Islander

Looking at pictures from the 30s, 40s and 50s, something is immediately apparent: there are no fat people in those photos.

I can look back at nearly seven decades of American culture and, if time and space allowed, could probably identify a series of lifestyle changes that led up to today's obesity epidemic. A few come immediately to mind.

• Post-WW II housing developments, closely followed by shopping malls, made it impossible to walk to school, shopping and work....

The second biggest island in the world doesn’t seem to get a lot of tourist hype. Maybe it’s the name that puts people off, or maybe it’s the idea that a country almost within the Arctic Circle couldn’t be warm and welcoming. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Iceland is a country of contrasts but not of extremes. Let me show you what I mean.

At first glance, the land appears to be a series of flat plains with mountains jutting out all across the horizon. But...

...or, My Thanksgiving Misadventures

All was benign on Wednesday morning up until the last minute when it went booga-booga. Orbitz called me about 8:30 a.m. to tell me my flight to LaGuardia would be delayed 45 minutes because of overcast conditions in NY. That’s fine, I was organized, I left a whisker later than planned and had to execute a trifling traffic maneuver around some unexpected construction, but I arrived at the airport plenty early for a delayed departure...to learn that...

In order to survive a Maine winter, working people have to have a Plow Guy. I don’t know many people who have their own pickup with a Fisher Quick-Switch plow attached for winter...or the time and the stoic endurance required to get behind a snow blower at 6 a.m. with the wind whipping the snow in your face, no matter which direction you turn.* What’s more, your Plow Guy must have a powerful work ethic. He must first plow himself out, then start on his priority list of those who need to have their...