Tag Archives: human connection

Causes and Friends, Maine Life

Vicki and Veronica Are “Tri-ing”

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VForce Team Joins Maine’s Tri for a Cure Triathlon

In my role as Communications Director of the Maine State Grange, I often encounter people who are achieving great things. Vicki Huff, former President of the Maine State Grange, is participating for the first time in the annual Tri for a Cure Triathlon. Vicki explains her motivation in this short video.

The Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) leads this statewide effort to reduce the impact of cancer in Maine, investing in the most promising and effective programs that:

  • Improve access to care for all Maine people;
  • Advance cancer prevention
  • Increase screening and early detection

The triathlon consists of three parts. Vicki has teamed up with her sister Veronica. Veronica will handle the swimming and biking portions, while Vicki handles the walking and running portions. The name of their team is VForce.

This year’s event happens on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Tri for a Cure has become the largest triathlon in the state of Maine, providing a gorgeous race course along the shores of Cape Elizabeth and South Portland.

The Triathlon has a great fundraising approach with several components. First, participants are required to raise a minimum of $500 each to be eligible. The Maine Cancer Foundation (MCF) recruits sponsors for the event itself, so all of the money raised goes directly to the cause.

While the VForce Team has raised the minimum. Additional donations are certainly in order! Use the link below to show your support. 100% of funds raised stay in Maine to support cancer prevention, screening, and improved patient outcomes. The money you help us raise will make a difference in the lives of your neighbors and communities around Maine. Now, more than ever, cancer patients need our help!

Learn more about triforacure
Donate on behalf of Team V-Force

Causes and Friends, Personal Growth, Simple Living

Life in the Fourth Quarter

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Guest Post by Jack Falvey

You are who you once were, even in the fourth quarter of life. Beginning at age seventeen or so, we all begin to age. We just don’t notice it. In the fourth quarter, we begin to feel it. We each have a long list of things we can no longer do. Surprisingly, there is another longer list that can only be done in the fourth quarter.

What am I going to do next?

We can read late into the night, for example, and not be concerned about being late for work or even being tired the next day, as we can sleep in without a job to worry about. We will find we can live reasonably well with less than a million dollars under financial management. Modest living can be made to fit with what we can or like to do. We can take and make old-fashioned phone calls in real time without having to make appointments to do so. We can call people to chat, and they will greatly appreciate the call. You can be lonely if you like, but pick up either a smart or not-so-bright phone and call someone whenever you like. Staying in touch is big in the fourth quarter.

You can also cross things off your to-do list without ever doing them. One aging soul had a massive collection of 35 mm slides. He was sorting them out and digitizing them. One day, he asked himself who would view them. Not being able to answer that question, he threw them all away. Project “done”. Fourth-quarter people can do things like that if they have the strength to do so.

Having time and no longer having to run through airports, or now only being able to walk slowly, you can stay healthy by walking around the block. No health club required. One word of caution about health. Don’t begin conversations with an organ recital. We all have health issues. They are ours and need not be shared. One of the best uses of fourth-quarter time is to have live, face-to-face interaction or visits with others. That has always been the case, but now we can do it regularly if we make the effort.

We all change physically, but we are still the same person we have always been. So is everyone else here with us in the fourth quarter. We are all older and now wiser. Make your own list of stuff you can and want to do. It will exceed what you once were able to do in both quality of life and the quantity of fun stuff, which will rise to the top of that list. Share that list with as many others as you can. Finding others to share things with well could be your new almost full-time job. Retirement is out of fashion. Repotting is now the new thing. Growing in your new fourth-quarter world and having fun doing it is now the thing to do. It is the latest team sport. No court or paddles required. No conditioning or training needed. Focus on others, and you will qualify for the fourth-quarter Olympics almost overnight. Is much of this a surprise? There is a long list of surprises on the way now that you know to look for them. The fourth-quarter is the big one.

Jack Falvey is one of the most widely published freelance business writers in the world. In addition to his Dow Jones Features, his work has appeared in Newsweek, The Reader’s Digest, Inc. Magazine, Sales and Marketing Magazine and even Vogue! His most recent book: “All According to Plan: it was not my plan” is available on Amazon. He is in his fourth quarter at eighty-seven years of age.

Amish Life, Digital Dynamics, People and Community, Simple Living

Tolerating Intolerance

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An angry Walter Boomsma

I’m fond of saying, “The only thing I can’t tolerate is intolerance.” But it’s not quite true, and I feel a need to rant.

Let’s start by noting that any arbitrary generality about the Amish is wrong. When people say, “They don’t like to be photographed,” there’s a good chance it’s true. While this is going to be about the Amish, it also isn’t. Are you confused yet?

Personally, I do not photograph people who might qualify as “Amish,” even in public places where the law might allow it. To me, the law is not the deciding factor. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it should be done.

If we keep this simple, the odds are good that most Amish would prefer not being photographed. If one takes the time to understand the Amish mindset, it makes sense. (They aren’t worried about their souls being stolen, by the way.) One of my favorite encounters with the subject happened with an Amish man telling a group of tourists who were visiting their farm, “If you ask my permission, I’m obligated to refuse. My family definitely cannot pose. But we also won’t stop you as long as you’re discreet and respectful.”

Unfortunately, the Amish mindset and lifestyle make them photogenic and easy to exploit. A lot of people take advantage of that on social media. I don’t particularly like it, but I get it. Or at least I mostly tolerate it.

There is a Facebook User in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who has obviously purchased a pair of Meta AI Glasses. These glasses allow her to video record her interactions with people (almost exclusively Amish in farm markets and businesses) and then post the recordings freely on Facebook. I’m angry enough not to bother raising questions about Facebook’s almost non-existent “Community Standards.”

Do we really need rules and laws to prevent what is abusive, disrespectful, and exploitive? (I know the answer is “yes,” but I want to believe there is still some level of decency in today’s society. There’s not much left on social media.) If she did this with a non-Amish kid, some parent might track her down and smash her glasses. (I’m not suggesting that, but there would be consequences.) The Amish aren’t like that, and the people who exploit them know it. I’m not sure what I will do if I encounter her the next time I’m in the Lancaster area.

But I do know this. Pennsylvania has a two-party consent law, and she is in clear violation of it. In addition, from the recordings, it is obvious she is also recording minors without consent. She has been told this with comments; she simply deletes the comments and blocks the user. A few of us are angry enough to start a grassroots movement. Properly directed public pressure can be very effective. You can also reach out to Lancaster County Crime Stoppers. They allow you to report anonymously.

Update: At least one very detailed report has been filed with the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office by a Lancaster County Citizen. I haven’t seen anything concrete yet but it’s rumored that the e-newspaper Lancaster Online has “developed an interest.” The wheels of justice may be turning, however slowly.

Just for Fun, Maine Life, Personal Growth, Simple Living

An End Is a Beginning

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A good friend surprised me yesterday by announcing he would be retiring soon. Since it was a surprise, I couldn’t resist probing why. His answer was “I have things I want to do.” I felt reassured that he was on a good track because he was focused on the beginning.

I’m a self-proclaimed expert on the subject of retirement, having “retired” quite a few times. The word itself has an interesting etymology, tracing back to Middle French and Latin, meaning “to draw back” or “to withdraw.”

When I retired from practicing and teaching real estate, I remember well the moment I inactivated my broker’s license. When I clicked the submit button, not much happened. The heavens didn’t open. There was no clap of thunder or bolt of lightning. I’d made a simple life change — an end and a beginning.

On that same day, I left for Bangor. I stopped at the mailbox to pick up a big envelope of thank-you notes from some third-graders I’d recently spent time with. They weren’t interested in real estate. I also stopped to visit with a 94-year-old fellow in hospice. We didn’t discuss real estate. We had a great visit, and I enjoyed his smile.

As the day progressed, I seemed to have one positive experience after another. I had some canning jars to drop off at my Amish friend’s farm stand. It was another happy visit. I usually bring books for her sons, and their enthusiasm for them is both rewarding and encouraging. We don’t discuss real estate.

I know that our “worldview” tends to influence what we see and how we interpret it, but I had to admit that a lot of good stuff seemed to be coming my way on this both eventful and uneventful day. We can attribute it to Karma, fate, or the planets being aligned, but my last stop on the way home was the grocery store for a gallon of milk. When the fellow ahead of me was given his amount due, he jerked a thumb my way and said, “I want to pay for his milk.”

A day that started with an ending included lots of new beginnings. Or maybe just one. I was seeing the world a little differently. My good friend and colleague, Jack Falvey, kept telling me to stop using the word “retirement.” Jack’s wisdom was that I was actually repotting and would be growing in a different place.

I saw Jack’s truth at the mailbox, in a hospice facility, on an Amish farm, and in the local grocery store.

I may no longer be an official real estate broker, but new beginnings are more important than endings. We have a lot of control over how we see ourselves and the world. I’m just going to thrive, grow, laugh, and enjoy in different places. I didn’t retire. I repotted. I’ll bet I do it again.