Public talk channels click off into silence. Easing into the storm, I settle down and feel this renewing calm well up inside me. I utter humble greetings to all who may read these words.
The forest out my back window stands still and quiet, wafted by a slight breeze. A needled pine branch waves its slow hello, like some sign of human recognition and gentle acknowledgment. I can nearly feel the wind sighing for all of us in these pines.
“How dare you speak of trees humanly,” the anthropomorphic critic in my head speaks as I step aside, letting that old crackler go. Beyond a thousand years and a lifetime of hold-it-in-fearfulness, I too let the fear go and begin to reconnect with the clam winds and warming wet sky, here in the eye of the hurricane.
Around me, my wife, our families and communities, locally and globally, the C19 storm swirls through all people in the atmosphere with no regard for country, race, social class, wealth or poverty, age, political or religious affiliation, gender and sexuality, etc., etc., etc. We stand together in a time and place where all these distinct certainties are being shredded day-by-day, and are receding if not already gone.
Welcome to the new world, where there is no going back to the whims and blind norms and life sucking greed that delivered all of us to the end of 2019, the end of that long era of status quo, privilege and power. The invisible hand of novel change launched at the cusp of 2019-2020, is now upon us across our global commons, Hurricane C19.
Beyond all denials, indeed we must find this terrifying on one hand, yet absolutely liberating on the other, especially when you look deeper and consider that none of us are immune, that all of us are at risk, and indeed, all of us are bound together in facing and accepting this hurricane with our utmost best in mind, with hands held high together while staying at least six feet apart.
Fly’s are being cast, flicking all waters of the globe, looking to hook a cure that remains unclear, uncertain at this time. In the face of such absolute uncertainty, unhinged from safety, what can one do for hope among endless voices that simply talk about it?
At a loss for words I don’t know. I pause... I remain respectful of hope by keeping my distance and patiently following a few new rules, a new stand for me. I don’t know why, but I remain strangely unafraid, like some elder warrior standing his mountain ground, with you, and you, and with you, all in the calm eye of this hurricane.
That I know I am loved and that I too love, is no longer up for question. I take heart in this fact of my human existence, from this moment on and outwards in all directions. The fir boughs wave their gentle thanks towards me, and indeed I feel much gratitude for being with you and a part of the natural and human threads that weave the fabric of our lives together here at home on Earth... From the eye of the hurricane.
DOVER-FOXCROFT -- Life has changed dramatically for families in the Piscataquis region, and around the globe.
“I get to get out of the house by myself, and that’s about as much celebrating as I’m doing today,” said Christi Pingree on April 2, her birthday, while picking up pre-ordered groceries. The couple, who will be married two years in June, have two children, Jarad Pingree’s son, Kieran, 9, and Christi’s daughter, Jelena, 9.
Pingree, a behavioral health professional, took a leave of absence when the school closed, even though she worries about her clients while she’s away. “My workplace is pretty understanding, and in my opinion, family comes first. I don’t want my kids shuffled around, especially at a scary time, an uncertain time. I want them to have stability, a strong routine. We do a whole school day and try to keep it as normal as possible,” she said.
Jelena enjoys being home schooled, but Kieran doesn’t like it as much and misses his friends, Pingree said. Finding materials hasn’t been an issue, as the school sends homework, coloring sheets, links to word searches and other educational games. Art projects are also available online. School begins right after breakfast.
“We do things in the same order every day,” said Pingree. “We knock out the hard stuff first, then go on to the easier things. If we can’t do recess, we do what I call movement – we put ‘Just Dance’ on the Wii to get all their wiggles out.”
Pingree said she “never aspired to be a homeschool or stay-at-home mom, and I was right! This is not for me. I only work when they are at school. I take them to the library once a week, and I’m at every sports thing, but I like to get out and work, and I like having my free days here and there, too.”
Financial concerns and COVID fears
Pingree was a little apprehensive when she took her leave of absence. Then they found out Jared would also not be working. Jarad just finished work as a background investigator. His new job, forensic analyst at the Maine State Police crime lab, is on hold.
“This is a little scarier because we don’t know how long this is going to go on for,” she said. “I don’t know if this will be a month or three months. I had heard with mortgage companies, if you needed to miss a payment or three, they would put it on the back end of the loan.” But when she called, she was told that they could take months off, but would owe back payments in addition to regular payments once they resumed.
Fortunately, the couple’s income tax refund arrived recently. “That was a load off,” Pingree said. “I felt like the timing was pretty darn good. I think we’ll be okay. We’ll be fine.”
Typically, Pingree shops at Sam’s Club and Walmart, supplementing with trips to Shaw’s and Will’s Shop n Save. Now, “I don’t want to go in anywhere. I pull in [at Walmart] and call and tell them I’m there, and they bring it out to the car. I don’t touch anything or talk to anyone. I wash my hands when I get home and I scrub everything down with antiseptic wipes, then I wash my hands again,” she said. Postage stamps are ordered online, as are photographs. Arrivals from Amazon get wiped down, too.
Pingree is also uncertain how safe takeout food might be. “Everyone decides how much risk they want to take. Everyone has their ideas, but to me, it’s just not worth it. I am perfectly capable of preparing our food. To me, better safe than sorry. That’s just my personality.”
Mental health matters
Talking to the kids about what’s going on can be tricky, Pingree said. “I don’t want to lie to them that it’s all sunshine and rainbows, but I don’t want to scare them, either. We tell them that everything is going to be okay, that we are doing everything we can to protect ourselves, and just following [recommendations] to keep ourselves healthy.”
Pingree, who works part time, misses having a few hours to herself while the kids are in school. “I really, really miss having time to myself one or twice a week,” she said. Fortunately, her husband helps her carve out a couple of hours to watch TV by herself, and she helps him find time for a nap once in a while. Jarad Pingree, a veteran, is missing pain management treatments normally received through a VA hospital in Boston.
Pingree said she misses attending church in person rather than via Facebook Live. And she misses dinners with her in-laws, who live nearby. “It’s been kind of weird and hard not to be able to do that. Yesterday, my mother-in-law put some masks in the mailbox, and waved through the window,” she said.
“I try to keep things as normal as possible,” Pingree said. “Other than that, we are just kind of winging it and doing our best like everyone else and hoping this thing will pass.”
DEXTER -- Donna Kraft-Smith was one of many Mainers taken by surprise at the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the virus was making its way across the nation, Kraft-Smith was busy operating her Therapeutic Body Work Learning Center in Brewer, her own massage therapy practice in Dexter, and planning a road trip with her husband, Henry.
“It didn’t seem like it got real for us in Maine until March,” she said. “Up until then the President was even saying it was a hoax or whatever.” It was not until President Donald J. Trump addressed the nation on March 11, and Maine had its first presumptive case of COVID-19 on March 12, that many Mainers took a more somber look at the pandemic. To Kraft-Smith, it felt like things just “blew up.”
At first, she continued to try to run her therapeutic massage practice, stepping up already stringent cleaning standards. “I am always trying to keep everything as clean as possible, not just with COVID-19, but there are other things that people might transfer to one another,” she said. Then, because she planned to go on vacation, Kraft-Smith stopped seeing clients.
Kraft-Smith has 12 students this year at the Therapeutic Body Work Learning Center. The 500-hour course runs for 14 months during two intensive weekends per month. Fortunately, she decided to cancel the late March session even before Governor Janet Mills ordered the closure of nonessential businesses, effective March 25.
“We could have made that last class, but I really felt it wasn’t a good idea,” said Kraft-Smith. “There were too many of us in a room, coming from all different places.”
Even at home, there was confusion about how to proceed. “We were planning a road trip to Florida,” she said. “My husband and I went back and forth on it, and decided we weren’t going to go because we would pass through so many states and would be stopping at rest areas, gas stations. We decided if things got worse, we would be with people we didn’t know and we would not have a doctor, so it just didn’t make sense to leave -- and within a couple of days, things blew up.”
With her practice and school closed as non-essential businesses, Kraft-Smith continues trying to work with students, who are about halfway through their training. “I am doing some online training, but not everyone can use Zoom, and now they are saying Zoom has some issues. Because some people live remotely, it’s challenging. I’m trying to do some by Facebook and email. But they can only do the academic work; they can’t do the hands-on. We have to wait until a time that becomes safe.”
No students have registered for the new session beginning in September. “In the meantime, I’m expected to pay rent,” she continued. “My space out of Dr. Reddy’s building in Dexter, they said I didn’t have to pay rent until I started again, but the Brewer space, which is more expensive…I could defer rent, but he is still expecting me to pay that [back] rent later.”
Kraft-Smith is hoping that if she doesn’t qualify for Maine’s unemployment program, she might qualify under the new federal program. “I believe I may be eligible for up to $600 a week for up to four months, but the state does not have this site up yet,” she said on April 3.
Henry is retired and draws Social Security, so the couple does have some income. He is also experiencing health issues for which surgery may be required, but “doctors don’t’ really want to have you come in now,” she said. “They are doing a lot over the phone to postpone that. I’m sure a lot of other people are struggling with this now, too.”
Even if Kraft-Smith could work now, she wouldn’t. “I’m not scared to death that I’m going to die from [COVID-19], but I’d rather not get it,” she said. “I have no choice. I have to keep up. If I just go down, it’s not going to work. I am the only one who can go back and forth to town, can walk the dog, can really help him.”
To keep her spirits up, Kraft-Smith is connecting with students and friends on Facebook. “I have that to look forward to, and like everyone else, I’m trying to accomplish things that I don’t usually have time to do because of work. And I allow myself some time to be sad and to be afraid – but then I dust myself off and just keep going.”
Kraft-Smith has also been a yoga instructor, and is certified in Reike. “I practice my deep breathing all the time,” she said. “I’m aligning my body, and doing some stretches – probably not as much as I could, but I have a lot of other things I need to be doing. It’s not just yoga on a mat. Yoga is a lifestyle, so the things I’ve learned to keep myself calm are helping a lot.”
Kaft-Smith said that massage clients unable to see their pracrtitioners should be stretching “always!” and may benefit from online yoga, meditation and exercise classes. But, she cautioned, “When talking about people with a lot of chronic pain and stiffness, sometimes the videos out there are too much. You always have to be mindful of where that place is that your body says ‘that’s enough.’”
She’s also giving some thought to the future. “Eventually this is going to end. It may change my career. I’m thinking about other things I could do. Everyone isn’t going to want to just jump back in and have a massage until they feel safe again.”
There’s also the issue of job loss, and that folks may not be able to afford a massage – or the online classes Kraft-Smith is thinking about offering. “I could teach mediation and yoga online. Self-massage is something I’ve been thinking of offering.”
Kraft-Smith said anyone interested in possible future videos or massage can contact her at mainemassage@gmail.com.
DOVER-FOXCROFT/MAINE – Kathy Richards, a classroom specialist with the Jobs for Maine Graduates program at Foxcroft Academy, wants to help students find paths to rewarding, well-paying jobs. Richards said she took the “long and winding road” to her own college education, which was attained several years after graduating from Dexter Regional High School at age 16. She worked in special education in the Guilford school district for 17 years before becoming support staff for the Study Strategies program, and eventually helping to launch SAD 4’s Learning for Life program.
In January, 2016, Richards joined the JMG program at FA. JMG partners with public education and private businesses to offer results-driven solutions to ensure that all Maine students graduate, attain post-secondary credentials and pursue meaningful careers, she said.
“We do not want our students stuck in low-paying jobs that they don’t have a personal connection with,” Richards said. “For some people, they love being outdoors and that’s their passion, so I would not try to get that kid into an office job. I would try to help them find a pathway to a job that allows them to work where they feel the best. If you have a job where you get up in the morning and actually want to go in to work, that’s what we want for our kids. And we want them earning a living wage.”
Students learn communication and reasoning skills, conflict resolution, and financial literacy in addition to career exploration. “With the upper classmen, we go into more depth, so we actually find a career path from where they are now to the career they might be interested in in the future,” Richards said. Students learn what sort of credentials would be required, what internships are available, how to write resumes, and more.
Much of the learning is game-based or project-based, and students also do a classroom presentation, “so it’s very interactive,” said Richards. “At the start of this whole thing, when we thought we were looking at a two-week shutdown, we thought, ‘sure, we can shift things around, get the research and that sort of thing out of the way.’ Normally, students would be showing their slide shows to the class so that everyone would get the information. It’s an exposure thing. I haven’t figured out how to let everyone see everything yet, so I’m working on that. Now that we are transitioning for the long haul, I’m mapping out how to still cover the information and help them learn those skills. Without as much interaction, it’s a struggle.”
Google Classroom and Google Hangouts are helpful, Richards said. She communicates with her students mainly through email, and with phone calls if students don’t reply to emails.
“Every student at FA has an iPad issued to them, and FA has put hot spots around the region. If students drive to those hot spots in Monson, Harmony, Dover-Foxcroft, Charleston and possibly Sebec, the iPad automatically connects so they don’t even have to log in.
“I just want my students to stay in touch, and I think every teacher feels that way.,” she said. “When I don’t hear back from a student by email or Google Classroom, it’s kind of like being an air traffic controller, watching those blips out there, and when one disappears, it probably isn’t good.”
Going beyond academics
With schools shut down somewhat abruptly, JMG providers were concerned about more than the logistics of distance learning.
“We have 143 programs across all 16 counties and we serve a large, large number of students every year – 11,000 this year,” said Matt St. John, statewide director of operations at JMG. “We are really fortunate to have great specialists who are very student centered. This is not only about helping students academically, but with emotional and social support.
“When this crisis first hit, our first response was, ‘What are some things we can do to help our students right now?’ Of the students we serve, one of the populations we target are those who are economically disadvantaged, so we knew food insecurity was going to be a major barrier for a lot of our students and their families,” he said.
Fortunately, JMG has spent 25 years building partnerships. “Unum was the first to donate and help us with the cause of getting as many local supermarket gift cards as we could to provide some food insecurity relief,” St. John said. Soon, other partners joined the effort. “We raised $150,000 and the Harold Alfond Foundation matched that, so we had a total of $300,000 that we were able to disperse really quickly to get those Hannaford gift cards out.”
Each school-based JMG program was given 20 grocery gift cards. “Our specialists worked with our schools to identify the students and families most in need,” St. John said, adding that this would not have been possible without private-sector partners stepping up.
“As this crises progresses, so much is unknown and there is uncertainty about the impacts it is going to have,” said St. John. “We are going to continue to hopefully speak to some of our partners and figure out other alternative ways to help our students. If there are other ways to support our kids throughout this crisis, we are going to find those ways to help them.”PARKMAN – Everyone is adjusting and learning new ways to move forward during these unusual times. Checkerberry Farm owners Jason and Barbara Kafka are no different. Checkerberry, purchased by the couple in 1981, has added a production greenhouse and several high tunnels to extend this region’s short growing season. Organic produce was sold retail for many years, but grew into a wholesale market over time.
But this month, on-site sales of seedlings is taking place Thursday – Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to replace income normally generated selling to Fedco for their annual spring sale, which was cancelled due to COVID-19.
“Instead of planting one of my big tunnels in May, I have to wait until June to plant because we’ve been setting it up for retail space,” Jason Kafka said.
The virus is not something they take lightly, Kafka said. He sat through Zoom meetings with the Department of Agriculture, representatives from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and other producers to learn best safety practices for his family, his employees, and now, his retail customers.
“We need to keep healthy and be responsible,” he said. “None of us have ever lived through anything like this before. We want to be safe and we are following protocols. We are considered essential, so we can’t take that lightly, either. I went to Etna and got hand sanitizer from Mossy Ledge [Spirits]. I’m now in the process of setting up for retail, and I have to make some signs to remind people about social distancing. Our creativity is being put to the test – that’s the silver lining anyway – learning how to cope with it.”
Some of the farm’s wholesale outlets are seeing “quite a bit more demand,” Kafka said. “I’m not trying to grow more than I have, but I do know outfits that are.” Some of Checkerberry’s employees also work for other outlets, and that extra demand is keeping them away from the farm later into the season than usual. “We’re all feeling that there’s this demand and how do we dance through this,” he said.
One employee was up in Aroostook still, packing potatoes, for an extra week. “We had one prospective employee come by, and he had actually been working at Hannaford down in Belfast. He was done there now, but self-quarantined because one of those hot spots is down there, so there are all these little ripples emanating around. I’d like to have these workers come as soon as possible, but we just have to do it one step at a time to do things properly, so they will be a little delay here. I’ve learned over the years that the ground will only warm up so fast. There’s some stuff I’d like to get done, but if it’s a week later, that’s okay and the ground will just be a little bit warmer.”
To everything there is a season, and now it’s time to plant and help produce grow. Kafka is confident that his markets will be ready when the harvest comes. “We’ve been established with these outlets for a good long time,” he said.
Asked by Barbara what he wanted for his birthday on May 20, Kafka replied, “I’d like to have my onions in the ground. That’s kind of my target date. But things are still up in the air so much, I’m just trying to work smart.”
Social distancing with employees out in the fields is not difficult, but, “working in our production greenhouse, it is harder,” said Kafka. “We are learning new habits. Here in Piscataquis County, away from the hubbub of it all, we’ve had a bit more time to just mentally get a grasp of what we need to do and make those new habits.”
While Kafka said maybe it’s been overstated, “we are all in this together. One of our customers that came up on Saturday from Freeport commented on a farm down the road where she has always gotten her milk, but she hadn’t realized she could get cuts of meat and eggs there. So there’s a silver lining to all of this, and hopefully, people realize the importance of buying things locally. We’re all benefitting. The smaller the circle of our money exchanges, paying a local somebody for products or services, that money stays in the community. So utilize our local farms and stores – and local newspapers, too!”
For more information about Checkerberry Farm, call 277-3114 or email jebkafka@somtel.com.July 17, 2020
Piscataquis Valley Fair: What are you going to miss the most this year, the rides, the music, the food, or an event like the ox pulling or demo derby?
Piscataquis Valley Fair: All of the above!
Darlene: We love to camp at the camp grounds and make all the events but I do think demolition derby will be a big miss and the horse shows
Anna: Going to miss it all! :(
Shannon: My fair people.
Deborah: The whole thing it is a great family event that we look forward to every year
Taylor: All of it!
LeAnn: Stans Fries!!
Michelle: Everything
Mary: North Country Riding Club Horse show!
Norm: tuff trucks
Judy: Everything!!!!!!!!
Nancy: Food
Janice: Demo derby
Dale: Flower show, food, animals
Allysa: The Demolition Derby, the rides, the animals, and the food!
August 27, 2020
Piscataquis Valley Fair: Today is what should be opening day 2020. What do you miss the most?
Patty: I was just telling my husband how strange it feels not to go to the fair this year. We are both 73 and been going now for 50 years.
Ashley: The truck pulls and food. My kiddo would have been tall enough this year for rides too I think so that stinks. The fair is my favorite.
Maaf: I miss everything! Good luck next year Maine fairs!!
Lou: Seeing old friends, the food, and all of what makes a great fair.
Michelle: Being able to go there n bringing the grandchildren to a great n amazing fair
Lisa: All of it from setting up and running around to relaxing with friends that have become family.
Sharon: Singing.
Lynn: Catching up with people, having fair food, watching the kids go on all the rides, and looking at the displays.
Katie: All of it... the smiles and laughs and fun my kids have there.
Darlene: Fair food, seeing people I haven't seen all year.
Norm: Tuff trucks
Judy: the smells and sounds and people!
Kelly: Horse pulling
Karen: Bingo! and being in Maine.
Dawn: Demolition derby lol
Ainsley: The horse show and the zipper
Samantha: I know a couple people missing their annual trip to the Fair and Fire Museum!
Kelly: Seeing people I haven't seen in years.
Damian: Scrambler and fried dough
Leanne: Maple Cotton Candy
Piscataquis Valley Fair: Leanne, you can get that at Bob’s Sugarhouse on E Main St in Dover all year long!!
Becky: Corn dogs, cotton candy, curly fries, fried Oreos… pretty much all of it.
Sherri: French fries and burgers
Sharon: French fries and dough boys plus cotton candy
Darlene: Dough boys and sausage sandwiches
Jen: The animals and our fair family <3
Hilda: I always liked supporting the local fire departments’ burgers/hot dog standardized
Rosa: Blooming onions
Natasha: Blooming onions
Benjamin: Hearing Dan call the pulls on the loud speaker.
Jackie: Stan’s fries and hot sausage on the hill
Danielle: Stans fries
Crystal: Sausage and french fries and Doe Boy
Allysa: The local fire department hamburgers, the strawberry smoothie with some lemonade mixed in (end of the day leftovers) from the stand my cousin runs every year.
Char-lin: Blooming onion. And fried veggies!
Kate: Blooming onion and the doughboys.
Maaf: Fried food and cotton candy
Deborah: Dough boy
Ivy: Doughboys
Karylyn: Candy apples
Terri: Blooming onions!
Lynn: Doughboys
Wendy: Italian sausage
What has transpired is transpiring.
A virus sweeps like the loose winds dance on these candles. Like the breeze that bends the oak, moves the grasses, sheds the seed. Like the water that runs flames from fracking. Like the hands that deftly kill. Like the tears of mother's torn from children. Like the arc of bomb to target, a geometry of power. Like the friction between rope and limb as a noose slides on bark and neck. Like the saliva that trickles dry as the chorus of calling out all the names needing to be heard gets hoarse.
How these eyes absorb and tire, integrate, avert and squeeze shut information emitted by liquid crystal displays of ions and headlines calling for action, pleading for change, selling sensationalism.
(the wedge that drives us apart is on sale and one click away).
And still, and surely, a prayer. Does it lessen the shock? Prayer. That the great divide rocks the shores of privileged feet so that they feel the laps of waters edge. That the chill of those waters shock internal temperatures into recognition. Prayer. That the great space, yes the void not the vacuum, is like the humidity of the East- that dense oppressive blanket heat, the blockade that slows time, the barrier that makes swift motion into slow motion, dripping molasses from a spoon. Forced to the gentle face of Eternal Essence. Feel that and remember true history. Remember white role, black and brown toll, power structures gifted from the queen. Dig the earth to find the roots and plant again. Regenerative. A prayer to shift the inner compass of Those Who Keep All That Power. The pendulum has to find center.
It starts within.
A prayer for empathy and safety.
A prayer for love and goodness.
A prayer for our neighbors' health.
A prayer for our plants.
A prayer for the 1,000 ways magical moments still rise.
A prayer for resistance and a prayer for peace.
While the Dexter-based Harold J. Crosby Community Band has enjoyed practicing and performing outdoors this summer, evenings are getting cooler, windier and darker. Not wanting it to be “the day the music died,” to borrow from Don McLean, the band has alternate plans in the face of COVID-19.
The band will have a dedicated space upstairs in the Dexter Town Hall. A ramp and elevator are available for easier access. Individuals will be assigned clear, tri-fold barriers made by volunteers. Measures are being taken to ensure proper ventilation and distancing. People are being asked to wear facial coverings, when possible, when in close proximity to others. Rehearsals start at 6 p.m.
The Harold J. Crosby Community Band honors the Dexter-born composer and features his pieces as well as a mix of traditional and more modern works. A wind, brass and percussion ensemble, the band welcomes new and returning members. The group, a member of the New Horizons International Music Association, consists of all ages and abilities. It is a non-profit organization, free instrumental loan and instruction are available.
For more information, visit www.cuthbert-foundation.org, email crosbycommunityband@gmail.com or call 207-924-6235.