by Norma Best Boucher Christmas time is sometimes the happiest, sometimes the saddest time of the year. People are so wrapped up in the moment that they forget to remember. Often a simple thing like a card, an ornament, or a song will trigger their memories, and for a brief moment the past embellishes the […]
by Norma Best Boucher After supper yesterday when my friends and I were walking, we saw first, an osprey, then a hawk, and bringing up the rear a black bird chasing the other two. The osprey landed on the bank of the retention pond only to find the hawk swooping down upon him. They both […]
by Norma Best Boucher Fall isn’t a date on my calendar, the lowering of the outside temperature, nor the coloring of leaves. Fall is the day I buy my heirloom pale blue Jarrahdale pumpkin. I didn’t start out being highfalutin. On the contrary, I started out modestly years ago with a garden next to our […]
by Norma Best Boucher I am writing a cookbook. No, really, I am. Everyone else has written a cookbook – a pioneer woman, a Barefoot Contessa, Frankie Avalon. Yes, even teen idol Frankie Avalon has written a cookbook. What to write about? That is the question. Most chefs promote recipes that are their favorites but […]
by Norma Best Boucher I just spent one of the best mornings I could want. I didn’t set out to do that. I don’t think that life works that way. I do try to start every day with a positive attitude, but this morning God just pointed me in a direction and said, “Enjoy!” The […]
by Norma Best Boucher “Hello. My name is Norma. I am an English major and a literary snob.” If there were such groups as Literary Snobs Anonymous, I would stand before their podium addressing my captured audience saying those exact words to my fellow literary snobs. Then, when they finally gave me the proverbial shepherd’s […]
by Norma Best Boucher As I ask myself when this journey all began, I must start with my mother in the ‘60s when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had been an older mother when I was born, so I had the advantages of having a mother who was secure with herself. I remember […]
by Norma Best Boucher We ran down the roadway to the Old Orchard Beach Ball Park. We were a little late because of the traffic, but that didn’t make any difference. His golden voice filled the air, and each perfect note sent a shiver through me. That was the first and the last time I […]
by Norma Best Boucher I have always loved raspberries. My earliest memory of the sweet seedy globules was on my aunt’s farm, in Bangor. In the summer my father and I visited his older sister’s family for a week filled with the softness of feather beds, the smell of sweet peas, the taste of fresh […]
by Norma Best Boucher At first, I was embarrassed when I couldn’t remember this teacher’s name, but then I realized that teachers’ names are not written on their students’ foreheads, but what they do for their students is indelibly written on their minds. I was going through adolescence. I hated the world, and I was […]