If you were a bug on a blossom in somebody's beautiful flower garden, you'd probably be quite amazed to hear the chatter associated with these two ladies. No need for a defoliant or herbicide. The weeds just give up!

Not much chance that you'd find chemicals of any sort associated with Lisa or Trish. They are pretty natural ladies — and I mean that in a good way. Weeds come out by the roots and flowers and bushes get snipped off with razor sharp hand tools. Just stand back because you could be struck by flying objects.

We try to get out to Monhegan every year. It's one of our most favorite places (of the places we have seen) on the planet. But with schedules and obligations, we are not always able to make the crossing.

Sometimes, on short notice, there is a break in the action, and we just scramble and go. Such was the case this past weekend. With our eldest daughter Mae home from New York, we grabbed the chance. The only thing that could have messed us up was the weather. And it almost did.

Ron was filling a car tank from an inside pump on the outside island at the “Good ’N You,” on his cell phone while trying to tell me about this fella’s riding lawnmower with two flat tires. He pointed to the old red critter, a “Snap-on Wizard," tarnished red and listing hard to starboard next to a BMW, with an Audi just in front. Ron said the mower was towed into the station on a trailer because it couldn't be driven.

We lived on the same street as Shirley for more than 10 years.

Sherman Street is one of the Harbor’s hidden gems. It's a dead end street that goes up the hill from West Street, across from where Doc Andrews used to live. If you drove up Sherman Street, and could keep going, you would come out at the top center of the Fullerton Street loop. But you can’t.

Last week had a different feeling to it, sort of.

Things started out on a little different beat- shifting gears a bit. The pace knocked down a notch or two.

Everyone pretty much knows about seagulls. They are a quirky bunch. Can't ever quite predict their next move.

I will always recall the time we took some out of town visitors to what was then “Lobstermen's Co-op” on the East side of the harbor, for a wonderful picnic table meal outside on the pier overlooking the water. One of our favorite things to do with guests. We even got to enjoy a little break in the action, and become tourists.

Being on the coast of Maine without a boat, it seems to me, is a bit like living in the Alps without skis. I'm sure many people do without.

As a photo person, my landlubberishness, encourages creativity when it comes to the nautical landscape. How does one enjoy the marine life without being a mariner?

Many thanks to Barbara Freeman and the Boothbay Register for the thorough and positive review of my new Around Boothbay Harbor 2018 calendar. You can read the full review here, and you can order a calendar of your very own, or gift one to someone, by clicking here. Thank you!

Hi everybody. Don't mean to be a downer, but felt, in the peak of summer, it would be nice to share an image with our summer guests. How thoughtful of me, you might say!

A helpful gesture. A visual answer to the frequently asked question, "What's it like up here in winter."

Sometimes I feel that people I've loved, who are gone from this earth, float back into my life from time to time.

My mother, for example, fed chickadees from her hand at home, in her pajamas. To this day I am convinced that she visits us. "Just checking in" comes the chirp from the little bird, zipping around the yard, pausing to look things over. I really think it's mother, getting an eye full. There is something reassuring about these visits — there just is!

Last week, for those who park in this space on their way to the crossword puzzle, you may recall that my attempt to photograph with Southport's Leigh Sherrill was foiled by rain and fog. Well, I'm here to tell you, oh devoted Register readers, that Lady Leigh lifted off from Wiscasset airport at about 7:30 a.m. Friday, July 21.

Leigh Sherrill is going to fly again and I want to be there when she does. So, it was going to be this past weekend, but the weather got in the way. Saturday rain was predicted and Sunday the fog rolled in.

Like many other cool things I've enjoyed during my life here in Maine, lighthouses have provided interesting adventures. After all, we were lighthouse deprived during my youth in Appalachian Pennsylvania! Although, we did have fire towers.

Over the years, I have visited locations up and down the coast involving a variety of projects.We've even published lighthouse notecards and have made posters of Portland Head light, Pemaquid Point light and Quoddy Head.

Every year, for many years, Mark Stover has invited me to join him aboard Redhook for a splendid cruise when the ships arrive for Windjammer Days. It’s an event I look forward to and always fun, even when the weather isn't ideal, which it tends not to be sometimes. 

The above posted photo is neither the latest sunset of the year nor that of the longest day of the year, but it is close.

For those of you who read this column, you may recall a photograph I made on what I guessed to be the shortest day of the year, in the vicinity of December 21st last year. Not that anyone really cared, because, at that time of year, in the land of the 5 p.m. darkness, there are many more significant matters of concern. Like, for example, how do I stay awake past 6 o'clock! And, why do I have the energy of congealed molasses?

I guess I'd like to start with two apologies.

One. Sorry for the obligatory lupine photo. I know there are tons of lupine photos everywhere this time of year. On the internet, in magazines, on TV, etc., etc. But I just can't resist throwing in my two cents. These plants fascinate me.

One of the first weddings I photographed here in Maine was for Carol Yereance and Rick Heaberlin. It was a great family gathering for a couple who might have met at the then local hot spot, Village Cash and Carry. Carol's mother and father both worked there, as did Carol's sister, brother Ken and wife Deb, and Louis Burnham. The rolls they made for sandwiches and subs, and for just plain eating, were the best around. Reminded me a lot of New Jersey deli food I'd eaten during my teaching days.

Chetley Rittall owned a boat shop at the head of the Harbor. I think he landed at that location close to two decades before we bought our first house on Barters Island — around 1978. The space that was his shop is now empty but completely renovated for “Christopher's,” a wonderful local restaurant favored by many.

I have never seen a whale. Well, let me take that back.

Years ago when Cap'n Bob Fish was developing his new “Whale Watch” trips, I went with him to get some photos of whales for the company brochure. We did see some minke whales, but they were not very large when compared to some of their more substantial ocean cousins.

When we left Maine last week for Topsail Island, North Carolina and a family wedding, it was almost 50 degrees. The next few days after our departure, so we are told, were very warm. In the 80s!

When we landed in Charlotte, North Carolina to catch a connecting flight to Wilmington, the temperature in the pathway between our plane and the terminal got our attention. We had anticipated the change from Maine but were not prepared. At Wilmington airport we went officially outdoors to pick up a rental car which had been totally closed up and sitting in the sun. I detected a subtle change in temperature and humidity.