I was telling some friends a story this past weekend and one of them, my neighbor Lenny Gauba, thought it was a hoot and suggested I share it in my column this week. With the snow finally gone this story is not as timely as it perhaps should be, but I hope you get a giggle out of it anyway.
I think it was four winters ago when I took my daughter Olivia and her friend Abby ice fishing. The Lincoln County Rod and Gun club sponsored the event, making it open to all but particularly targeting kids so the tradition stays alive. They supplied fishing traps, ice drills and all the accessories to make it possible for those of us without the specific tools. To make it an absolute blast they also brought two gas grills, burgers, dogs and a snowmobile with a trailer to give the kids rides on.
We had a great time and caught nine fish: pickerel, not the best eating but certainly edible (I lived on them for a week many years ago while camping in the woods, but that’s another story). We brought them home in a plastic bag and put them on the porch. I went inside to get a knife and the other tools needed to prepare them for “cleaning.” We had about two feet of snow and I routinely ran the snow blower to “dig” a trench around the whole house and down to the woods to give Olivia a place to ride her sled. The house is on a hill. As I walked back to the front door, after taking less than 10 minutes inside to warm up a bit I saw a fox running down my trench towards his den in the woods, dragging the bag of fish. I yelled and laughed but it happened so quickly by the time Olivia came to see what was happening the only sign of the fox or the fish was a faint trail of blood in the snow. Olivia was quite upset and her mother accused me of doing it purposely to get out of cleaning them. I still smile when I tell that story.
I remember
If we want to hold public officials responsible for their actions we have to make sure we remember what actions they took that we found objectionable in the past. That’s why I opposed Bruce Poliquin’s first bid for the second congressional district seat and am doing so now for his re-election bid. Just as a reminder, Congressman Poliquin, a wealthy contractor, “played” the system by getting his 12-acre waterfront property designated as a special tree growth property in order to evade paying his full share of property taxes. It doesn’t matter whether I agree with a politician on policy if I find they are acting dishonestly. Corruption is a deal breaker for me and Poliquin broke the deal ”“ nuff said.
What do you think? Should we overlook politician’s dirty dealings? Should we accept them taking advantage of us by paying less taxes than they should, forcing us to pay more than we should? And finally don’t we just encourage the bad behavior when we overlook it? Tell us what you think. Write a letter to the editor the old fashioned way or email us at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com.
Thanks for reading, for staying informed and engaged in our community by reading every day. Please drive safe, be kind, hug your children and have a wicked awesome spring is here week!
Please feel free to comment on my musings with a Letter to the Editor by emailing jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or mail a note to Journal Tribune, Attn: Editor, 457 Alfred Street Biddeford. ME 04005.
— Bruce M. Hardina is the Publisher of the Journal Tribune, a singer song-writer, a philosopher, a student of life and the human experience, a columnist, a loving neighbor, friend, father, son and brother.
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