Natalie Kempner says it is a gift to be living in Maine by a river (the Kennebec) at the age of 87. She cherishes the beauty, the constantly changing river,the ice that breaks and goes up and down with the winter tides, the constantly changing seasons.  She swam as a kid all the time and if she had had a wish, she says,  it would have been to be able to live and swim out her front yard. And now she’s had it for twenty years after she and husband Fritz moved from Conshohocken just outside Philadelphia. She enjoys the company of her children and grandchildren and friends and the bustle of visitors in the summer and the quiet time to catch up on things in the winter. A sparkle comes into her eyes as she describes  the wildlife all about – seals in the river, foxes and skunks on land, the coyotes walking atop the frozen winter river,and ospreys and eagles up above. Quoting the common Maine slogan, Natalie says it’s “life as it should be.” Watch video interview here.