Down East Magazine

1 month ago | downeast.com | Jesse Ellison

On a bright, blustery afternoonlast spring, six women rowers gathered next to a shingled equipment shed on Belfast Harbor and began putting on sweatbands and slim, inflatable life jackets. They talked and laughed with the easy, jocular cadence of a group that had been practicing together three times a week for the past 10 months. But once the members had lowered themselves into their creaky wooden craft, known as a Cornish pilot gig, all conversation ceased.

1 month ago | downeast.com | Sara Anne Donnelly |Sara Anne Donelly

Over 30 years working as an environmental scientist and planner, quilting had been Judy Gates’s creative outlet. But in 2020, the medium had her feeling boxed in. “I wanted a way to still use fabric without trying to force myself into cutting pieces a certain way or following a certain pattern,” she says.

2 months ago | downeast.com | Michaela Cavallaro |Lois Lowry

A  long line of talented authors has fostered a vibrant literary scene in Maine, with lots of support from our state’s community of avid readers. So it should come as no surprise that Maine boasts the country’s second most bookstores per capita, more than doubling the national average. In the interest of exploring this thriving ecosystem of writing, selling, and reading books (and also just because we were curious), we asked some notable writers where they like to go to find their next good read.

2 months ago | downeast.com | Jeanine Barone

If you’ve ever wondered at a ruby-red cardinal or black-capped chickadee flitting about your frozen yard, you know that winter bird-watching is something to crow about. “Some species that can be overlooked in the summer absolutely pop in the snow, like the brilliant blues of an eastern bluebird,” Maine Audubon staff naturalist Doug Hitchcox says.

2 months ago | downeast.com | Sarah Stebbins

Shortly after moving into her Lovell fixer-upper, in 2017, Kimberly Crichton realized she was not alone. The 1920s cottage had stood empty for three years after the prior owner passed away, and mice had the run of the place. Crichton set about plugging holes, laying traps, and employing cleaning remedies recommended by neighbors until she’d wrested back control. Folks in town tried to help Crichton find a firewood supplier during her first winter in the house.