Cassidy Reports

… that some people think it is okay to wear jeans to a funeral? We know that Down East is not a place swelling with sophistication, but this is universal. Wear a skirt, at the least, please!

Or, “how I spent my Memorial Day.” Not very memorably, I might say. That’s the trouble with not living near family (aside from Berta and Unc, who we see about once a week, at least). You have to make your own fun.
While Frank was off with his Civil War group, I went up to St. […]

Laura and Clyde married on Saturday at Fickett’s Point in Milbridge — in the backyard with not just a view of Narraguagus Bay, but seaweed-covered rocks at low tide if you walk too close to the water. That close. That’s where Dick and Kay lived (with Dick’s elderly mother) until Kay died last fall at […]

Here I am, delivering the papers alone, while my husband goes off to do Civil War things. Alas, it’s Memorial Day, and even though it’s just 6:30am, I feel as if I am late with my duties on the homefront, including putting the flag out. I didn’t finish the papers until 6:20am — 30 minutes […]

Frances Grover died the other day. She was dear, and she was old. Maybe 87? We haven’t seen the obituary yet, but Father Mark announced her passing in church this morning. Her service will be Tuesday.
We delivered Frances’ paper to her every morning. She has been for nearly a year at the Marshall Care Center, […]

Oh, how we like Tim Hortons, that ubiquitous Canadian eatery with the “sandwich combos” and “soup combos” that we just scarf up! The nearest one is St. Stephen, just over the bridge and border into New Brunswick from Calais, so it’s about 47 miles.
We don’t get there often — maybe the 4-5 times a year […]

We have broken down and bought a 20-inch, flat-panel television and a separate DVD player, for about $400. It’s an Emerson. But, what to do now? We get no channels, so it’s not really like having a TV. We got it for its VCR-potential.
But now I sort of want to explore the television world. I […]

We have this friend, Clyde Merrill. He and Laura live in Milbridge and they’re getting married on Saturday. They are part of the Monday Night Group.
Six months ago Clyde decided to buy a $2,500 sound system and start being a dee-jay for dances, because our rural area doesn’t offer much to do on a Saturday […]

Frank has two new friends. (Usually when we say this, we’re referring to two new friends over at the county jail. But this is different).
Derek, 18, and Chris, 17, go to Narraguagus High School. Derek is the grandson of Laura, one of the Monday Night Group. (Laura and Clyde get married next Saturday, and we’re […]

We like Lester and Mary Walker. We adore them. They live in Princeton, Mass., about 15 miles north of Worcester. We have stopped by their house three or four times on the way here or there.
But mostly we see them when they come on one of their five or six visits up this way with […]

Anyone with an interest in fabric for quilting and other projects (such as bow ties), who comes this way, needs to make a stop at Marden’s, a funny chain of surplus stores in Maine. There’s a Marden’s in Calais, Ellsworth and Brewer (plus other places). When I first got here five years ago, I used […]

Such a silly declaration, of course, but life with a dishwasher is fun! Poor old Frank, however. He just can’t let the thing run through all the cycles and actually dry the dishes with steamy heat. He likes to stop it before it gets to the drying — so he can take the dishes […]

One of my things in today’s paper is a stand-alone photo, meaning there is a caption but no story. It’s of the Most Rev. Richard Malone, the Bishop of the Diocese of Maine, with seven young children after their First Holy Communion and confirmation. That happened on Sunday afternoon, when the Bishop came from Portland […]

Twice now, each of the past weekends, Frank has taken the push lawn mower round-and-round the back field of the Holy Name of Jesus Church. It’s a big place — and nobody else wants to do it. So Frank the Good Guy does it.
Last year the priest announced there was a “sign-up sheet in the […]

How nice it was on Sunday to answer the phone to hear, “Happy Mother’s Day” from Charlie, Frank’s son and my stepson. We don’t hear from him much, because he’s now 20 and living on his own in Bangor. Living with his honey, actually, Rachel … on Valentine’s Day they announced their engagement. She already […]

My challenge this Saturday morning was to deliver 96 papers without Frank. He has gone for a Revolutionary War “School of the Soldier” overnight at Fort Western in Augusta. I think this was my first time delivering the weekend papers without him, but he says I have done it before.
Ordinarily we finish a Saturday […]

Frank’s cake went over great. I wasn’t there either to see the drug court graduation (where everyone says kind things about how far these young people have come), or the cake-and-soda celebration afterward. I saw only the aftermath, the box with all-but-seven pieces (out of 30-plus) gone. Even the court clerks from downstairs came upstairs […]

This blog hasn’t had a word about Frank’s involvement with the “Washington County Adult Drug Court.” The drug court is similar to others around the country, all funded by Dept of Justice. This one meets in Calais and Machias on alternating Friday mornings. It’s for people who have substance abuse problems whose crimes (burglary, forged […]

Unc’s poetry group is called the Salt Coast Sages. The leader arranged for yet another reading evening at the Porter Memorial Library in Machias — that was last night. Frank and I attended, and as Uncle proudly told the others, “I’m providing the audience.”
Unfortunately, we and Berta were the only non-readers there (aside from […]

After day four of overcast, wind and rain, I’ll still take this spring over last year’s spring. When we were in Maryland two months ago, we were amazed at the greenness and in-bloom everything. Here, it is only this week that we are noticing that some lawns need to be mowed for the first time […]

We go to Eggs and Issues - the chamber of commerce’s monthly breakfast gathering - as often as we can. Speakers talk on this or that, and are usually well-chosen and draw a promising crowd (so they’re not just talking to empty seats).
We’re going to hear Chandler Woodcock this morning - NOT because he’s one […]

I really said that on Tuesday, in only a half-whiny voice, but not really wanting to drive 22 miles to some of Washington County’s most rural parts to write about a forest fire.
It was fun once I got there, but I had in mind an afternoon of sitting and spewing out a few softer stories […]

My blog was paid a most gracious comment from Claire Walter, a friend of many years who seems to be the first non-family person paying attention (largely because I haven’t told anyone beyond the family of this). She lives in Boulder, and I lived in Boulder until early 1992.
Claire and I developed an […]

If I were buying a new car — and I mean new, right off the lot in Bangor — I would at least kick the tires.
Isn’t that part of the buying game? While the sales person goes around to the back office to see the manager about cutting the price by a few hundred, shouldn’t […]

You could say we have a drinking problem. Beer and soda, plus wine, too. To the tune of about $43.35, which is how much we received when we turned in our recyclables last Saturday.
It was about a year’s worth of cans and bottles. Right now we’re on a root beer kick. As for the beer, […]

Readers from afar should understand how things are done Downeast. When something is no longer needed, such as an appliance, it goes out to the end of the driveway or side of the road until someone else decides it would be perfect for their household. That’s how Frank brought home a dishwasher.
Now, ordinarily, things by […]