greatly ease this nation’s addiction to foreign petroleum.
But some communities in Maine are concerned with issues associated with wind farms, namely the noise the huge turbines cause. And I’m sure more than a few Mainers are upset with the interruption in viewscape.
Here in California, wind farms have become part of the landscape mostly because of the clean energy they provide.
It is my hope that power companies and government officials will find a way to mitigate the problems so that wind farms can provide clean, sustainable energy for a very long time to come.
Here are a couple of photos Kelly McInnis shot last week at the wind farm near Mars Hill, Maine. They are published here with her permission.
Windmill farm near Mars Hill, Maine. Photo by Kelly McInnis.
Posted in Economy, Energy, Environment, Maine, Outdoors, Politics and government
Tagged alternative energy, clean energy, foreign oil, foreign petroleum, Kelly McInnis, Mars Hill, solar, turbines, wave, wind, wind energy, wind farm, wind power, windmills
Mainers head south to Gulf as oil continues to flow | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
‘It’s fun’: Hot rod lawnmowers race at Winterport Dragway – Bangor Daily News
50 things to do in Maine this summer | Bangor Daily News
Posted in Economy, Family and Friends, Food and Drink, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged American Folk Festival, aquarium, art, black flies, bluegrass, crafts, dance, entertainment, farmers markets, festival, film, fireworks, flea market, fun, jazz, Maine, museum, music, rock and roll, sing, sports, tour, vacation, Whoopie Pie Festival
Carthage wind farm proposal stirs debate | Lewiston Sun Journal
Posted in Economy, Energy, Environment, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged Carthage, Dixfield, Energy, Environment, noise complaints, Patriot Renewables LLC, Saddleback Mountain Ridge, turbine, Wilton, wind energy, wind farm, wind power
Let’s have a little Revolutionary War trivia, shall we
Everyone knows that there are many old things in New England. So, it should not come as a surprise that the first American warship to fly the “stars and stripes” comes from New England, specifically Kittery, Maine.
Today’s DownEast.com trivia question has a certain I-have-not-yet-begun-to-fight feel to it.
What was the first warship to fly the stars and stripes?
Answer:
The Ranger was launched at Kittery under the command of Captain John Paul Jones on May 10, 1777.
Posted in Maine history, Maine trivia
Tagged Capt. John Paul Jones, Maine, New England, Revolutionary War, stars and stripes, The Ranger, warship
Baggage claim is located on the grass next to the terminal
"Mars Hill Regional Airport" taken by Kelly McInnis. Reprinted with permission.
Here’s a photo shot by Kelly McInnis taken in Mars Hill, Maine. She slugged it “Mars Hill Regional Airport” because of the windsock and what appeared to be a grassy runway nearby. She says it might have been used for crop dusters and such.
Kelly, with whom I graduated from Ashland Community High School in 1980, gave me permission to publish the photo and I thank her very much. I wanted to share it to show off the incredibly blue sky and lush green grass of northern Maine.
Oh, and Kelly’s Maine wit, too. 🙂
Posted in Environment, Maine, Outdoors, Photos
Tagged crop duster, Kelly McInnis, Maine wit, Mars Hills Regional Airport, photo
What? Your job is to help people find jobs?!
Here’s a little irony for you … well, quite a bit of irony, actually.
I’ve been looking for work for the past 15 months. After 22 years in the newspaper business, I was laid off. Over the course of that 22 years I have been a reporter, columnist, copy editor, assistant news editor, opinion page editor, assistant city editor, website staff writer, and blogger. I’ve been trying to find work, usually via online job boards and websites, networking via friends, LinkedIn and Facebook, and by simply keeping my ear to the ground.
I’ve been pretty open about the experience. At least, with my family, friends, and those of you who have visited “Letters From Away.” I’ve written about the frustration of the job search and the various pitfalls that have occurred in the past 15 months.
But I wasn’t very open with the other tenants of my apartment building. I don’t know any of them very well and I felt uncomfortable opening up about that sort of thing. And apparently some of them have not caught onto my blog, if you can believe that.
Anyway, I was walking down to the basement garage on Saturday when a guy who lives in one of the downstairs apartments came out.
“So, where are you working now?”
“I’m not,” I replied.
“What?!”
“Yeah, today makes 15 months since I was laid off,” I informed him. A mix of surprise and shock flashed over his face.
“Listen, I think I can help. …”
I’ve been living in the same apartment building since late 2006 and out of work since March 5, 2009, and I had no idea that my neighbor worked for a county agency that helps people get back to work. One of the programs for which I may be eligible is a six-month, 50 percent salary grant where an employer would be reimbursed for 50 percent of a worker’s salary for six months.
That does a couple of things, of course. It gets workers into jobs, it gives the employer a worker and a chance to see what the employee can do to prove himself or herself in a job and it gives a little time for the economy a little time to come around so that at the end of the six months the employee has a better chance to be held on permanently.
I’m not exactly sure what else the neighbor or the agency can do to help me, but I have an appointment to talk with the guy tomorrow.
Posted in Economy, News and Newspapers, Newspapers, Politics and government, Uncategorized
Tagged assistant city editor, assistant news editor, “Letters From Away”, blogger, columnist, copy editor, Facebook, job, jobless, laid off, LinkedIn, newspaper business, newspaper industry, opinion page editor, reporter, unemployed, website staff writer
I was born in the friendliest town in Maine
It’s always nice to be considered the “friendliest” person on the block. It may be even more compelling to be from the friendliest town in a state.
Well, I’m not from that town, but I was born there. I was born in a hospital that was on a hill overlooking the river that served as the U.S.-Canada border as it flowed through Fort Kent, Maine, one of two cities in the Pine Tree State to claim the title of “The Friendliest Town in Maine.” The other is Wells, on the coast.
At least, that’s according to the DownEast.com trivia question today.
What two towns both lay claim to the title “The Friendliest Town in Maine?”
Answer:
Fort Kent and Wells
Fort Kent is the city in which my parents went to high school, as I recall, and pretty much was the center of my early years. I recall driving from Portage to Fort Kent to visit relatives and friends and for family functions, to shop, and for medical care – dentist, doctor, and optometrist.
And while our family visited Wells when I was a child and we had a very lovely stay, I do have relatives living in Fort Kent to this day and I most certainly have to give Fort Kent the edge when it comes to friendliness.
Well, perhaps not the agents at the border crossing. They’re not always that friendly.
Posted in Maine trivia
Tagged DownEast.com, Fort Kent, friendliest town, Portage, U.S.-Canada border, Wells
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