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Author Archives: Dianne Fallon
A visit to Wood Island with Windows to the Wild
During August of 2021, I kayaked out to Kittery’s Wood Island Lifesaving Station with with Windows to the Wild host Willem Lange and producers Steve Giordani and Phil Vaughn, where we spent a lovely day with Sam Reid, president of the non-profit Wood Island … Continue reading
Hiking the Belknap Range in NH’s Lakes Region
Could we complete this12+ mile trek and still get back to Portsmouth in time for the concert? Continue reading
A hike to Mount Parker yields clues to a smallpox outbreak
On a recent spring hike, I learned about the joys of hiking Bartlett’s Mount Parker, which offers great views of Mount Washington with far fewer people than many other White Mountain trails. While not not an easy hike at about … Continue reading
The challenge of the Brothers at Baxter State Park
Back in April, as we weathered the COVID pandemic at home, I scored a Labor Day weekend campsite at Baxter State Park in northern Maine. I had visited Baxter several times before, always for the same reason: to climb Maine’s … Continue reading
A visit to Arches National Park as it all fell down
On Friday, March 6, Logan Airport was packed with travelers heading out on winter escapes. People crowded together, waiting to board with ski bags and backpacks. But in the bathroom, everyone was washing their hands with a furor I’d never … Continue reading
Posted in Family and Kids, Hiking, Mountains, Travels
Tagged national parks, road trips, southwest travel, Utah
1 Comment
The dark-eyed little girl in the picture: Old photos tell the story of an immigrant family from Greece
Browsing through the archives of Digital Maine, this photo of young Mary Gekas invites questions. Born in 1915, she would have been 5 or 6 when this photo was taken at the Mark Dennett School in Kittery, Maine, and saved … Continue reading
Posted in Seacoast (mostly) History
Tagged Alien registration, Kittery history, Maine history
13 Comments
Mountain spring: hike to North Doublehead
Mountains in spring, breath clean oxygen. Listen: in the spruce, loving birds. I’ve been working with my students on form poems, including haiku. Thus, I attempt to describe a recent hike with a combination of haiku, photos and text. Indulge … Continue reading
Posted in Family and Kids, Hiking, Mountains
Tagged family hikes, NH hiking, White Mountains
6 Comments
When a silent enemy traveled undetected: the Seacoast “throat distemper” epidemic of the 1730s
“It was this readiness to adopt a theological explanation for the epidemic which was chiefly responsible for the hasty abandonment of a scientific one.” –Ernest Caulfield By July 26, 1736, when Portsmouth’s Reverend Jabez Fitch speculated that the “throat distemper” … Continue reading
The summer when Kittery aliens landed at the Town Office
In late June of 1940, 39 aliens officially called Kittery home. Some had dwelled among the town’s residents for more than 50 years, others for just a few weeks. When Governor Lewis E. Barrows signed an executive order requiring all … Continue reading
Posted in Seacoast (mostly) History
Tagged Alien registration, Kittery history, Maine history
8 Comments
