by Roland D. Hallee You must remember the cartoon character of a bird with an innate chutzpah and brash demeanor that would fly into our living rooms during cartoon Saturdays in the 1950s and 1960s. He possessed a fluffy red crest and a laugh that bordered on insanity. He was Woody Woodpecker, the 1940 creation […]
by Roland D. Hallee Now, you’re very familiar with Drosophila melanogasters aren’t you? They usually show up in your kitchen at the most inopportune time. They are called fruit flies, also known as vinegar flies. Those pesky little bugs that annoy the dickens out of you, but are actually very beneficial to humans. This species […]
by Roland D. Hallee Recently, my daughter and one of my granddaughters have expressed an interest in bringing home a Maine coon cat. I’ve heard a lot about coon cats, but what makes them so different, and their size. The Maine Coon is a large domesticated cat breed. One of the oldest natural breeds in […]
by Roland D. Hallee Oh, my goodness! Sunday is Groundhog Day. My, how times flies. For starters, I have to find out where my friend Woodrow Charles is hanging out these days. Last year, he had moved to less than flattering surroundings. A quick email will tell me where he is. I hope it doesn’t […]
by Roland D. Hallee Because I spend my summers on Webber Pond, in Vassalboro, I have the chance to fish that lake extensively. In the 35 years my wife and I have summered there, we have caught plenty of fish of many various species: small and largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, eels, […]
by Roland D. Hallee One of the educational things I do for myself every day is read the comics in the daily newspaper. It kind of sets the tone for the rest of the day for me. I have my favorites: Peanuts, Hi and Lois, Beetle Bailey, Garfield, etc. I even like to read Mark Trail […]
by Roland D. Hallee I recently received this update from the Maine Forest Service on the status of the browntail moth caterpillar. Browntail caterpillars will remain in their winter webs for now… Throughout the winter season in Maine, browntail caterpillars are nestled inside of their winter webs they created in late fall. These winter webs […]
by Roland D. Hallee It’s a new year! Boy, that was a news flash. Anyway, we’ve turned the calendar to a new year, the holidays have passed, and we are now settling into the reality of at least three months of winter. We are sure to suffer some aches and pains of moving the snow […]
by Roland D. Hallee With all of our Christmas chores wrapped up (pun intended) on Saturday and Sunday mornings, my wife and I binged watched various old, standard Christmas-related films in the evening. While watching these, the thought went through my mind about where did the myth of Santa Claus and his reindeer come from, […]
by Roland D. Hallee It’s become obvious that the warmer weather is behind us, and winter is patiently waiting in the wings. The other day, after doing some fall chores outside, I watched as squirrels scampered around, up and down trees, and were just plain busy. Last week on my security cameras around my house, […]