Denise Goldberg's blog

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Dreams of wanders

Denise is out on her bike, riding loops inside of loops through places near home. I decided to stay home and write instead of riding with her today.

Remember when I wrote back on February 29th? I was wondering how long it would take Denise to decide on vacation destinations for this year. It was just 5 days after I posted that she decided on one summer trip, a visit to Wyoming in August. I'd like to think that I helped push her into planning. So I'm thinking when she reads this entry that she will jump into planning some other wanders.

Acadia is on our "must visit again" list, but then again Acadia is always on that list. I think we'll probably return there sometime in October. And I think we'll go somewhere in the west late in the year. It's the "in between August and December" time that needs a decision. I thought we were going to go somewhere in Atlantic Canada and then stop in Acadia on our way home. Funny thing is that I've seen Denise checking air fares to some other places, some east of here, some west. Hmm...

I suppose the where doesn't really matter; we always have fun wandering.

--- Rover
Rover in Acadia National Park

Thursday, June 28, 2012

purple

Sometimes sitting on the ground and looking up through the petals of a flower feels like the right thing to do.

purple iris

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Emerging from sand

The 12th annual Hampton Beach sand sculpture competition was this weekend. It started Wednesday with the delivery of 250 tons of imported sand and completed yesterday at noon with judging and awards. The sculptures will remain in place until the weekend after the 4th of July.

My intent was to visit late in the afternoon yesterday. The sculptures face west, away from the ocean, and I thought the late day light would provide better viewing. I headed out at about four o'clock. The sky over my house was blue, decorated with white clouds. Not five minutes from home, the sky changed to gray, getting darker and darker. There were jagged lightening bolts, and heavy, heavy rain - the kind of rain it's difficult to see through. I thought for a minute of taking a chance and continuing to the coast, but I knew the forecast for severe thunderstorms covered the coast in this area. It was time to turn around.

Morning dawned, the sun was shining and the coast was calling to me. To the coast...

Hampton Beach stretches for miles. There is parking in town close to the sculptures, and there is parking at the south end of the beach. I knew that the town proper would be pretty crazy on this beautiful early summer day so I chose the south end as my starting point. I started with a low tide walk up the beach, spent some time enjoying the sculptures, then walked back again.

I find it amazing that these marvelous creations are made only of sand. When they are finished they are sprayed with what is referred to as a windscreen. It's made of "school glue" and water; I assume that means simple white glue watered down.

Hampton Beach sand sculpture, woman

The wires you can see emerging from her arm are to keep the birds away.

More photos from today can be found in the gallery Emerging from sand. There are sand sculptures, beach shots, even some shots of children playing on the beach.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Steamy

It's the first day of summer, a season's entry marked with (very) steamy weather.

flowers in violet

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Emerging from fog

As I started up the east side of Schoodic Point (during my recent visit in May) the fog lifted and the trees started to emerge.

Fog lifting, trees emerging... along the eastern side of Schoodic

This photo is best viewed large; click on the photo to see.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

a pop of pink

bright pink (flower) petals

Bedrock Saturday

I headed to Bedrock Gardens this morning hoping that some of the gardens wore colored petals; for the most part the spring bloom was over. Today was a day of finding sculptures tucked away throughout the property and for checking reflections from different vantage points.

Bedrock Gardens sculpture standing in a clearing (in the woods)

More photos from today can be viewed in the gallery Bedrock Gardens - 2012 starting with this photo and ending here.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Lady slipper

I feel very lucky.

I was hiking the Gorham Mountain trail on my recent visit to Acadia, stopping to enjoy the view as the trail emerged from the woods. I looked out at the ocean and coastline, and then I looked around me. A flash of pink caught my eye and I looked a little closer. A single perfect lady slipper stood on the edge of the rocks.

Beautiful...

lady slipper (orchid), Gorham Mountain trail

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Photos! Acadia

Photos from my end of May wander in Acadia National park are loaded into galleries, ready for viewing. Start with the top level gallery, Acadia, May 2012, or click on the photos below to enter a specific gallery.

around and around, Acadia:

around and around, Acadia

to Schoodic:

to Schoodic

ferns, flowers:

ferns, flowers

Interested in words? You can find my ramblings in the blog entries tagged Acadia 2012-05.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Trees

Trees, trees, trees... along the Jessup Path in Acadia National Park.

trees along the Jessup path in Acadia National Park

Monday, June 11, 2012

A car and a key

Who do you think is smarter, my car or me?

It was one of those days. I parked, picked up my computer bag, locked the car doors, closed the door, and walked away. I was two steps from the car when I heard a noise, a beeping sound.

Hmm... I wonder where that is coming from. The noise persisted, and I turned around. Two steps back to the car, I reached out and opened the door to see the message "Key detected in vehicle". Really? I was sure I had the key in my hand. I looked, and my hand was empty. Oops! Luckily my car is smart enough to unlock the doors if the key is still in the car. I'm very glad that my car was smarter than me this morning.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Saturday's flowers

My only (previous) Fuller Garden visit this year was right after it opened for the season. There were few flowers flowering then. I had intended to head there last weekend, but the steady and heavy rain convinced me to wait.

Yesterday's visit showered me with roses and with perennials in various life stages. I suspect this year's upside-down spring (warmth early, rain and cool later) has the perennials a bit confused. There were fewer perennials in prime bloom than I'd hoped, all beautiful.

flower, Fuller Gardens

More flowers from yesterday's Fuller Garden visit can be found in the gallery Fuller Gardens - 2012 starting with this photo and ending here.

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Spring into summer

It was a cool, wet week. Rain started last weekend and persisted through much of the week, accompanied by cool temperatures. Today? What a change! This morning's cool disappeared quickly changing to summer-like warmth.

I headed out on my bike in the morning, taking advantage of the cool air. Afternoon brought a visit to Fuller Gardens and a walk along the New Hampshire coast. It was a good day...

reflections

soon...

Oh! I think the photos from our Acadia wander will be posted soon. I've been watching Denise sort through the photos, deciding which will be shared. I can't tell you when...

While you're waiting I thought I'd share a photo of the magic light on top of Cadillac Mountain.

--- Rover
from the top of Cadillac Mountain

Monday, June 04, 2012

Shades of green

So many different shades of green, reflections...

multi-colored greens, evergreens reflecting in Jordan Pond
Late afternoon at Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Flowers & raindrops

pink flowers, raindrops

A few more flowers from today's visit to The Stevens-Coolidge Place can be viewed in the gallery It's spring! 2012 starting with this photo and ending here.

A Sunday update from Rover

Wow! Denise is sorting through her photos from our Acadia wander pretty quickly. I was looking over her shoulder earlier, and I think she's doing well. It probably helped that it rained all day yesterday. Denise took a break for a walk, but she wasn't tempted to wander too far; that rain was really really heavy.

Oh, I'm not getting in her way right now - she headed out for a walk, so I figured I'd use the computer while she is out. I thought about going with her, but it's sprinkling again and I want to stay dry.

I know Denise won't be finished with the photos today so I'll share a couple from Acadia now. The first was taken at the top of Cadillac Mountain early in the evening last Saturday. Look at all of the people! Denise thought there might be a lot of people in the park on the holiday weekend, and there were. I think next year we'll probably go back to a regular weekend for our spring visit. The second is a shot of me in front of Eagle Lake. I was happy to find a nice dry rock to stand on!

--- Rover
crowds on top of Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park

Rover on the shore of Eagle Lake, Acadia National Park