Survival of the Fittest

"Lettuce up!  Please, lettuce up!"  Each little sprout is struggling so hard to survive.  One day soon I will have to pinch the life out of all but the most hearty-looking ones.  At this stage, it's almost impossible to tell which are the fittest.  Stay tuned. 

Ahhhhhhh!

It's easy to take the advice to relax and "just breathe" when you're paddling with the current down the Merrimack River on a warm spring morning.  From the time I decided to get my boat wet to the moment it was in the water- 40 minutes,  (including loading the boat onto the car myself.) Cool water, clear sky, fresh air, birds calling.... this huge enveloping peace pierced only briefly by some pervasively loud motorized leaf-blowers at a McMansion along the river's edge. Still, not bad for such a convenient put-in (Rocks Village Bridge, W. Newbury.)  

Compost

I think, if someone were to ask me, "What is #1 on your list of favorite (inanimate) things in the whole world, I would have to say: COMPOST.  (You could argue that compost is not exactly inanimate. )
The other day I harvested this lovely black gold from the bottom of the compost bin which was here at the back of a huge yard when I moved into the apartment.
I have been feeding the compost bin all winter, sometimes trudging through the snow....

The Grammar Guerrilla is Happy Today

I am always pleased to see an example of the correct use of the inscrutable apostrophe.

Almost Hitting a Triple

Riding my bicycle,
and stopping by the airfield
on the way to Plum Island.

But a triple became a double because I did not ride all the way out to the island. 

Today I actually took note of the wind sock.

Usually, I just keep on going, forgetting that I will be fighting the wind all the way back (about 7 miles.)

After almost six years since my friend Kate Drury first got the idea to make this book, it is now a reality.  With some help from me and from Nancy Anderson, a graphic artist, we have published our book as a fundraiser for a postal charity, and this post is an unabashed advertisement for it.  We are all very pleased with the way the book looks, and several people have been caught laughing out loud as they read it!
For more on Carried Away, please click here:
 http://carriedawaytruestories.blogspot.com





 

Season Opener!

No, not for the Red Sox (That's tonight!) - for paddlers in New England. Air temps in the 70's, sunny, winds less than 5 mph, but water temps are still in the 40s. Fellow paddler Jo-Ann met me at the seawall in Newburyport this morning for a few hours out in Plum Island Sound- my first paddle of the season. I had missed my boat!! (Thank you, Kate, for taking the photo!)

Gentrification

There's an old jailhouse just a few blocks from my house which is now privately owned. The large property has been renovated in the extreme, which makes for an interesting visual diversion.

Meanwhile, here are the houses directly across the street from the gentrified jail.

Just add water........... oh, and my boat!

Today I spent most of the afternoon putting my old boat racks on my "new" car. It was not easy, but I was able to do it because I followed the directions (!) and drank lots of coffee. Next, I will get my kayak out of storage and head for the water!