May – 2016 – TALESetc.

I have lived and worked in Maine for about 35 years. Since I am now 66 years old and a native of Flushing, NY it is time to make a decision as to where my wife and I want to spend this newest chapters of our lives.

I’ve talked to many people and a good majority believes it’s time to find a new warmer home to live. Even though Maine has the second oldest population, Florida is the oldest; I wanted to investigate why older people seem to want to live in Maine.

Why Maine shouldn’t be a place to grow old is obvious. It’s cold. The average temperature in Maine is approximately 45.5F throughout the year with a summer average temperature of 79F and a winter average temperature of 12F.

This makes Maine the third coldest state in our nation behind Alaska and North Dakota. Most older people like warmer temperatures but are there other reasons why older people should not consider retirement in Maine? Continue Reading →

Elsa lived in the warm and sunny land of Australia. Her family were runner birds and they never flew through the air, or settled in a high tree to sing on a lovely day.
“We have no need to fly from danger” her mother said, and she showed Elsa how to hide among the grass tussocks.
“See they are almost the same colours as yourself. If a clever little emu bird keeps very still she won’t be spotted,” her big sister smiled. But Elsa didn’t think it was much fun playing hide and seek on the ground when all the other birds could play hide and seek in the trees.

When she was just little, the Kookaburra made the woodlands ring with the sound of his laughter, as Elsa dashed about the ground with her long legs and funny little wings. He was always telling her how he flew to the gardens of the houses beyond the forest and how the people all liked to spot him there. The lyre bird was often heard singing the loveliest songs of the summer.

But Elsa never went far from the woodland. ‘A bird dashing about near the houses would look an odd sight,’ she sighed. Instead she practiced her running till she got faster and faster. So swiftly covering the ground that she wasn’t afraid to go down to the river bank were the other birds gathered. To rest from their flight and keep an eye out for a hungery crocodile pretending to be a harmless log. They knew that they could rise into the air and fly to the tree tops where no crocodile could follow.

Continue Reading →

May 2016

Why would anyone over the age of 65 want to live in Maine?

ELSA, the bird who couldnot fly.