On Veteran's Day, Sunday, November 11, come gather round the Town Hall flagpole! Let's salute Old Glory together, to honor the young men and women who are sacrificing their lives in our defense! The ceremony will start at 9 a.m. with the raising of the flag and lowering it to half-mast. If we are in good voice, we will sing the National Anthem and whatever other patriot songs occur to us. After that, we will observe a moment of silence. And then go on our separate ways in a thoughtful spirit.

Starting November 8 through the 15th, we should observe Maine Recycles Week! And how do you do that, you ask? By recycling, of course! Please rinse out all bottles and cans before turning them in to the recycling center or supermarket or redemption center. It is not too late to round up any remaining old mercury thermometers, and other gadgets that may contain this or other heavy metals, to bring to the transfer station most convenient to you. Or you can show your kids how to make bird feeders from plastic milk gallons!

I was glad to be present last Thursday morning at the Dodge Point Preserve when Governor Baldacci and a 13-year-old naturalist friend cut the beautiful peach and gold ribbon, knotted with brilliant yellow beech leaves, to celebrate the spanning of River~Link from the Sheepscot to the Damariscotta! Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan and Damariscotta River Association Director Mark DesMeules filled us in on the incredible job we Mainers have done, to protect going on 1,400 acres of natural wild forest and grassland for our children and grandchildren to enjoy. Representatives from the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association, Maine Heritage Trust, Boothbay Region Land Trust and our own Schmid Preserve Advisory Board were also on hand. I was able to hobnob with neighbors Ken and Peg Schuler, Su Ripley, and Val Thompson who was cheered for his and Bobsie's generous private conservation easement, an important link in River~Link.

Swigging cider and chomping doughnut holes, let me chime in the chorus: When you go to the polls next Tuesday, November 6 - and you are going, aren't you?! - vote in favor of Ballot Item #4, the Lands For Maine's Future bond issue! Not only to continue the effort to preserve our precious but shrinking natural scenery, but on behalf of endangered historic sites like Fort Edgecomb, as well!

As a follow-through from the above, Schmid Committee Volunteer Manger Deb Sondergaard says, 'Greetings, Stewards of the Schmid Preserve! Please join us Sunday, November 4, to help cut a new trail! (New trails are always exciting!) This trail, which will be incorporated into the River~Link Trail System, runs through some beautiful parts of the Preserve.

'If you can make it, please bring loppers and/or a pole saw. And don't forget your blaze orange! It's November, after all! We'll meet at the Town Hall at 8 a.m. to car pool and see what everybody has for tools, and we'll end around noon.'

Please let Deb know if you have questions. Also, please shoot her back a reply if you cannot make it, so she can rustle up more volunteers if necessary. You can call her at 882-6265 or e-mail her at sondergaard@clinic.net.

A small but intensely interested group, many professional or amateur carpenters, came to the Edgecomb Historical Society's evening meeting last Thursday to hear Dr. Jack Sarmanian demonstrate the evolution of the common wood plane from a simple heavy block of wood with a metal blade through it, with complex versions made by shaping and sizing the blades to cut

moldings as simple or ornate as desired, depending on the number and placement of the curves, and then, the technological leap from wooden housing to metal, from the early 19th century through the 1940s. In addition, Jack showed his research tools, a number of catalogues and histories of hand tools. When he finds a new tool at flea markets or house sales, he checks its identifying marks and style against those pictured in these references, and labels it accordingly. Thus, a good lesson in how to collect, regardless of one's subject of interest! Thank you, Jack!

Not very long ago, Bruce brought home from a farmers' market a whole stalk of Brussels sprouts. It was so handsome, we thought it only fitting to try cooking it whole. I spread out a generous piece of heavy duty aluminum foil, placed the stalk on it, and after folding up the sides and ends of the foil, poured over the stalk about a half-cup of chicken stock, drizzled two tablespoons of olive oil, scattered some sea salt, then sealed the foil wrapper. I set the oven at 350 degrees and when ready, shoved the Brussels sprout stalk in for 20 minutes. Wrong! Hard as little rocks, and bitter.

I've discovered that most roast Brussels sprouts recipes call for pre-cooking them, and I can see why. If we do it again, I will put the stem into one of my fish steamers and add flavorful liquid of some sort. Maybe slice each knob partway down? And bake it for at least an hour at 400 degrees. Any advice from out there in the readership?

My desire persists because the whole log was so colossal and voluptuous, and indeed looked even more so, gleaming from the olive oil and salt I had poured over it to begin with. I can see two such stalks served surrounding a roast suckling pig. Or goose, it ought to go well with goose!

A long time ago, when we were in Cincinnati, I would hike over from where I was taking literary classes to Bruce's office on the medical campus. I would pass through a little neighborhood, barely a street, of tiny little frame cottages on tiny little postal stamps of lawn.

Once, I passed while an elderly gentleman was sitting on his porch steps. In his lawn, like an Italian Baroque bronze fountain, was a single, solidly filled, stalk of Brussels sprouts. I stopped and complimented him on it. He smiled, told me whenever he wanted any, he'd just walk out, cut three or four off, and boil them up for his dinner. Struck me as a great metaphor for contentment and the simple life.

Still chasing the simple life, seeing its tail disappear around a corner before I can grab it, at 234 River Road, 633-2978, jocam@ midcoast.com.

This column appears in the Boothbay Register, The Lincoln County News, the Wiscasset News-paper, and at www.Edgecomb.org.