BELFAST — White Pines are some of the fluffiest conifers you'll find. But as Christmas trees, they're less than ideal. The needles shed easily, and in contrast to the Balsam's ornament-ready limbs, the dense tufts of the White Pine resist pretty much anything that isn't a garland.

Though you can apparently paint them blue.

Interspersed amid the regular stock at Fishers Christmas Tree Farm on Route 3 are a handful of White Pines with a noticeably blue tint. According to owner Gary Fisher, a buyer from Boston comes to the farm in August and sprays the trees with a floral paint. Closer to Christmas, he collects them and takes them to the city to resell.

Fisher said the man likes the color and has apparently found a market for the altered trees. The needles of the white pine have a tendency to fade after the tree is cut and Fisher speculated that the paint keeps them looking brilliant longer.

"Anybody from Maine knows that's not a natural color," he said.

The comment wasn't judgmental. In fact, Fisher said he might try spraying a few himself next year. 

BROOKS — Since the mid-1980s, Brooks has had at least two grocery stores running simultaneously. Depending upon how you count, the number of stores selling some combination of groceries and convenience items has climbed to as many as five at times, according to Jay Elwell, who recently bought one of them.

The building at the corner of routes 7 and 139 was a First National (Finast) until 1968, when Elwell's father Richard bought it. Richard's Market operated until 1986, when its namesake owner retired.

The grocery went through several owners and name changes until July 2011 when it went out of business. Jay, along with his wife, Eloise, bought the building last October, but with other properties to care for, he only recently began fixing up the store.

"It's just like being back when I was a little kid," he said. "You go upstairs, down to the cellar."

Later additions nearly doubled the size of the store since it was Richard's Market.

"It's kind of the same but different," he said. "It brings back memories."

Elwell is planning to renovate the building and rent it. He has two potential tenants, he said, both of whom hope to open, what else? A grocery store.

THORNDIKE — Homemade campaign signs for local and state candidates are a common sight, but leaving aside the occasional full-sheet plywood billboard, one-off signs for presidential candidates are much more rare.

Judy Palmer hadn't planned to buck the trend when she posted a campaign-issue, plastic and metal Romney/Ryan sign within view of Route 220. What she wanted was a new president.

"I have never been so afraid in my life for my country," she said about her support for the Republican candidates. "What we have in Washington needs to go." 

Two days after she put out the display, she found it mangled. A telltale set of tire tracks led through the field. Given that the sign was some 50 feet from the road, it's destruction was clearly not accidental.

"It didn't surprise me that it happened," she said. "But my thoughts are: we're a civilized society, we're supposed to be considerate toward each other."

Not content to let the election season terrorists win, Palmer bought posterboard and markers, consulted the Internet on the Romney campaign's graphics and made a replacement.

"My husband and I laughed about it," she said. "We thought maybe we should put spikes out there in case someone tries to do it again."

Penobscot Bay Pilot reporter Ethan Andrews can be reached at ethanandrews@penbaypilot.com.