Summer Journal: Plum Island, Newburyport, The Agawam

One fine summer day, we went to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island. The day shone like a star among all of our other summer days.

My soul sang with the brightness of color: cornflower blue sky, sapphire sea, golden sand, green grass and trees, and snowy clouds. Everything was so beautiful.

And, no one was there but us . . .

And a seal . . .

 It was like being in a different world.

We went to the Hellcat Observation tower further within the refuge. The tower is three stories high.

The view over the salt marsh was glorious.


 Seth took a lot of photos.

 Afterward, we walked the Dunes Trail--a boardwalk through woods and over dunes.

 

My girl, Emmeline. ♥

We encountered a couple of wild turkeys. They always remind me of dinosaurs.

When we left the wildlife refuge, we drove into picturesque Newburyport.

 

The monument above is in memory of the crew of the Heather Lynne II, 1996. "Never will they be forgotten".

 Zach (standing), Luke, Emmeline, and Amy. ♥

We left Newburyport and drove down to Rowley to the Agawam Diner for their famous cheeseburger club sandwiches. Yummy!

On the way home, someone commented, "This is the best day we've had in about five years." It truly was. As many of my readers know, my family has gone through some tough things. I am trying to get back to recording the highlights of our days on this blog at the request of my daughter who has serious health problems. She likes to scroll through the pictures when she is feeling poorly to remind herself that things aren't always so. ♥

Love and roses,
Sue

Summer Journal: Gloucester

I'm here now. : ) Welcome to Wild Peace.

This is the first in a series of "Summer Journal" posts, as I have a whole lot of photos I want to put up from our summer days. Then, in the coming weeks, I intend to get back to more frequent posting (I know, I've said this many times before. Why do my best intentions often provide the worst results?). If you have followed me here and are still reading, thank you for bearing with me, my friend.

Gloucester is a half hour drive from our house and full of history and natural beauty. It's one of our favorite places to spend a few hours in any season. There is nothing quite like the summer-blue sky in New England.

Fishermen's Memorial Monument: "They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships, That Do Business In Great Waters; These See The Works Of The Lord, And His Wonders In The Deep." (from the 107th Psalm)

The Fishermen's Wives Memorial, unveiled in August of 2001.  The idea for the Memorial had been around since at least the 1930s. It was a long time in coming. Several designs and inscriptions were rejected. From Poetry of Places in Essex County: 

Leonard Craske, creator of the Gloucester Fishermen's Memorial, envisioned a sculpture of a woman as a companion piece. His model, displayed at the Cape Ann Museum, shows a woman clutching a bundled child, her gesture reminiscent of a ship's figurehead. Craske's proposed inscription was, "They also serve who only stand and wait." Years later, the renowned sculptor Richard Rechia (husband of Dogtown poet Kitty Parsons) designed a sculpture called, "The Widow of the Fisherman," a melancholy figure of a woman stooping to lay a wreath of flowers in the sea.

The Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association was not interested in either characterization of the role of women in the fishing industry.  Seeing themselves as doing everything but sitting around waiting, the Wives determined to commemorate their contributions, both in the past and in the future they work so hard to secure.  In 1996, sculptor Morgan Faulds Pike, the winner of the GFWA's international design competition, signed a contract to build her vision of The Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Memorial - a woman holding a small child in her left arm with her right hand on the shoulder of a standing child...The inscription around the base of the sculpture reads: "The wives, mothers, daughters and sisters of Gloucester fishermen honor the wives and families of fishermen and mariners everywhere for their faith, diligence, and fortitude."

Common Eiders

 Cressy's Beach at Stage Fort Park (lair of the famous Gloucester (Essex) Sea Serpent. A funny story: I picked up the bestselling book, The Essex Serpent this summer because I thought it was about our serpent. It wasn't. It was about a serpent in Essex, England!

Skate egg or mermaid's purse.

Love and roses,

Sue ♥

 

On Sunday we went to the beach and ran in the sand and looked for shells in our winter coats. The sunshine was dazzling and the sky was summertime blue. But today snow fell all day long, a thick white blanket--two feet thick. Typical weather for mid-March in New England.

So much time has passed since I last posted that I feel quite out of practice here. I don't believe in catch-up posts; how does one summarize the terrible beauty of life without being misunderstood? The story of today holds the past in its heart, anyway.

We have two new brother kittens who are currently making things lots of fun. ♥ (I hear them rumbling now upstairs in the girls' bedroom!) The cream and white one is Rhys and the gray and white is Wyatt. They were named after two characters in a story I wrote. Our pet tally at the moment is: two dogs, two kittens, two guinea pigs, three parakeets, one big bunny, and one very big snake. Oh, and two red hens in the yard.

I've been knitting little birds after my work is done (school and housekeeping and helping in the office for my husband's business) from patterns in the book Field Guide to Knitted Birds, by Carlos and Arne. The book is absolutely gorgeous and knitting birds is addicting--so many possibilities.

For breakfast on several March mornings, I've made Irish Soda Scones. I highly recommend this recipe. These scones are light and delicious with a lovely texture and authentic Irish soda bread flavor.

Love and roses,
Sue ♥