Denise Goldberg's blog

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Green, summer green

It was a day of riding, a day of walking, a day of wondering at all of the green around me.



A morning ride was in my head today, but when I first set foot outside the ground was wet from overnight rain. My bike insisted that I wait until the pavement was dry, so...

I headed out on a mystery ride at about noon. I was wandering on familiar roads, familiar in the opposite direction, that is. It's funny, but when I'm traveling "backwards" things look different. (It keeps me amused, anyway.)

Today's discovery was Weir Hill, a piece of land owned by The Trustees of Reservations. I don't remember ever seeing the sign before although it clearly has been there for a while. I stopped to look at the map of hiking trails, and then continued my ride. A seed was planted in my mind.

My bike & I rolled home. It was time for a quick snack, time to grab appropriate (non-biking) shoes for walking in the woods, and I was off again, back to Weir Hill. I spent a pleasant hour wandering there, and I'm sure that I will visit again. It's not far from home, and with the solid presence of trees I think it will be a beautiful autumn spot. What a good find!

My timing was exquisite. When I arrived home again the sky still showed blue if I looked straight up, but if I looked to the north I saw gray descending. I thought I heard occasional thunder as I was walking, but thunder and blue sky doesn't bring much worry. I was home for all of 15 minutes when the late afternoon brightness left the sky.

Crack! Flash! That crack of thunder was so loud it made me jump! And then the rain came...



Saturday, June 28, 2008

Opening...



Hiding in plain sight

I wish, I wish, I wish... that I had been able to sneak a little closer to this creature who is hiding in plain sight. He blends in so well!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Thunder rumbles

It was supposed to be an afternoon for an after-work ramble on two wheels, but then...

I headed out for a quick walk through the woods behind my office early in the afternoon. The sky was a light gray, and it was quiet. After a short ten minutes worth of footsteps, I started to hear rumbling from the sky. At first I just ignored it. Light gray turned darker, and the rumbling continued. I turned around.

The sky got darker still, but no water fell. Heavy rains were reported all around us.

Later...
It was still dry when I headed home, and I still had hopes of a ride. By the time I pulled in to my driveway, the sky was heading toward black once again. Hmm... More thunder. I guess today was destined to be a walking (not riding) kind of day.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The wonder of Acadia

Do you think it's possible to be addicted to a park? Because I think I'm addicted to several of our national parks - and Acadia is one of them. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I visit, I always see new beauty there.

If you'd like to see some of the sights that flowed by my eyes during my recent visit there, please visit my Acadia captured photo galleries. If you prefer words over pictures, you can wander through my words in my journal.

A sample from each of the galleries is included below. Click on any picture to be transported to the gallery where it resides.

Around and around and:




Schoodic wonder:



From a mountain top:



The other half of the island:



Evening wanders:

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Simple beauty

What the... ?!

It was a good day for a ride, and I was rolling down a nice quiet road. I was looking around, and listening, listening to the birds and other natural sounds.

And then, I heard a jarring noise. It got louder, and louder, and then - it passed me. What was the noise? It was created by a person on a bicycle with an attached motor. This guy was cruising down a perfectly flat road, polluting the environment with both noise and odor.

Why? Why not just ride?

OK, OK, it's possible that the fellow on the bike had some kind of unseen disability. But I don't believe that a two-wheeled upright bicycle would be the vehicle of choice if that was the case. Yes, gas for the tiny engine on the bike probably costs less than the gas for a car or even a motorcycle. But turning those pedals would have brought some form of health benefit to the rider.



And then...

I came up on a group of three riders. One was riding sensibly, at the left side of the driving lane. The other two were blocking the entire lane, riding side-by-side. There are ways to reasonably ride two abreast (even though that's not allowed by the Massachusetts vehicle code), but these two women chose unreasonable lane positions. One was riding just to the right of the center of the lane. The other? She was riding right in the center of the road. It wasn't even safe for me to pass them, and it wasn't possible for cars to pass either on the narrow winding road we were on.

They were clearly focused only on their conversation and weren't paying attention to the other inhabitants of the road. I finally called out "car back" to tell them that there was a car very nicely hanging back and waiting to pass. They finally moved over, allowing the car - and me - the pass. Funny thing though - I'm a very slow (but steady) rider. It's not often that I pass people as though they are standing still!



My message to other riders? Please, please, please... ride safely, and share the road. Respect the larger motorized vehicles, and drive them to respect those of us who ride human-powered vehicles. Please...

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Wet wonder

Skies dripping with fog, mist, and rain greeted me this morning, changing my morning plans slightly. I wandered a slightly different path, captured by the droplets of water clinging to everything.

It's amazing how beautiful something simple like a drop of water can be.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Still not hiding...

...but I am off on another escape, just on the heels of the last one.

I'm heading to the north and east this time, destination Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park. I hope that this will be a few days of rolling on two wheels, of walking on the rocks along the coast, of listening to the waves, of watching the sea gulls play, of being pulled by the images around me.

Enjoy my pictures made of words in my journal Acadia captured.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Glimpses of Zion

Yes, my camera was quite busy during my visit to Zion National Park last weekend.

If you'd like to look over my shoulder to see the visions captured by my camera lens, please visit my Red rocks glowing photo galleries.

A sample from each of the galleries is included below. Click on any picture to be transported to the gallery where it resides.

Observation Point:




Canyon climbing, river flowing:



A last morning's ramble:



Evening captured:

Do you think...

...that anyone pays attention? The previous sign in this location told people to keep their dogs off of the lawn. I guess that sign didn't work. I suspect that this one won't work either - until dogs learn to read, that is!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Silly squirrels!

Red squirrels, chasing each other up and down a tree, stopping to munch on tasty bits...



Friday, June 06, 2008

Hiking, not hiding!

I'm really not hiding, but I won't be posting here for a few days. I'm off for what will probably be a too short long weekend, wandering on two feet in Zion National Park.

Join me, follow my adventures in my journal, Red rocks glowing.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Brown-rimmed white, nutty...

...a big nut, that is!

Funny, I always think of coconut as a fruit, but it's really a nut, isn't it? That makes the high saturated fat content seem a little less bad. As I wandered through Whole Foods on Sunday, I saw a tub of fresh coconut. Fresh, and no work to get to that tasty nut meat. Yes, I absolutely had to buy some.

Oh! what a treat!

Monday, June 02, 2008

A mystery

...a mystery road, that is!

I've lived in this area long enough that when my bicycle wheels roll down a road I am usually in very familiar territory. The path looks different when I'm riding opposite my usual direction but it still exudes an "I've been here before" feeling.

My last two rides? I wandered down roads that I don't remember at all. It seems hard to believe that there are roads I've never ridden before, but I managed to find a few. It's funny - I don't find it disconcerting at all to ride on unfamiliar roads when I'm touring away from home, but when I'm home? I expect to know where I am. I have to admit that the new-to-me roads were beautiful though.

My new riding goal? To seek out more mystery roads!