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Monthly Archives: January 2015

Winter, Winter…Spring?

By | Exploring | No Comments

Living on a smallish boat as I do, getting out for a day in the open really means a lot.  Beautiful sunny days are great, but snow days can be good too.  I’m not to eager to go for a hike when it’s cold and wet…raining and drizzling.   So this was one day.  You can see the Rhode River in the background and the small island called Flat Island.  In spring, summer and fall, I can often be found exploring the nooks and crannies of the river in my ten foot, two and a half horsepower skiff…just enjoying being out on the water and observing the world around me.  The following week the snow had melted and the sun came out just a bit so I took a walk in the woods looking for some signs of spring.  You can see a better view of the river below, with Flat Island. The grass is beginning

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to grow a little.  Bits of green showing up here and there. It is really too early to call it spring, but I guess some of the plants are just a bit optimistic.    Especially the moss on this tree trunk….

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Fungus Moss

It’s great to get off into the woods from time to time and remember that this is really more or less the way the planet has been for many more thousands of years than the recent civilization has been making the urban landscape seem normal and ubiquitous.  I’m pretty sure I couldn’t survive very well in the wilderness, and I don’t care to try; but our day to day life which depends so much on cars, airplanes, highways, air conditioning, mass production and so forth really does oppress the soul a bit.  Take a look at a tiny little colony of moss growing on a fallen log and see the essence of life.

Snow Day

By | Living Aboard | No Comments

snowDay Under the weather in more ways than one.  The winter cold has me in bed reading and putting chores off as long as possible.   Enjoying hot vegetable soup, hot tea and toast.  There isn’t much hope for an early spring, but I’m not quite ready to embrace winter wholeheartedly.

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Icy January with Wind

By | Living Aboard, Sailing | No Comments

 

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Brisk winds from the North West blow the water out into the bay, resulting in unusually low tides. It’s called a “blow out” and this is one of the worst.  Never have I had my boat completely out of the water, sitting on it’s keel.  Luckily the lines and the pilings are keeping it upright enough to sleep and move about inside..  Electric heaters are keeping the interior livable when the temps drop down to 10 degrees F (-10F with the wind chill factored in).  Perfect weather for staying in and doing some computer work. Hmm.  Also have to photograph some watercolors for an  up coming exhibition at the state house.

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Natchez Trace

By | Exploring, Travel | No Comments

Looking back at our trip to Natchez last year (Last month/week)  We took a short trip out on the Natchez trace to visit, among other things, Mount Olive; which was an inn for travelers who for the most part were walking back north after having gone downstream on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to sell wares in Natchez and New Orleans.  It was a nice foggy day, when we were there this trip and  felt a bit like a journey into the past.  There is no commerce or advertizing or development of any kind on the Natchez Trace, so it is a very pleasant and sometimes educational way to travel north and south.

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