WHEN MAINE BECAME a state in 1820, it decided, like most other states in the union, to conduct its elections in November. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but that time was 100 years before the state created deer and bear hunting seasons that coincide with the election season.

Every other Friday starts the same. A second cup of coffee and a sense of panic about how long I have before I get a friendly reminder from an editor about my column being due. No matter how pressed I am for time, I can always count on a failure of leadership in Washington for column fodder.

A COUPLE OF WEEKS ago I was getting my hair cut by a new stylist. In the course of our first conversation, she told me a story that I am passing on to you. Since she doesn’t know I am doing this, I’m changing her name.

ONE OF MAINE’S most valuable natural resources is its 6,000 lakes and ponds, which are renowned for their beauty and water quality. Annually, these lakes are a $3.5 billion economic engine that sustain 52,000 jobs, generate substantial tax revenues for towns from shoreland properties, and provide drinking water for half of all Mainers.

I WAS USING THE butt of my roscoe to pound a nail in the wall when Shelia, my new secretary, said, “Gee, boss, what if that thing goes off? You could hurt somebody. Like me! And you said health insurance didn’t come with this job.”

JOHN MCCAIN SAID more in 10 minutes on the Senate floor than Ted Cruz did in 21 hours.

THE SEARCH, NOW 30 years old, for Iranian “moderates” goes on. Amid the enthusiasm of the latest sighting, it’s worth remembering that the highlight of the Iran-contra arms-for-hostages debacle was the secret trip to Tehran taken by Robert McFarlane, President Reagan’s former national security adviser. He brought a key-shaped cake symbolizing the new relations he was opening with the “moderates.”