Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 Yes, today is National Grandparents Day , and let me say that I love being a great grandfather to Carson Thomas Lane. Here are a few of the things we did together when he was with us for five days recently. He remembered picking blackberries when he was here years ago. So we picked the ripe, black ones and left the less-than-ripe red ones alone - for now. Photo by Linda Lane So, what was next. We live off a road that is not a public way, and having Carson learn to drive at 13 years of age made sense. He handled it perfectly. Carson is an avid fisherman, so I felt it was time to teach him fly casting. It went flawlessly. Like many youngsters, he has an interest in guns. Teaching Carson the safety issues and dangers of firearms was paramount. He had no issues with my Ruger .44 magnum pistol . My wife, Linda, and I also took him swimming in nearby Rangeley Lake . He was in the water for hours. Building a fire with no matches, flint or steal was also on the agenda and gave him a bri...

  The house is strangely quiet now . My 12-year-0ld great grandson went home yesterday, and I miss him already. OBSCURITY (Definition): The state of being unknown, inconspicuous or unimportant Photo of Carson by Linda Lane Carson Thomas Lane will turn 13 years of age next month. His biological father abandoned him at birth, and his mom, Courtney, died - a victim of cystic fibrosis - at the age of 25 - when Carson was only seven years old. In the end, my granddaughter - being kept alive on a ventilator - chose the day her life would end . Two major hospitals had apparently determined that she was not "important' enough to receive a double-lung transplant. Please pardon me for my cynicism and lasting anger. Courtney chose my daughter, Lisa , (in turn supported by her husband, Jim ) as Carson's legal guardian and her then-boyfriend, Josh , as his surrogate dad. At the time of this writing, my great grandson still lives with Joshua Farrell and his mom, Heather. Prior...

 The Androscoggin River in Northern New Hampshire has claimed yet another life. My wife, Linda, and I were returning from Massachusetts yesterday afternoon - and were only minutes from our home when we encountered a road block. The edge of the road was packed with emergency vehicles, and we were told that the road had been shut down due to a vehicle being spotted underwater mid-stream . We later found out that the vehicle contained yet another dead body claimed by the picturesque trout stream . As of this writing, the matter is still being investigated. Ironically, my wife and I were also driving on Route 16 in Errol in 2017 when a 19-year old cold case was solved. The truck and remains of a man reported missing 19 years prior was located and  we drove by as it was being pulled from the Androscoggin. Also, as recently was March of this year, a third vehicle and individual had suffered the same fate.  So, what's going on here?  Speed? Inattentiveness? Alcohol? Att...

  I  had two camps, and I miss both of them! In northern New England  most of us call them camps, not cottages or cabins . I was  lucky  enough to have had two of them.  My first camp was not really mine, but as a kid I felt that it was.  My grandfather built it in the   mid 1950’s by the shores of   Merrymeeting Lake  in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.  My  grandfather was an avid fisherman, and the area lakes, ponds and streams provided new   opportunities for him. However, he was not able to enjoy the camp for long. He died soon  after its completion. My mother named the camp  “Joe’s Haven”  in memory of her dad and  painted a sign with that inscription. The camp was a simple structure. It was small and had no insulation, running water or indoor  toilet facilities. We carried drinking water from a nearby spring, and we bathed in the lake.  For a 10-year-old boy i...