a walk in the woods

Today's destination was Maudslay State Park, a continuation of what turned out to be a weekend of state park wanders for me.

I didn't expect flowers there this early in the season but I was delighted to find some tiny purple and white beauties in the garden. As I started walking away from the garden I saw a sea of green leaves decorated with white. There was an opening in a brick wall that was almost hidden by branches. I found my way through to a narrow walk descending through a sea of early season flowers. I think they were another variety of the snowdrops I saw last week.

I continued my walk after I stopped to enjoy the flowers, always watching where I placed my feet. The trail was dry in some places, very muddy in others. Luckily there was enough snow and ice around the mud to allow me to find non-muddy spots to place my feet!

A few more photos from today's wander can be seen in the gallery Maudsay State Park - 2013 starting with this photo and ending here.

quarry and ocean

Yesterday felt like a good day for a wander at Halibut Point State Park in Rockport - especially after I realized I hadn't been there since early December.

There were green shoots starting to emerge that I think will wear daffodils in the not too distant future but the grass and the bushes were still wearing winter colors. I really wasn't expecting spring colors; I was quite happy to absorb views of the waters in the quarry and the ocean.

More photos can be seen in the gallery Halibut Point - 2013.

purple!

I headed to Rockport this afternoon to satisfy an urge to walk at Halibut Point State Park. A sea of purple caught my eye before I got to the park; I had to stop to enjoy the sight of miniature iris. What beautiful flowers!

evening reflections

subtle stripes

A crocus wearing stripes of purple on white...

peeking

Crocus are starting to pop, to show colorful new life as they peek out from last autumn's dry leaves.

painted flower

I popped into the garden's greenhouse yesterday to find a flower painted in delicate markings.

snowdrops

It was a sunny day with the temperature nudging 50 degrees. I decided to walk to The Stevens-Coolidge Place in the early evening in the hopes of finding some early green. There were green shoots with skinny purple buds that I think will bloom into crocus, a few signs of heavier green shoots, a lot of brown, a bit of remaining snow.

I was about to head home when I saw snowdrops in an area of small trees. I edged between the thin trunks, settling on knees and elbows to capture these early blooms with my camera. I know, I know, I probably looked pretty silly. But hey! it was worth it!

glistening

I headed to the coast yesterday for a walk by the ocean. The water glistened in the sunlight showing shades of blue topped with sparkles.

More photos from yesterday's walk at Fort Foster in Kittery Point, Maine can be viewed in the gallery South coastal Maine - 2013 starting with this photo and ending here.

peaceful

This looks like a peaceful spot to sit and watch the sea. It was a bit too cold to sit there today; the temperatures were very chilly and the wind was howling. (And yes, the ground is still covered in snow!)

color, from 2 years ago

The calendar says it's spring but the ground is covered with snow from Tuesday's storm. I hope that when the snow melts crocus will emerge, bringing a bit of the color I really want to see.

In the meantime, here's some purple from late spring, 2011.

a winter's day

A coastal storm blew snow into the area with most of the snow accumulating overnight. The snow continued off and on for most of the day without adding much more than an inch or so to the 6 to 8 inches that fell overnight. Light snow, sleet, heavier snow, lighter...

At one point I looked outside to see large chunks of snow flying through the air. It was almost as if a big dog had been sleeping in the clouds and decided he needed to shake himself to get rid of a layer of snow.

snow again?

From a dry early start to winter the weather has evolved into a once a week snow storm. I had hoped that the first day of spring would provide a real change of season. It might, but before the spring equinox arrives this Wednesday it appears that the weather wizard has decided to give us another winter blast with a forecast of 6 to 10 inches of snow.

Weather wizard, haven't we already had enough snow for the season? Are you listening?

---

...Significant winter storm tonight and Tuesday...

.A COASTAL STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND COASTLINE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...AND DELIVER A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW FOLLOWED BY SLEET...FREEZING RAIN AND THEN ALL RAIN FOR SOME LOCATIONS.

Forecast courtesy of the National Weather Service

spring color? not yet...

Yesterday's steady rain and the relative warmth of the last few days erased a lot of the snow that fell last week. There are still large swaths of white but the ground is peeking through. I've been looking for colors, for signs of spring growth. Nothing yet, no early flowers have popped in front of my eyes.

Yes, I know, I'm a bit impatient. I just looked through photos from last spring to find photos of early crocus that jumped into my camera on March 12th. Not this year's photo, but I need some color...

evening light

Daylight time means that my evening walk today was in almost full light. It was getting dusky by the time I finished so I was happy to be wearing my bright blinking lights.

I like the evening light change; now I just need to wait a few weeks for the morning to be brighter again.

yellow on blue

A part of a sculpture, visitor center exhibits at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area...

bridge visit

The fixed Kittery span of the new Memorial Bridge was floated in last Wednesday beginning at 12:30 AM. I had been thinking about watching - but not in the middle of the night. Really, the section I'd like to see placed is the center span so I guess I'd better keep a close eye on the project web site for June activities. It seems that they have been posting the planned actions a day or two ahead of time.

Yesterday I headed to Portsmouth to see the two bridge spans in place. The workers were placing pieces of the section that will support the lift of the bridge so I stayed to watch. I'm so in awe of the brains behind the design of the bridge. It was designed by Theodore Zoli; he also designed the Zakim Bridge in Boston.

For anyone interested in the bridge design, click to read the article The Brains Behind the Bridge.

I met Steve from Piscataqua Productions (the project photographer) while I was standing on the pier closest to the bridge, watching. He was at the end of the pier with two tripods, one wearing a video camera, one a still camera. He has been a constant presence at the construction sites, capturing the changes and posting videos on his YouTube site showing the progress. I've included links (below) to his videos of the float in of both the Portsmouth and the Kittery spans. I missed the actual float-in; even if I'd been there Steve's videos give a perspective I would not have been able to access.

Click these links to view Steve's videos:
    Middle of the Night Kittery Span Float-In
    Memorial Bridge Passes Under the Sarah Long Bridge
    The New Memorial Bridge: Portsmouth Span Float-in

More photos of the new bridge pieces in place can be seen in the gallery Rebuilding a bridge starting with this photo and ending here.

photos! seeking red rocks

Photos from my recent wanders in the southwest are ready for viewing in the gallery seeking red rocks.

Interested in words too? You can find my ramblings in the blog entries tagged Nevada Utah 2013-02.

snow in March

Last night I thought maybe the storm would veer out to sea. The forecast called for snow to start yesterday morning and continue through early afternoon today. Snow was falling all day yesterday leaving road surfaces wet and accumulating less than an inch on the grass. When I woke up this morning I found that the storm had arrived leaving a solid layer of snow. The snow continued into the early afternoon.

Hey weather wizard! The spring equinox is less than two weeks away now. Do you think maybe this is enough snow for the season?

shimmering

I wandered over to Spring Mountain Ranch late in the afternoon after leaving the loop road in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Spring Mountain is a state park that resides inside of the conservation area.

The surface of this small pond went from calm to rippled to calm again, shimmering. I was pulled in by the color of the water, the ducks paddling about, the slight reflection of the trees.

color conundrum

The parks where we wandered last week were all decorated in what Denise said were red rocks. I thought the color was more of a rust, sometimes in light tones, sometimes in dark tones. What do you think? My coat is bright red. Wouldn't you think if the rocks were red that they would match me?

Sometimes I think humans make funny choices in words.

I liked the shades of color in the rocks, the pattens and lines too. These rocks almost seems like they were painted.

--- Rover

tree branches in silver

While I'd love to return to Zion when the trees are wearing green I was fascinated by the silver look of bare branches against a pure blue sky, surrounded by cliffs of red rocks.

a sign of sorts

I love this trail marker on the Fire Wave trail at Valley of Fire State Park. Most of the markers on this trail were tall stakes; those worked better when I was slightly off the trail, but the rock art marker was special.