These pictures were taken along the east side of the Thames River, looking south. The meteorologists are reporting that if this deep freeze continues, this will soon be the coldest month ever recorded in Connecticut. If this is what climate change will be bringing us, I think we will need to invest in some serious fleece lined boots. More snow due tomorrow and still more on the weekend.
2.16.15 ~ Groton, Connecticut
Notice the chunk of ice in the water behind this duck. He seems to be doing better than the gulls, but where is the rest of his flock?
frozen waves stick to the riverbank ~ 2.16.15 ~ Groton, Connecticut
Every once in a while, Mr. Logic (Tim) and I will have a brief discussion about poetry. I’m for it, he’s against it, and we agree to disagree. He says it doesn’t make any sense to him. But the other day I was browsing through my Emily Dickinson book and thought perhaps Tim might “get” this one. Read it to him, and wonder of all wonders, he said it made sense to him! I so enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime moment.
“Faith” is a fine invention For Gentlemen who see! But Microscopes are prudent In an Emergency! ~ Emily Dickinson (The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #202)
2.16.15 ~ Groton, Connecticut
After this we headed over to Mystic. More pictures soon…
how gulls hunker down in frigid temperatures 2.16.15 ~ Eastern Point Beach
Oh the snow fell without a break Buffalo died in the frozen fields you know Through the coldest winter in almost fourteen years I couldn’t believe you kept a smile ~ Rod Stewart ♫ (Mandolin Wind) ♫
the rocks where the oystercatchers made their nest last summer
Cabin fever drove us out of our “cabin” yesterday. It was way too bitterly cold and windy to take a walk, so we drove around all morning, had lunch at our favorite restaurant, and then drove around some more. To get some shots I would hop out of the car for a few seconds, but mostly I rolled down the window to shoot. Even with layers the cold was bone-chilling…
First we went down to the beach where a small circle was plowed into the parking lot. The gulls looked miserable – they usually are standing when resting, even in winter, but this was the first time I’ve seen them hunker down like this. Sadly, I’m guessing some of them won’t make it through the winter.
Beach Pond was frozen over and starkly beautiful
As I write this it is snowing yet again – the sight of it gently falling brings me pleasure but I must confess to struggling with restlessness and lethargy this winter, an odd combination, but there it is…
abandoned nest
Over lunch we talked about our plans for Katie’s upcoming weekend visit in March. We’ll take her to see the beach where her mother grew up, and to our favorite restaurant to show her off to the servers there. It’s nice to have things to look forward to, even while savoring the moments here and now.
More pictures will be coming when I get a chance to post again…
misty sunlit noon swamp mallows basking in pink a storm on the way ~ Barbara Rodgers (By the Sea)
8.12.14 ~ Eastern Point Beach
I first met this battered old gull three years ago in August of 2011, when we were expecting Hurricane Irene. Today he sat on this post right next to us, closer than he’s ever come before, and we heard his long and mournful cry again. He looks a lot worse for wear, his life has no doubt been difficult with that badly mangled foot. Now it looks like he has a barnacle or a growth on his beak. I think he was letting us know about the approaching rain storm. No hurricane this time, though.
I wonder if some of these big juvenile gulls could be hybrids. I have given up trying to identify them…
All things come and go: People, seasons, the wind. Only the sea remains, the sea’s breakers repeating themselves. Never the same. Always the same. ~ Kolbein Falkeid (Sea & Sky)
On August first I was delighted to see what I think was a fledgling American oystercatcher chick, who was testing its wings. It was about half the size of the parents, who were relaxing on the other side of the rock. We first saw the parents July 19. Even though I took these photos with the telescopic lens, I find myself wishing for an even more powerful one! The flights were pretty short – taking off and landing smoothly are no doubt the most difficult part.
My love for gulls is no secret. Yesterday evening we went down to the beach and found the gulls pleasantly eager to pose for my camera. Incredibly, I came home with 79 pictures of these common and seemingly unremarkable shorebirds.
It was a very windy day as you can tell by the ruffled feathers in some of these shots.
It’s a good thing I took so many pictures of the other kinds of gulls last summer because we aren’t seeing many of them here this year. (But we did have oystercatchers this year, much to my surprise and delight!) These ”regular” ring-billed gulls seemed very happy to have their beach back to themselves… I envy them at times…
Some bodyminds have more stormy weather systems than other bodyminds, just as some geographical locations have more stormy weather than others, and it is neither helpful nor relevant to compare ourselves to others. It is also very liberating to realize that change always happens on its own timetable, not on the the timetable the thinking mind conjures up. Especially in our speeded-up, fast-food, modern culture, we tend to want instant results, and life just doesn’t work that way. Most changes in nature happen slowly. ~ Joan Tollifson (Nothing to Grasp)
As I sit here wishing for another bout of figurative “stormy weather system” to pass me by, communing with the gulls reminds me that change always happens on its own timetable…
When we went down to the beach for supper this evening we heard an unfamiliar bird call and soon noticed four American oystercatchers. The two in these pictures had evidently claimed this rock while the other two kept flying in large circles around them. Eventually the intruders gave up and flew away, leaving this pair to do some grooming in peace.
7.19.14 ~ Eastern Point Beach
This was all very exciting to me because I’ve never seen these shorebirds on our beach before. The range map I consulted indicates they may be here for the summer and breeding – they don’t live here year round.
7.19.14 ~ Eastern Point Beach
Last summer I had so much fun identifying new kinds of gulls visiting our beach. This year the gulls are not as numerous, but we’ve been seeing more cormorants, egrets, and now these striking sojourners. Welcome to “our” shoreline, oystercatchers!
Zoë waiting patiently for her morning sunbath ~ 5.3.14
Over the years our double-paned sliding-glass doors filled with condensation and became so “foggy” that we could not see out of them. It took us a long time to get around to having them replaced, but we finally did so near the end of April. Zoë was delighted to be able to clearly see the birds and we celebrated by buying two chairs and a little table (at an estate sale) for the balcony.
an extraordinary piece of driftwood ~ 5.20.14 ~ Eastern Point Beach
Never mind that right on the heels of these sips of joy we had a flood in our basement, a sewer backup. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Funny all the twists and turns life brings. Thank goodness our home insurance is covering the cost of clean up and repair. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I’ll be glad when they finish, but we had to interrupt the process to drive to North Carolina as planned.
Everyone’s experience indicates that everything we are, and everything we do, is simply the movement of existence itself. It’s here that we come to the highest realization indicated in all the great spiritual traditions: we do not exist as anything apart from the flow of nature and that flow is an unformed, inexplicable dance accomplishing itself. ~ Darryl Bailey (Essence Revisited: Slipping Past the Shadows of Illusion)
For a few days forgetting about the ‘inexplicable unformed flow of nature’ in our basement, we started our journey south and delivered Aunt Flora’s rocking chair. We had a wonderful time visiting family. Nate & Shea drove up from Georgia, and I got to see an old friend from high school who happens to live about 2 miles from Dima & Larisa.
5.20.14 ~ Eastern Point Beach
And then… Tim got sick with diverticulitis (not again!) which delayed out trip home by a day so the antibiotics he was prescribed could have a chance to start working. Needless to say, we didn’t arrive home feeling particularly refreshed physically, although emotionally we were revitalized for having spent so much time with our children.
5.20.14 ~ Eastern Point Beach
Last weekend we made it to a local farmers market. This morning we took a walk on the beach – the tide was very low, revealing the largest piece of driftwood I’ve ever seen. Tim estimates it to be 20-25 feet long! What could it possibly have been? This afternoon we ate our farm-to-table lunch out on our new little table on our sunny balcony. Life is good!
