by RJ Heller | Dec 7, 2025 | Life Downeast
Many years ago I read the book First Person Rural, Essays of a Sometime Farmer, written in 1978 by Noel Perrin. After finishing it I was convinced that one day I would go to Vermont, buy a 10-acre farm, raise chickens, buy a couple of goats, maybe even a cow and live...
by RJ Heller | Aug 31, 2025 | Life Downeast
We all try to emulate our parents in one way or another. Sometimes it is with the embrace of a lesson learned, a skill mastered or a full-fledged attempt to follow in their footsteps. Here Downeast the importance of work is apparent and with it comes an intense desire...
by RJ Heller | Oct 14, 2024 | Life Downeast
When someone leaves, their absence remains. It floats like fog upon the water, seeking a place to sit and dine with friends, family and the community. And when the meal is over at the table of life, people head home to other lives, other responsibilities while that...
by RJ Heller | Jul 25, 2024 | Random Thoughts
I first heard the term “The Greatest Generation” from television journalist and author Tom Brokaw’s book. After some study I learned that it was first used by a general upon retirement addressing Congress after having led the Eighth Army in World War II and the Korean...
by RJ Heller | Nov 19, 2023 | Maine Reads
In a house, one can walk into each room and feel completely different. Still, there is an essence that floats within these spaces — an essence that is both familiar and different, at times shared yet always personal — this is home. And like those rooms are the poems...
