Warming up

Six crows at sunrise.

It has often been said that our environmental crisis is a crisis of perception. We do not readily see the patterns that would reveal our dependence on the natural world, nor are we commonly aware of the systems within which we are deeply embedded. Our attention, entrained on objects and focused on flat screens, is far removed from the dynamic and animated nonhuman world. We are as good as blind to the wonder at our feet or the daily spectacle of an ever-changing sky.

~ Laura Sewall

On the woodland trail today.

Although a little early (by about two weeks), the January thaw is here.  When I went out for my walk this morning it was about 53°F and it has since climbed into the 60’s.  The temperature will start dropping back to something more seasonable (cold) on Saturday so I spent plenty of time outdoors enjoying the warmth while it’s here.

Thawing on the creek.

The birds and rabbits were enjoying the warmth too.  I came across a flock of robins in the woods bathing in the puddles.  They were enjoying their baths so much that they didn’t notice me at first.  I could have taken a lot of pictures but I was busy delighting in their enjoyment.  I don’t know if birds can be said to look happy, but the robins in the puddles certainly acted as if they were.

On the dock in Bremen, Maine. June 2017.

There is beauty in the mud and the melting, but this seems to be the time of year when we’re looking for color and brightness so I thought we’d travel back in time to last June and have a look at the fog, the water, and some of the flowers I had the privilege of seeing while we were on vacation in Maine.  We stayed in Bremen, Maine, which is small town located on the Gulf of Maine and the Muscongus Bay.  The weather, for the most part, involved a lot of mist and fog which, as you all know, I love.  But it was not necessarily ideal summer vacation weather for everybody and everything, and we found sunny skies a drive away (heading west) when we went hiking or to the beach.  The house we rented came complete with a dock and kayaks, the dock overlooking the Hockomock Channel which was socked in with fog almost the entire week.

Looking in the other direction.

Bremen is on the Pemaquid Peninsula, and it’s much less touristy and commercial than some of the other nearby areas (such as the Boothbay Peninsula).  It’s rugged, rocky, and awesomely beautiful.  We had to drive quite a bit to get to the more commercial areas and the beach, but it was worth it to be able to come back and relax in that little bit of heaven off the beaten path.  It helped that there was a marina just down the road within walking distance where we could buy lobster, fresh off the boat (something we did nearly every day).

Going back up the path, from the dock to the house.

While the fog and misty rains might not have been everyone’s cup of tea, it did make the greens and other colors pop.  It was unexpectedly warm while we were there, with record highs reached on some days.

Continuing along the path to the house.

Of course I spent some time with the flowers I love best about the north, the lupines.

Because the leaves are as beautiful as the flowers.

It’s wonderful to have a family willing to put up with my “stop there!” requests as we were driving along.  It was also wonderful to be staying near a park that was filled with lupines and other wildflowers so I could take my time looking at and photographing them.

Dewy.

It’s time for me to be moving along.  Thank you for dropping by today and taking a little trip back to Maine with me.  It’s a bit cloudy here on the Eastern Shore today, but that might make sunset interesting.  Let’s go out to the Point and see what we can see.  Sunset is at 5:04 PM.  I’ll be there early so I can take a walk around before the sun makes its way below the horizon.

Leaning in to the flowers.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

On one of the paths in the little park near where we stayed.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  526)  A January thaw.  527)  The sound of the birds celebrating the warmth of the day.  528)  Splashing through the puddles.  529)  Watching the water in the creek slowly move through the ice on the surface.  530)  The call of the crows at sunrise.

The colors of spring.