A collection of Cormorants Osprey and Laughing GullSeals playing in front of Chatham LightMonarch
These were all taken on July 14, 2019. Today was a “rest day” so far. A little shopping, a nice breakfast at the Hole In One, a place we like, and just being chill for the most part. Today we hit some little libraries in Orleans – I found a novel called The Last Days of Dogtown that I might read since it takes place in old Gloucester. Historical fiction type stuff I think. LD is reading a book I found as well by Jennie Garth of 90210 fame. Oh Gawd. I’m almost done with Future Crimes – it’s pretty good but a little dense. Basically anything is hackable including all technologies moving forward.
So far, we’ve really scored with the weather this week with everyday basically being sunny and clear, although a bit hot at times -normal for mid-July though!
Not sure what we’re doing tonight yet – probably a dinner somewhere and more sunset locations.
Until I can get the media file load issue straightened out, I’ll have to link the few that I can from my Insta account for now. Anyways, here are the osprey family that I mentioned earlier. This particular nest was settled in a pole like structure right in the harbor, These birds are actually pretty plentiful down here. They are part of the hawk/eagle family of birds. These are youngsters in the nest awaiting their parents, although they look like they’re ready to strike out on the own if you ask me.
After the boat ride out to Monomoy to see the seals (although nothing could compare to the year we saw them all beached up on the sandbars), we had a nice lunch at a place next door, Brax, and then hit some little libraries around Chatham. Actually scored a bunch of possibly good ones. They usually do have good reading down these parts.
I changed the look of the site a little bit – I think I like this design tweak better than what I had before, but I may change it again. And then, I took a short nap.
So far the day started out with waking up and getting over to the clubhouse for donuts and coffee. Then it was just a matter of what to do today. Decided to take a jaunt out to West Dennis to get in some beach time. Along they way we stopped and two little libraries, got some books and dropped some off. Finally we arrived at the beach, set up the umbrella and our chairs, LD had a little swim, and I got a little sun – soaking up the sea breezes along the coastline.
One the other side of the beach is an inlet area where some sea birds like to congregate. LD spotted some piping plovers and sandpipers, along with some least terns – most of these birds are endangered and federally protected as they like to nest in these areas. We noticed the sandpipers in particular doing this strange behavior – walking side by side in circles and in unison – almost like a dance, pretty cool to watch actually. Did not appear to be mating behavior, perhaps just a way that they search for food? Eventually they did split up, but the synchronization was cool.
Piping Plovers flitting about!
Sandpipers walking in synchronization
Stopped along the way back for an afternoon break at a Dunkins down here – I discovered it was by far the worst dunkin experience I’d ever had. Mostly due to the dude taking the orders – could he get anything right? Also, I didn’t want extra ice in my hot coffee, I wanted extra ice in the ice tea that LD wanted that you neglected to input at all. Also, the wait time was ridiculous – I was steaming by the time I got out of there, which was way too long, but I calmed myself down – after all, it’s not worth getting fired up about.
Then it was time for a late afternoon dip in the outside pool. Did that for about 1/2 hour – best time to go is around supper time between 6 and 7 pm as most people and annoying kids are eating. When they came back though was signal to us it was time to get out. Children are annoying. Part 2 coming as the next sunset time arrives – where will we head out to tonight? Stay tuned!
Finally went ahead and got our plans ready for a summer getaway in a couple weeks. Planning and hoping to see more of the scenes like above when we boated out around Chatham and caught sight of seals just hanging around. Of course, nowadays, one must be wary of the sharks. Hoping to get more of the spectacular sunset shots that I’ve taken as well.
Truth is, it’s time for a getaway. Been jonesin for one, and to be honest, haven’t really taken much time off since last summer, so it’ll be nice to get in a change of scenery. In need of a break, the proposal finally went out yesterday so that’s a big weight off the shoulders, although there is a bit of anxiety in waiting to see if they go for it. Hopefully they will, it would just make everything easier for me. Time will tell! Also, the Ladydoc definitely needs some time away, dealing with all the stuff she has to deal with. In some ways, this first vacation couldn’t come at a better time.
In the meantime, we are finishing up getting the master bedroom back to normal after the renovation. It looks pretty sweet but it still needs an area rug (going for something contemporary and modern), we need to rehang up some of the artwork, looking at some new shades, etc. It’s getting there!
It may be me, but it seems like this summer there sure is a lot of rabbits running around. In fact, in our driveway in Somerville I see a baby bunny occasionally hopping around (so cute), which to me is somewhat amazing. Growing up we’d never see wildlife like that but now they are everywhere and appear to be thriving! I do remember having frogs and even a turtle once, although I’m also unsure of where those came from. You wouldn’t think they’d be able to survive in a concrete jungle but they do.
The wild bunnies have become a part of our lives. From thinking of them as being sent by loved ones from above to watch over us, to giving them names like “StreetWalker Bunny” for ones that hang along the street and “X Street Bunny” where X is the name of the street that they were seen at, to even changing the lyrics while singing the song Beach Baby from the group First Class (1974) in the jukebox to Beach Bunny. In their own way, they make sharing our lives with them a little richer. All I ask is that they stay out of the lettuce box, but the truth is, I don’t even mind that.
We saw a very strange and annoying yet somewhat cute sight this morning while looking out the back yard picture window. We have a strawberry plant that is producing quite nicely but it’s hung up on a planter hanging by a hook type setup.
The culprit , AKA “Chips”, seen in an earlier encounter.
Lo and behold, a chipmunk had somehow gone up the stairs and took a flying leap into the container and was gorging himself on the ripened strawberries thus far – a veritable fruit buffet of such delights that I don’t think a creature could ever be so happy as that chipmunk.
“No doubt to relish in the spoils of its labor”
We purposely did this and placed the setup as so as to make it difficult for this to happen. We tried to get a picture of the crime but the little bugger would hide underneath the canopy of strawberry leaves.
And then, without missing a step, it fell right out of the pot (looked upside down to me) and into the waiting arms of the buffeting hosta leaves, and then was gone, no doubt to relish in the spoils of its labor. It was kinda cute though seeing the head pop out from under the leaves, and did I see a smile on its lips?
As you can see from the last picture, it looks like the old babies are bigger than the mother now! Thought it might be fun to upload their journey from birth to being on their own, as we were privileged enough to see it from just outside our window.
Hello Everyone! As you can see I’m in the process of doing a complete redesign. It’ll take me a little bit to get everything the way I want it, but bear with me. You may see things come and go as I experiment around. Overall, I think this is going to be a much better site that it was going forward, as well as being designed to display responsively on different devices, although curiously this particular post looks very different depending on device and browser. I prefer Chrome so that’s what it’ll look best in.
