a flower dream

On a day when the air outside wore winter cold it was good to dream of flowers.

across the river

Standing in Prescott Park (in Portsmouth, NH), I look across the Piscataqua River to see boats moored on Peirce Island.

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard sits on the other side of the river, in Kittery, Maine.

windy

With today's temperature predicted to reach into the low 40s I decided to head to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge for a walk on the beach. Initially I planned to get there a bit before low tide this morning but I changed my plans when I woke up to find the air at a chilly 19 degrees.

My walk on the beach started about an hour after low tide, with plenty of firm sand for comfortable walking. I headed south to start, walking into an unpopulated section of beach. I saw a single flock of sanderlings at the water's edge early in my walk. Since they seem to chase food by running after a receding wave I suspect they are more present as the tide is flowing out.

Once I turned north to return to my starting point the wind was at my back. It picked up sand from the beach, erasing footprints from people and birds, returning the beach to a pristine state.

Can you see the wind?

melting ice

Warmth and drenching rain on Thursday cleared land and water of (most) snow and ice.

A few pieces of ice remain in the waters of the Piscataqua River, melting.

flower morning

Yesterday's warmth and heavy rain cleared the snow, leaving us a landscape without much color. Since I need a dose of bright color on a regular basis I headed to the greenhouses of Lyman Estate to visit some flowers.

While this is not a prime blooming season in the greenhouse, there were some bright flowers scattered among the greenery.

wet

Today's forecast called for a wet and warm day.

When I saw that the early morning temperature was 56 degrees I knew that I wouldn't let the wet stop me from getting a long walk under my feet. The rain was light when I headed out, moving from light to heavy and back again, leaving me with a pair of very wet running shoes. No problem, I stuffed them with newspaper before heading out again.

Rain was steady when I arrived at the New Hampshire coast. It was about an hour before high tide with wild waves crashing against the shore. I stopped in several places to walk, to attempt to capture the stormy beauty with my camera. As the rain intensified the wind increased, blowing the water sideways.

Experiencing the power of the weather along the coast was wonderful.

inside

As the end of January approaches I realize that we're just one short month into winter.

While I still walk outside every day my wandering with a camera has been a bit curtailed. Today I headed to Harold Parker State Forest for a short walk from my usual parking spot between Field Pond and Collins Pond. Unfortunately when I arrived I discovered a parking area still covered in snow. Hmm... nope, I didn't feel a need to get stuck!

Sometimes a bit of inside quiet time is good. This winter I've discovered the world of edX. It's a non-profit, massive open online course provider, partnering with the world’s leading universities to offer online university classes. This month I started taking a class titled "The Science of Laughter", presented by the University of California, Berkeley. The class started on January 7th; since I am taking the free version of the class it has a hard finish date of March 5th. That's probably good for me since it keeps me focused on continuing to work through the class lectures and reading.

Tomorrow is forecast to be non-January warm and very wet. I wonder, will it be a wander in the rain day?

January 1st @ Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

robins

With the temperature hovering at 14 degrees I set out for a walk. I walked in big circles, keeping a brisk pace, watching the pavement and hoping I didn't slide on some unseen ice.

The National Weather Service showed the conditions as freezing fog and unknown precipitation when I left home. I could hear and feel bits of something hitting me as I walked, some sort of frozen precipitation - not snow, not rain or hail, just tiny frozen droplets.

As I walked, I looked into the trees and saw large flock of robins, feathers fluffed for warmth. They moved as I approached, flying into the next tree and then back again.

waiting

The weather wizard predicts that it will look like winter outside tomorrow. We are supposed to have snow overnight followed by freezing rain tomorrow and very cold temperatures on Monday.

It sounds like tomorrow may very well be an "stay inside" day. I hope not, but wandering outside will depend on how slippery the ground appears to be. Just in case, I managed long exercise walks yesterday (7 miles) and today (6.5 miles). Perhaps a rest day tomorrow is warranted!

As I wait for white, I leave you with a bit of greenhouse color.

sanderlings

One large sea gull stood on the beach as I started my walk at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge yesterday. It stood, it walked a bit, then it flew off leaving me on the beach without any bird companions.

I walked a bit further before encountering a large flock of sanderlings. These small birds have always fascinated me as they run down the beach, running in one direction then changing direction as a group. Do some of their chirps signal direction changes? I'd love to know how they communicate with each other.