(I hate cutesy titles, but it was inevitable.)

I have never been to the Yarmouth Clam Festival. Why not? Who knows. I'm not much of a festival guy, for one thing. Too many people, too many tourists, too many opportunities to spend waaayyyy too much money on bad food. Oh, and there was the time when I was eight or nine that I heaved a good gorging of HoJo clam strips all over the rug of an Orlando Holiday Inn. Put it all together, and I just never made it to this Maine institution.

Observed in the course of Maine life...

July 4th. Not only is it the birthday of my favorite nation: it's also the birthday of my bro Eric. We always made it to Whitefield, home of The Homestead - my grandparents farm - for the parade. It's a huge event; big enough that the cavalcade of fire trucks and agriculture floats needs to turn around and re-run the course. Big kicks.