Discovery Drafts

Topsail was the tiniest bit chilly February 17, but it was every bit worth getting out of a warm bed and freezing the fingers over.  I thought as I walked the beach that if I believed in heaven, it would look like this except that the heaven I would dare to imagine would be within reach.  Skywatch Friday

Wordless Wednesday

Lots of birds seem to start their day alone on the beach, though not so many people.  People tend to travel in pairs at any time of day.  Not me, though.  My partner is my camera.  I'm good with that; I like going home to family and a warm drink and news of who flew into the morning.  I can't get enough of pelicans--especially this early riser.   I like the little birds on the beach, though I get more butt shots of them than anything else. A look out the back window when the sun was good and up revealed this solitary hunter checking out the neighbors' new dock for perching potential. This elusive heron is not the skittish bird he used to be. No need to screw up the moment with unnecessary drama when the sun is warming the ol' feathers. Wishing you a good, peaceful week. Our World Tuesday

The exposed roots of the dune grasses holding together their habitat just about say it all about their own importance to the integrity of the beach environment.  Where there were grasses, there were dunes.  Where there were not, there were not. In these places, there is a need for sand.  It seems pretty clear and simple that this newly applied sand will need grasses planted on them come spring, but there are politicians who are opposed to moving sand around and just want the grasses.  These people must not walk the beach.  If they did they'd realize there really can't be one without the other.  Even little Bo and big Honor could tell you that.  Just look: When money and politics come into the mix, the pure sense that even the dogs have comes to no account.  It remains to be seen what shape the dunes will take come summer. Here's to all the humble wonders that hold our world together! Today's Flowers

We had snow on Topsail on Saturday.  That was unexpected!  It didn't amount to much and it fell lighter than rain, so it wasn't too bad for walking in.  In fact, it was just plain beautiful. Skywatch Friday

From May 28, 2012 Wordless Wednesday

In his young adult novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian , Junior contemplates reservation life, wondering how and why Native Americans—nomadic peoples--ever bought into the idea that their destiny meant being tied to some bit of landscape circumscribed by the U.S. government.  While Junior understands the pull of place, the significance of home, and the power of stories to keep us coming back, he also reflects that for Native Americans, the pull of place was once a dynamic, limitless experience.  Junior makes this observation in this coming of age novel as he begins to make sense of his being an Indian in a white world, which world offers just about everything he wants for himself.  The whiteness of the world outside the rez is as much an accident of history as the rez itself, and Junior realizes to be bound by history is to give up on life and, really, to give up on a past worth engaging in new and exciting ways. I was thinking about Junior over the wee

One pelican. One dolphin. One white heron. One woman. One mother with a child Asks me to take their picture To capture them with that first, New, magical snow On Topsail (Where she grew up, Though she lives in Boca now.). They point to the dolphin. I take the photo. The pelican skims the surface of the water With knowledge and skill born in the time Of dinosaurs and hermit crabs And turtles resuming their conversation With the sea. The mother with a child Asks me over and over if I’d like my own picture Taken with that first snow.  She wants to do this for me. She is lovely. How to tell her That I am not here, That I am not worthy of the snow or sun, And I am waiting for that one heron To take flight in front of me again And bless the day with silence and solitude, That I may begin again, That I might be here. One Single Impression

The crimson berries on my parents' holly bushes glowed beautifully in the early morning sunlight today--approximately 6 hours before the snow-bearing clouds drifted in and gave the news people something to talk about.  The weather one day can bring amazes me.  We started with balmy breezes and sunshine and ended shivering in the snow. Today's Flowers

From May 28, 2012 Skywatch Friday

From February 12, 2013 Wordless Wednesday

From February 9, 2013  We had a lot of snow, and that's a good thing. This is New England, after all. We pride ourselves on being able to take whatever Mother Nature flings our way. We quote to death Mark Twain's adage about waiting five minutes if you don't like the weather in Connecticut right now that you might see what comes our way.  We take to the weather's erratic behavior the way we take to oatmeal.  It's there; we must.  Done deal. This tangle of mountain laurel branches wore its winter coat with unyielding pride on Saturday morning. No sagging under the weight of a heavy load here, thank you very much. I look at this and see a phoenix rising from the powdery fluff. From February 9, 2013 This bench tells you to come back some other time to rest a spell, though I have sat here in the past to watch the snow fall. A student told me last Thursday she loved snow in the nighttime--the cleanness, the peace, the quiet. That's why we welco

From February 3, 2013 Last weekend we celebrated my parents' 49th wedding anniversary with the first daffodils of the year on the table.  I took this photo with my Nexus 7 tablet, which has a one-way lens that makes photographing anything but myself a bit of a challenge.  Anyway, I had fun trying.  After this weekend's snow, it will be a good while before we see these guys actually pushing through the ground! Today's Flowers

From June 16, 2012 This big ol' cloud made me think of a sea turtle when it drifted by one evening last summer.  The magic of summer, the magic of dreams.  You see things. Skywatch Friday

From February 3, 2013 Wordless Wednesday

The U.S. Navy plans to conduct testing and training exercises using dangerous mid-frequency sonar and explosives along the Atlantic Coast -- with devastating consequences for whales and other marine life. Tell your state officials to demand that the Navy put safeguards in place to protect marine mammals.  Click here to do something about it.

Whatever about that shadow, winter goes on.... From February 3, 2013 The subtle blending of past and present (and future, because we're still here and moving) in a New England winter make all four seasons palpable in every moment.  This is not true in summer, when there is summer and only summer in these parts.  The leaves of this fern will be verdant and growing in no time. From February 3, 2013 It's all good.  Life feeds life strangely and beautifully. From February 3, 2013 This view made me think of Frost's poem, "Mending Wall" and the idea that there is something that doesn't love a wall.  This tree is my hero.  The generations of barbed wire no more than the stones can stop it's growing. From February 3, 2013 The main thing is to keep going... From February 3, 2013 even when you fall through the ice.  Beautiful things happen. From February 3, 2013 Our World Tuesday

From June 9, 2012 Today's Flowers