Bitterly Beautiful

Last night we got the first real snow that actually stuck around. So this morning I headed over to the Barn Island area marshes to try and get some good photos. I was hoping there would be snow completely covering everything, but I guess I've now learned that snow doesn't really stick to tall grass, or cover it up very well. The wind was bitter cold, so i just snapped a few quick shots with my iPhone and headed back to the truck. Beautiful. Bitter, but beautiful. 

Trustom Pond NWR, Rhode Island

Today I headed east on Route 1 into Rhode Island to check out the Trustom Pond Nat'l Wildlife Refuge near Charlestown. It was an overcast, grey day, but I was enjoying driving through the countryside of Southern RI (as always). As I'm cruising down Matunuck School House Road I see a big silhouette dive down out of a tree and up again. I quickly pulled to the side and saw a large owl perched up in the branches. I grabbed my new 16x binoculars (a Christmas present from mom and dad - thanks!) to get a better look. This creature was beautiful, and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to see it on the move. When it was perched, you could barely see it at all due to its clever coloring. I grabbed my field guide and flipped to the owl section and saw that it was a Barred Owl. Beautiful. I followed it down the road a ways, as it would occasionally glide to another perch. Then finally snapped a quick photo with my iPhone through my windshield as it dove into a nearby field. 

Just down the road a bit was the entrance to Trustom Pond. Even with the miserable weather, I was really impressed with this place. Apparently it was a large farm donated by a woman in the early 1970s, and has since grown many native grasses and has harbored all sorts of wildlife. It's an area of forest and fields that leads down to marshes, ponds and eventually the barrier beach, which has also been left undeveloped. The beach is Moonstone Beach, which I drove around to before heading home, and it looked like a great area to explore. Another time. 

There were a ton of geese (hard to see in the photo), the usual gulls and some ducks. I'm sure with better weather there would be a greater variety. I walked out to Osprey Point, had a Christmas puff on my pipe and headed back through the woods. It was a good day. 

Beavertail, Rhode Island

My first post from the East Coast. Wildly overdue. I have a lot of photos and excursions to detail, and they're just going to have to be out of order. Today is Christmas Eve. And I had a great day, so here I am, finally sitting down to write. 

I arrived here in New England some four months ago in late August, 2012. I had never been here before and didn't quite know what to expect. I remember that warm day that I drove across the New York - Connecticut border, and wound my way down through the state to the coast, and on to New London. I was instantly intrigued and a little spellbound by what I saw, and what I felt. I soon found an apartment overlooking the Mystic River and as I continued to explore the area and venture further and further up and down the coasts, and into the interior, I fell in love. The land here is almost...alive. There is a character to it. A personality. The light itself, whether warm or cool, thinly veils some sort of soul behind it. It frustrates me greatly that I can't adequately put into words the impression that New England has given me, and continues to give me. I think that's what is so impressive - that it continues. There are no bad days exploring. No matter which direction I choose - driving five minutes, or five hours, the result is the same. New England delivers. 

I don't dare to compare this side of the world with the West Coast. Not because one is better than the other, but because they are so different. Those that know me, know that I love California. I very nearly left my career to stay there. I love it there. And I always will. I've talked a lot of crap about the East Coast in my time (mostly referring to the Mid-Atlantic, which I still not particularly drawn to), but those cuts were clearly spoken in complete naivety of New England. I'm not afraid to say it, I love New England. Like the lure of a beautiful, mysterious new girl in the back of the class, this place has a special hold on me, and I've never quite felt such a serene comfort. 

I will have to revisit my earlier excursions into Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island (I've been busy the last four months), but for now I'll just talk about today. 

I headed east for a little area called Beavertail State Park, at the southern tip of Jamestown in Rhode Island. This was supposed to just be a stop off on my way to Sachuest Point Nat'l Wildlife Refuge further east past Newport. Beavertail was a lot cooler than I had anticipated. The lighthouse, which was only the 3rd lighthouse to be built in the colonies, was impressive. The rocks below it, on all sides, were even more so. I didn't get to see Winslow Homer's rocks off Prout's Neck on a day with good light (it was overcast and dreary that day), but I was more impressed with these, by far. The unique blends and bands of color in the rocks, the lines, the slates, it was beautiful to look at. 

I didn't see too many interesting birds, beyond the usual gulls, but I didn't stay too long as I wanted to get out to Sachuest Point. To my disappointment, then I got there a half hour later, the refuge was closed due to Hurricane Sandy damage. I did see some Sanderlings running around on the beach. After watching them for a bit, I detoured down through Newport's mansions and was pretty blown away. How that many people had (or have) that much money is completely beyond my comprehension. Some of them even looked abandoned, it was crazy. Definite inspiration for moody, mysterious stories. I did run into the Nat'l Museum of American Illustration, which I didn't know existed, but will most definitely be back for. It was a good day. And to top it all off, the timeless aroma of wood-burning stoves and fireplaces is filling Mystic on this brisk Christmas Eve. Life is good.