Time traveling to the recent past

Riding the waves.

Once you’ve plunged into the ocean, does it really matter whether or not you believe in water?

~ Brian C. Muraresku, The Immortality Key

If you’re not willing to see more than is visible, you won’t see anything.

~ Ruth Berhard

Heading towards the Tingles Island campground and a picnic lunch.

We started out today with lots of rain, wind, and dark clouds.  It rained quite heavily overnight.  I know this for a fact because I was awake for a good part of it.  Insomnia comes and goes and lately, it’s been more here than there.  I used to get worked up over it.  Now I just enjoy listening to the rain as it drums on the house and ground, the wind as it howls and moans, and the cats as they pace around because neither of them is too thrilled with any kind of storm.  Had there been thunder, Izzy would have stopped her pacing and hid under the bed.  Poor thing does not like thunder at all.  Who can blame her?

The storm that blew through here this morning (which brought us nearly 4 inches of rain and some flooding) is a nor’easter that is supposed to bring significant snowfall to the New England states.  They’re even saying it might become a “bomb cyclone” with snowfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour.  I do hope my friends up north stay safe, and that the storm doesn’t result in power outages or severe damage.  There are rumors flying around here that we might see some snowfall on Monday, but it’s long shot.  I’m hoping we will because, as you know, I love all things winter, especially snow.

A beautiful day for a hike.

Since it is so gloomy here, and since I promised you more wild ponies from Assateague Island, let’s time travel back to the beginning of November when M and I went out to the backcountry on the island for a little hiking.  You might remember that the main reason we went to Assateague was to pick up a new yearly pass, thinking they might be closing things down again as the virus runs rampant.  That hasn’t happened so far but I did see a notice yesterday that they are raising the rates for the passes.  The reason for this is probably related to Covid life.  This past summer they saw far more visitors than they’re used to.  I’m wondering if the winter will be the same.  We’ll have to wait and see.

A line of dead and dying trees on the horizon. I was reading that Superstorm Sandy made the trees more vulnerable to the insects that are killing them.

Because we went a tad bit late in the day, we didn’t go far in search of a place to hike.  Just a few miles down the OSV area to the Tingles Island area.  Somehow or another, we keep missing Tingles Island when we drive out on the beach to the backcountry areas.  My guess is that we thought it was farther south.  It’s really not far from where you enter the OSV area.  Maybe about 2 miles.  Driving on the beach takes a little longer than driving on the road.  It’s a slower pace, for one thing.  We have to take that into consideration when we go out there, adding that to any time it might take to hike.

Nearing the campground area where we hoped to find picnic tables (we did).

We parked on the beach, grabbed our picnic lunch, and started hiking out towards the Tingles Island campground area.  I was hoping we’d find some horses along the way.  A small group of them had gathered in between the dunes where you drive on to the OSV area, but there were so many people there taking photos that I decided not to stop and join the crowd.  Better to wait until later, in hopes they would still be there or maybe find them elsewhere.  One of the reasons the ponies may have been between the dunes and not on the beach is that it was a blustery day.  Being between the dunes sheltered them from the worst of the wind and the sand being blown around.

When we arrived at the campground area and found a picnic table in the sun and out of the wind, M started to set out our little picnic lunch while I wandered down the road a bit more, wanting to see what was around the curve.  At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing in the distance when I emerged on the other side of the curve.  I zoomed in with the camera and found these two:

A sunny spot, not too far from the water (on the bay side of the island).

They didn’t move much at all the entire time we were there.  I thought there might be a smaller horse behind the one pictured on the right (the white and brown pony) but a close up look of the photos I took show that she has quite a swayback.  Given how round she is, I’m venturing to guess she might be pregnant (one of the reasons listed for swayback in a horse is pregnancy).

You can see her back a little better in this shot.

After lunch we explored the area for a little while before heading back towards the beach.  I think the hike out to the campground was about two miles, round trip.  Maybe a bit more.  I’ll share more from our walk on the beach on Monday’s meander post.  In the meantime…

I love the way the wind shapes the trees on the island.

I’m going to start giving away some of my photos.  They sit here on the computer, gathering metaphorical or imaginary dust, not doing much of anything.  It feels preferable to me to give them away rather than try to sell them.  So, here’s the deal:  If you live in the U.S. (if you’re not in the U.S., continue to “Other notes”), and if there is a photo on my blog (from the past, present, or sometime in the future) that speaks to you, let me know which one it is and if you’re so inclined, tell me a little about what it is that speaks to you (you’re welcome to do this via email if that’s better for you than leaving a comment).  Once a month, I’ll send one out to someone.  That means you need to be willing to trust me with your address.  I promise not to do anything with it other than send you the desired image and it’s likely to come from the company I use to print them (Mpix) because that’s so much easier (and less costly) than having it arrive here and resend it.

Other notes:  Not all of my images translate well to print.  That is why I usually ship them to myself first when someone orders one.  I want to see it and make sure it printed okay.  Since I don’t plan on doing that with this giveaway, we are all taking our chances.  However, I have a pretty good grasp of what prints well and what doesn’t so I will be sure to let you know and then you can decide.  I am thinking that the prints will be in the 8×10 range, but I’m willing to go a little smaller (5×7) or a little larger (11×14).  We can discuss it via email.  My apologies to those of you outside of the U.S.  I found that it is amazingly expensive to ship photos outside of the U.S. (much more than the cost of the print itself).  What I can do for those outside of the U.S. is email the image to you.  It won’t be quite the same as sending a print, but it would allow you to have it printed.

There won’t be a drawing or official start and end dates to this.  It’s a giveaway without rules other than my own random feeling about where an image needs to go.  Any photo from any blog post, past or future, is available.  You don’t have to let me know on any particular post.  If or when an image speaks to you, just leave a comment in that post.  You don’t even have to tell me which one it is in the comment.  I’ll email you (at the email address that I get with your comment notice) and we can discuss it then (because of course we would have to or I’d have no idea what to send).

Water, water everywhere.

One other bit of blogging business:  Frank, over at Beach Walk Reflections, and I have collaborated again.  Please join us over at his place, if you haven’t already, for a look at the Moon.

Thank you so much for dropping by today and joining me on a hike from the recent past.  I know I’m being a bit of a tease, but there really are more wild pony photos coming soon.  Probably Monday’s post unless something else comes along before that.  By the time I finished this post, the rain cleared out and the clouds seem to be going with it.  Let’s check out the sunset at the Point this evening.  Sunset is scheduled for 4:43 PM.  It will probably be chilly.  We’re under a gale warning (winds 20-30 mph with occasional gusts over 40 mph) so prepare to get almost blown away.

Please be safe, be well, and be kind.  ❤

Autumn colors in the marsh grasses.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  1,631)  Relatively good health.  I feel like I need to list that periodically because I truly am grateful and fortunate that both M and I have remained relatively healthy thus far.  (Knock on wood.)  1,632)  New masks on the way.  Holiday masks, but not so holiday-ish that I won’t be able to wear them throughout the winter months.  I don’t go out and about often but now that the CDC has recommended mask wearing pretty much all the time except at home, it’s good to have extra masks.  1,633)  Another trip around the sun.  I have a birthday coming up on Monday.  It’s one of the reasons I want to start giving away some of my photos.  As a birthday gift to others.  1,634)  Today is day 90 of my 1,000 Days Project (to do my morning practice, in some form, every day for 1,000 days).  1,635)  The warmth and softness of my favorite flannel shirt.  It’s almost like wearing a hug.

Taking a stroll on the beach.