The Day After Sandy

I was lucky…no loss of power or cable so my coffee pot, phone, TV, and internet all worked when I got up.

The day dawned with wind and rain on their way out of our meteorological nightmare. As the morning wore on the clouds occasionally parted to allow full sun to come through. At other times the clouds took over.

Thick clouds, in layers, continue to stream northwest at mid afternoon. At times there is complete overcast and at other times, there are varying amounts of blue sky…at times not even enough to make a pair of Dutchman’s britches.

Outside of my locale it’s been all over the news: Connecticut shoreline is torn up again; the mid-Atlantic states had lots of rain and wind; heavy, wet snow is falling in the Appalachians of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia; New Jersey shoreline was ground zero; lower Manhattan (New York City) is flooded. With all the tunnels and subway tubes flooded I have a question that has nothing to do with transportation: What happened to all the rats and occupants of the homeless communities that live down there? Just asking!

After lunch I took a ride down to the boat launch to check on the river. It’s still there and it’s still low. In the parking lot, my car was immediately surrounded by the flock of geese that lives down there. They were definitely looking for food. Then I saw the sign that said not to feed the wild water fowl. These guys are wild, but they weren’t always wild. I think they were domestic at one time and founded an independent community.

From the boat launch I headed to “the place” where I can look across the river at the eagles’ nest. I was told, recently, they built a second nest just a bit north of the one they have used for at least two years…and there it was. I have to get on the bike path one more time before it’s closed for the eagle nesting season. I want pictures from the canal path to go with the ones I took today.

Do these geese look domestic or wild? They came running to my car looking for food.

The dot in the trees is the old nest.

This is the new nest. Frankly, I like this one better. Let's see which one the eagles like!

Hurricane and Tag Sale

 

I will try to get this posted before I lose power. At the moment we are 2-3 hours away from the beginning of the worst of Hurricane Sandy. I have been watching the speed of sustained winds and gusts increasing.

Halloween Tribulations

And right now, for the second Halloween in a row, Connecticut is experiencing a major storm. Last year it was winter storm Alfred (we name our winter storms in CT). This year it is Hurricane Sandy.

How lucky can we be? Stick around to see what next year’s weather will be.

My cell phone  and iPad are charged; I know who has propane for cooking so I can make a cup of coffee if I have no electricity…which will most likely be the case; my friends know I will have water should they need it; I know who has a wood stove so I can warm up.

Nothing to do but wait. I hope you are safe and dry.

Next to New Sale

I was in Maryland a couple weeks ago as a volunteer worker at the Next to New Sale. This is a “tag” sale that fills a gym to overflowing and goes for 4 days. The proceeds go to financial aide for the students. Everything that is left over is picked up by charities and distributed locally. This year’s sale was a huge success and raised a substantial amount.

While I was at the airport waiting to go to Maryland an earthquake struck New England. Didn’t feel it!

        

This Year's Cape Cod Vacation

The photo above is of sand, but the pattern could well be that of a sea shell, too.

Driftwood art.

Cloud beasties. I see some pretty fantastic things in these clouds! :)

 

I did my annual trip to Cape Cod recently. I’ve been going to the same cottage, the same week in September since 1990…with hiatus of five years from 2005 thru 2009.

This year I had the opportunity to arrive at the cottage in North Eastham a day early (thanks to the owner, Paul D.).

My days would normally have been filled with bike riding and walking beaches, but with most days being either windy or stormy, I rode only one day and walked only one beach.

I did get to Provincetown for my fudge and a walk on MacMillan Wharf. I enjoy strolling Commercial St. and looking in all the store windows. I stopped in at Cuffy’s and bought a nice fleece jacket for $15. And a hamburger at Tatiana’s on Lopes Square. It was warm, and sitting in the shade for me was a must. Lots of interesting people to watch, conversations to over-hear, and squirrels and pigeons to shoo.

The storm that came through on Tuesday night had winds up to 60 mph and lashing rain. The whole day had strong winds. Being alone in a cottage…at night…in a howling gale…not fun. I was expecting the power to go out at any moment and pleasantly surprised when it did not. By Wednesday noon the storm had cleared the Cape but the winds never quit until Thursday.

In the meantime, the water heater decided it had had enough and went out. It probably went out on Saturday night or Sunday morning, but it wasn’t until Monday I realized I had only cold water.

As luck would have it, Paul D. and his wife were out of town and would be back on Wednesday. I left a note on their door and proceeded to heat water on the stove for washing up and doing dishes. Paul came over around 6:30 Wednesday night and restored the hot water. The pilot light had gone out and even Paul had a problem relighting it.

By Thursday it was much calmer and I was able to do my usual walk out to Nauset Marsh inlet. It seems every year it gets closer to Coast Guard Beach.

I also called a childhood friend of mine, Betty, who lives in Dennis and left her a message.

Because there is no wi-fi connection at the cottage my need for electronic connections caused me to be somewhat creative. In the morning when I went for my Cape Cod Times at the Eastham General Store (4.5 miles), I stopped in front of the Eastham library where they have a 24/7 wi-fi service. Then, around 3 p.m., I would head for Wellfleet and the Dunkin Donuts (about 10 miles) for coffee and munchkins. I would use their wi-fi while I had my afternoon pick-me-up.

On Friday, I had planed to ride the Cape Cod Rail Trail. It was supposed to be the first day with much calmer winds. But Mother Nature had other ideas. The day was windy and heavy overcast with a threat of rain.

No sense hanging around. Packed up and headed home. Stopped to visit Betty on the way out. We haven’t seen each other in a few years. We grew up together as kids and then we went separate ways, but in my mind, have always been close friends.

So ends another vacation. Since I’m retired, lets call it a week spent in another place doing different nothing much.