wings and things

I took a tour of the West Barnstable cemetery last week on one of the only days we've had recently where the sun peeked out for a few hours. This graveyard has lots of vintage gravestones dating back to the early 1700s, including quite a few with beautiful carvings of winged heads or angels.

Afterward I stopped by the West Barnstable train station -- it is open for business on weekends and people can take scenic train tours of Cape Cod. It was filled with wonderful old things. The two gentleman working that day, hearing that I've been known to take pictures in bathrooms, were proud to show me their vintage urinal, recently restored.




For a slideshow of photos from the cemetery & railroad station, click here.

epilogue

After the disappearance of our little blue jay family, I moved the nest out of its exposed location in the rhododendron bush and put it on the deck as a reminder of the few weeks when we were witness to the birth of the babies. Since then I've gone out several times and noticed that it's been moved around and the twigs scattered. First I blamed it on teenage boys (sorry Nick) and then squirrels. Then this morning I got my answer:





So -- the blue jays are recycling the old nest, and are building another one somewhere in the neighborhood, hopefully far away from predators this time. Hope springs eternal.

Related posts:

• sad
• hope is a thing with feathers
• happy birthday
• expecting
  

anchors aweigh

I went to a meeting at the U.S.S. Constitution Museum at the Charlestown Navy Yard today. I was hurrying into the meeting to escape the rain, and as I passed by the ship I heard the sailors on board singing "Anchors Aweigh." I could just glimpse them through a little porthole, and I stood in the rain until they finished their song. After the meeting (and the rain) was over, I came back out and captured a few images. See more here.

sunday afternoon

I had a nice lunch Aunt Cyndie and Ed at his family's summer home in Yarmouth. It was a beautiful spot on River Street, looking out to the water. We took a walk to the little harbor, and met a friendly cat.

Shhh! I couldn't resist taking a few pictures in the bathroom before I left.
More photos on flickr.

sad

Something got to our baby birds. Went out this morning and the nest was empty.

I read that blue jay nestlings are preyed upon by squirrels, cats, snakes, crows, other jays, raccoons, opossums, and birds of prey, such as hawks. We have all of the above in our yard and the woods behind us. If I find out my own cats have anything to do with it there's going to be some serious trouble around here.

hope is the thing with feathers*

Only a few days after hatching, the babies are sprouting feathers.

*Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all...
--Emily Dickinson

happy birthday

Our little blue jay babies have hatched! There were 5 eggs, but it looks like there are only 3 babies. They're about 2 days old.

walking weekend 2009 day 3

On the last day of the hiking weekend, Marcella and I joined a dozen other hikers, led by Mark Robinson, for a shore to shore tour of Cotuit pathways and conservation land. A beautiful walk from the ocean through woods, marshes, cedar swamp land, and ending up at Eagle Pond.

All photos are posted on my flickr photo page.

walking weekend 2009 day 2

Today I joined 19 other walkers for a hike through the glacial moraine of Beebe Woods in Falmouth, where we explored kettle holes, ponds, and vernal pools, heard lots of birdsong, and discovered that Cape Cod is not flat. A few photos below -- more on my flickr photo page.

walking weekend 2009 day 1

Last year at this time I was participating in Cape Walk 2008, which is held every other year. This year I'm doing the more relaxed Spring Walking Weekend. Today I joined 14 other walkers and Nickerson State Park Interpreter Todd Kelley as we climbed the Great Divide that separates the Nickerson State Park watershed from the Brewster watershed, and walked the trails around the Little and Big Cliff Ponds.

I'll be doing several more walks this weekend and there will be plenty of photos on my Flickr photo page.

Photos from last year's Cape Walk 2008 are still available here.

phoebe and willow

Even though we spend a lot of the day letting them out and letting them back in and then letting them out again, they're pretty nice to have around.

More new photos here: flickr photostream