Jean Strollo called me the other day from LeRoy, New York, a small town in the western part of the state, about half way between Buffalo and Rochester. This is a place I know a little about. My mother's family is from that area. Mother's father was a station manager with the New York Central railroad and he worked all along that line throughout his career. I have oodles of relatives in towns in that neck of the woods.

Bill Sherman (not famous local fish boat captain) started the Bar Harbor Sherman's in 1886. In 1962, Jeff Curtis's parents bought the Bar Harbor business from Bill Sherman's daughters. Jeff worked for the store summers and weekends all of his growing years. In 2006, Jeff bought the business from his mother when she retired.

I grew up around heavy equipment. John Deere, Farmall, Allis-Chalmers, International Harvester, on the farms. On construction jobs there was Ingersoll Rand, CAT, Euclid, Lima, Manitowoc, Bucyrus-Erie, etc., long before the newer technologies we see today on job sites. Back then nothing was hydraulic. Machinery was less refined, more blunt and heavy. Today's sophisticated excavators may have been in the pipeline, but nobody I worked with could have imagined something so precise and well designed. It was a man's world. In all my years of work in the coal fields, in power station retrofits, on road construction, I never saw a woman on a job site. It just didn't happen.

Since turkeys don't generally fly very high, I thought it might be fun to share a view from air space more frequently occupied by seagulls and other flying objects. This is not a drone-created image.

I have been photographing the Ernestina-Morrissey project for about six years. For those unfamiliar with the project at Bristol Marine (formerly Sample’s Shipyard), the Ernestina-Morrissey measures 152 feet long to the spar and is 24 feet wide. It draws 13 feet of water, is 120 gross tons, carries almost 8,000 square feet of sail, was built as a sailing schooner for deep sea fishing, and was originally christened Effie M. Morrissey.

I mentioned to my wife, “Darling, as long as we feed the birds we will also feed and attract chipmunks, squirrels, and mice, not to mention the occasional skunk, raccoon, turkey, porcupine and heaven knows what other variety of critter.” We really do enjoy watching chickadees, junkos, cardinals, bluejays, sparrows, the more adventuresome crow and mourning doves. Some are more picky eaters than others!

It has been an interesting fall. Seems warmer and wetter to me than past years at this time. At 9 this morning our weather station (an old Taylor thermometer mounted outside the kitchen window) read mid 50s, in the shade! I didn't believe it until I let the dog out and felt the mild air.

Seasonal cottages are wonderful especially when they become unseasoned. When visitors close up and depart, old Uncle Bob gets to visit. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't lurk outside private properties awaiting vacancies, but it is always fun to visit (“with permission”) some of the original cottages that remain in use, relatively unchanged after many years of well-seasoned guests.

We got the last train to Clarksville! And the last boat to Monhegan over the holiday weekend. It was a perfect day for the crossing and for the island. A little roll on the way over, but nothing too annoying, for the most part. Once we landed at the town pier and disembarked, there was a moment needed to settle the sloshing brain and inner ear. I have known it to be much worse, like the year I photographed “Trap Day” on the first of January, 30-plus years ago. Memories of the trip over from Port Clyde on the Laura B still give me goose bumps. I thought it surely was the end of the world. Rock and Roll baby! Nice moderate temperature too! Not!

I am reminded of the song by my third cousin twice removed, Joni, “Clouds.” “I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down and still somehow, it's clouds' illusions I recall, I really don't know clouds at all.”

I am a fan of clouds. Over the years I have observed and photographed a lot of them. And, as the song says, “I really don't know clouds at all.” But, that hasn't stopped me from admiring the wonderful light shows which treat us, especially this time of year.

Sometimes after many years of frequent flyer miles you come to think that you know the route pretty well. But, when travel plans change, you may have to rethink how to get from point “A” to point “B.” Passing over the same terrain, repeatedly, doesn't always mean you get the lay of the land. Often times, much is missed.

“Mung Bean” did not exist in Boothbay Harbor in 1975. I know, because I checked! The shop did exist, however, in a small way in Coopers Mills. It was Sue and Steve's original location and their initial attempt to launch a business for classic American crafts – a brother and sister act.

During a recent wedding at Newagen Seaside Inn on Southport Island, while photographing with a newly married couple, out of the corner of my eye, “when what to my wandering eyes should appear but, a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer!” Or not!

Generally, I'm not a morning person, nor am I a late night person. Not sure what you call someone like me? A midday person maybe, among other things! However, on occasion, I do get out early in the day, if something or someone requires me to be available at the crack of dawn, or shortly after dawn has cracked!

Considering the messes of late, i.e., fires, storms, floods, COVID, etc., I thought it might be nice to share something a little less troubling.

We, as a family, are not over the top incredible gardeners. We manage and do our best with some nice successes. During the long siege of last year, when everyone in our family came home, we took on projects that otherwise would remain on a rather lengthy “to-do” list. Building some raised garden beds bubbled to the top. With everyone home, we had many hands which made lighter work.

I missed the Rear Admiral portion of David Stinson's life. Back in the 1980s, he was mostly the Reverend Joseph David Stinson and good friend, even though we were not members of his flock at the Boothbay Harbor Congregational Church.

David and wife Cindy landed in Boothbay Harbor in 1982. During that period of my career, I photographed many weddings with David and attended more than a couple funerals conducted under his watch. Boothbay Harbor was a fair piece from his hometown of Bonham in East Texas and an interesting transition from Yale where he attended divinity school. Somehow he managed!

Jenny and Josh got married last weekend. It was not the wedding they had planned. COVID-19 intervened as it has for many. But, this event, though smaller than hoped for, was lovely. A gathering of family and a few friends, mostly from New Hampshire, put together a very special day that will long be remembered for its intimacy and delicate perfection. Recovering from a year of uncertainty has forced many of us to adjust plans, cancel travel and just plain explore new options.

Our earliest memories of Gabe Tonon came all rushing back during the Opera House “Cattle Call” show last week. Gabe has been “on stage,” in one way or another, for a long time. His performances are well documented – early years at local talent gigs and as a train agent at Boothbay's Railway Village. Once focused on something, it’s Katie bar the door – Gabe's on it! Besides music and trains, he can rebuild pickups and build houses. Even drive an oil delivery truck in the dead of winter. All these skills have accumulated and informed, directly and indirectly, a talent of substantial note, no pun intended.

It's kind of remarkable to me how experience around boats has informed Devyn Campbell. Since a very early age, Devyn has been curious about boats. His curiosity has led to many experiences nearby in the harbor, and somewhat less close by on draggers likeAlexis Martina, a 96-foot steel stern dragger out of Point Judith, Rhode Island.

We always look forward to the return of the monarchs. Over the years, though their numbers seemed to have diminished, we encourage the growth of milkweed and brightly colored flowers to attract them. But that's only one reason we like to see them. We are convinced that each year one of these little floaters is our good buddy Prunish from Galveston, Texas.