Our social ties are very tight along the coast, and there is a great deal of information available to leaders working to solve community challenges.

Roger Pielke had come to Maine to speak at the University of Maine's Mitchell Center for Sustainability, traveling to the state from Colorado, where he is director of the University of Colorado's Center for Science. After speaking, he hoped to head to Bar Harbor to see Acadia National Park and dine at one of the seaside town's restaurants. But which restaurant?

I was suppressing the myriad feelings and thoughts that kept bubbling up. I hadn’t eaten for many hours, but my body didn’t notice. With my eyes closed, I pictured myself back on Chebeague Island.

The Conservation Law Foundation has worked for years to permanently protect the remarkable Cashes Ledge area. This biodiversity hotspot provides refuge for a stunning array of ocean wildlife—from Atlantic cod to endangered right whales, bluefin tuna to Atlantic wolf fish—and a rare lush kelp forest.

There is comfort to be found in the small community that comes together to share the burden of grief.

Sometimes I suspect that the word “work” is code for “paying attention” and “spending time.”

Despite the desperate situation, we train for just such things. No matter how bad a situation at sea becomes, hope for survival always remains strong.

Each year, I buy three cords, cut and split, which costs me $675. Even as cold as last winter was, I still have a cord left over, stacked in the basement.

By this time, I and others have usually made our way through the odd feeling that comes at the end of August. Overtired from working days and staying out later than usual at night, we have scrambled for every last chance to see friends before saying those parting words, “Have a good winter!”