Here's the plan. Pick the coldest day of the year so far, pack up the camera gear and waddle off into the great unknown. Which I did.

Remember, Mitch, in this marvelous age of the digital, “Live and die by the battery!” Take lots of extra, fully charged, warm milliamps so you have plenty of juice to run these electronic devices.

This isn't the old days of manual equipment when film got moved by a hand crank and focus required an eye. But I digress.

While shopping recently at Home Depot, I had to use the restroom.

The gentleman who was polishing up the facility asked me, “What's going to happen with the weather?”

I said, “Well, it sounds like its going to get messy. It's been a pretty confusing season so far. Sure wouldn't want to be in the weather forecasting business.”

I had my heart set on sharing a photograph of my only Jan. 1 “Trap Day” on Monhegan, but do you think I could find that folder.

Maybe I couldn't find it because even to this day, I get chills thinking about how cold it was.

I contacted Doug and Harry Odom to see if I could stay with them. Not a problem they said, and then they gave me a grocery list. They offered me the guest bedroom, which I thought was pretty darned nice.

Reconnecting with old friends is one of the most enjoyable parts of this time of year. We really look forward to news from people all over the world who love Maine and remember us.

Selling our calendar, in many ways, has encouraged and expanded our connections.

Every year we hear from people who grew up here. Their stories and recollections of life on the peninsula are priceless and fun.

The evening weather on Channel 6 reminds me of our diminishing daylight. It was just 8 hours and 55 minutes at a recent check.

With all the clouds and overcast it seems like even less. And full sun has been unavailable for almost a week.

At 3:30 in the afternoon I start looking for my pajamas. Maybe Chip Haggett has it right: 3 a.m. get the work coffee on, and 3 p.m. boom it for home!

In 1977, before “Low 'T'” was invented, I was working three jobs, one of which was “The Bun Man” at the Ebb Tide. It was the “night shift.”

Buns were made the old fashioned way, using ingredients from un-prepackaged yeast packets, then mixed, raised, kneaded and baked. I'm not sure who came up with the original formula, but the buns were good — a special Ebb Tide staple.

During my tenure there and beyond, Cheryl Rice waited tables. She has handled a lot of plates, Congo bars, chowder and fries.

There is less going on over the water this time of year.

The look out from Ocean Point between Negro Island and Ocean Point Inn appears quiet. A few months ago, there was a lot of activity. There still is, but it's different.

Betsy Wing has written a new book.

This is not a review. I haven't had time to read the whole book — it’s just out. I'm a very slow reader.

Betsy lives in East Boothbay, near the end of a long road that ends in the woods, just back from the edge of Linekin Bay. A perfect place to write.

When my mother toned, “James Robert Mitchell! “YOU know better than that!” I knew.

Like the time my sister's pony ate a box of prunes I accidentally spilled into the feed box. I was sorry it happened the day before her cart driving competition. Mother found my behavior reprehensible. I think that's what she called it.

Admittedly, I have behavior issues. Even today, things happen. It’s sort of fun to be 12 years old, especially when you become 65!

I wasn't ready for the storm.

No snow tires on anything. Leaves in all the gutters. Grass that needs a final mowing. Storm doors to install. Painting.

I didn't intend to practice procrastination so efficiently

If my grandmother were alive today she would be 120 years old.

Although I'm sure she'd still like to be making oatmeal for me in a double boiler, cooked overnight with swollen up raisins and brown sugar, she can't. So, my choice for a new grandmother is Jean Thompson, our next door neighbor on Southport.

Neil Jones worked at Hodgdon Yachts for a long time. He and Chip Haggett (pictured) were good friends. They often worked together on complicated projects that required unique approaches and imaginative solutions.

I spent a bunch of time with Neil and Chip during the construction of the extraordinarily beautiful yacht Antonisa. They were building the yacht's working fireplace with all its elaborate and intricate enclosures. It was going to be the central focal point of the main salon, or downstairs living room, as I used to call it! There was no room for error — a piece of fine art fitted perfectly into curves and sections of unimaginable precision. And I have photos to prove it.

One of the nice things about the Rite Aid parking lot this time of year is the view. There are some very colorful trees on the front lawn of the high school, and generally less traffic to obstruct. It's easy to see why Rite Aid chose their location.

But, be careful, traffic varies. School dismissal traffic can be challenging. Sometimes it’s smarter to stay parked and enjoy the view or return to the pharmacy for more of what you came for. Alternatively, avoiding the area during school traffic is easier.

This summer I photographed a wedding atop a high knoll overlooking Penobscot Bay at a location called Point Lookout, in Northport.

Oddly, Point Lookout was the name of an area near the central Pennsylvania coal town where I grew up. That is where the similarity ends. There's no coal being dug at or near Point Lookout, Maine.

Our two ducks came from Walmart, but we bought them at a yard sale. They didn't cost much and they are nice to have around. They are always there for us.

This time of year other ducks come to visit our two ducks. They are always there for them, too.

A great blue heron stopped by once this past summer (it may have visited before, but I never saw it).

You can't not drive by this tree on your way around the Harbor.

It’s at the very sharp curve just beyond Tugboat Inn opposite what is called “Pagoda Point.” It’s a hardwood that sits on the water side of Commercial Street. It’s a significant presence there along that stretch.

Danilo Konvalinka, Douglas Henderson and Lois Ernst Konvalinka opened the Musical Wonder House, located at 16-18 High Street in Wiscasset, in 1963 and started what would become a one-of-a-kind collection of mechanical musical machines, automata, and specialized, ultra precise hand-crafted instruments.

For anyone who has ever visited the “museum” as it came to be known, there was little doubting its unique identity. Entering seven magnificent rooms overflowing with music history was overpowering and emotional.

Glenn-Geary sounds like a good Scotch whiskey to me.

The Jacob Pike and Kelani & Donna, two similar boats, visited Goudy & Stevens’ docks during my early photo days.

It has been nice to see Glenn-Geary in the Harbor, at anchor out toward Tumbler Island on one of the old Sample (now Boothbay Harbor Shipyard) moorings. Glenn-Geary’s unique shape harkens back to a different period in coastal fishing and netted-off-coves nearby.

Ebenezer and Diddy Decker once lived at Decker Cove on Southport.

Rumor has it that one of their buildings was floated in from Cape Newagen. It’s a rumor worth sharing.

Seems that buildings were moved pretty regularly around here. You never know where the old homestead might end up. Eb and Diddy picked a nice spot, especially if the house landed before the bridge was built. Not sure about that. I will need to submit that question to the Southport Historical Society for clarification.

Aren't the sunsets wonderful this time of year?

Sorry if I'm overdoing it, especially after sharing the moonless super moon photo from Monhegan. It’s difficult for me to resist the night sky's lighting up.