A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens
Life on my own, on the Nature Coast of of Florida, and beyond…
There was a Blue Heron sighting at Highland lake this morning, but not by me. And when I attempted to find them myself what I found were dragonflies and Canada geese. Sound familiar? I thought I’d hurry out ahead of the stormy weather that was predicted for later. And come back to reorganize the car ahead of a further NH exploration this weekend. This retirement/snowbird thing is suiting me just fine.
Last night I found a potential post I had written sitting forgotten in the computer. It was written as I began this first snowbird season of mine, driving with a new appreciation of what I was seeing through the windshield as I made my way north. I’m sure that I expressed most of what I had written in former posts since then, but what struck me was my last comment from that post.
If it’s photography that’s opened my mind to actually see and appreciate all that’s around me then it has improved my life immensely. Now to try to slow down and stop for the photo ops along the way, that’s my goal for this trip. And every day from now on, no matter where I am.
And that’s exactly what I feel like I’ve done. I’m happy that I wrote that statement so that I can pat myself on the back for following through. But there are so many more places left to explore. I can’t wait…
Why wouldn’t someone want to go to a place called Buzzards Bay? I knew that I wanted to head there eventually, so as I left the scenic stopping point along the Cape Cod Canal I headed a little further down the road and found Buzzards Bay Park. I didn’t expect to find the boat that I had been taking pictures of near the Sagamore Bridge to be approaching me again, but past the Bourne Bridge heading for the railroad bridge. Either I drove really fast or he wasn’t going quite as fast as I thought he was.
I was down the canal and on the other side last winter when I was attempting to take a sunset picture with the railroad bridge standing behind the Bourne Bridge. Now I had found the railroad bridge itself. Not only that, I was hearing a train whistle and I got excited to think that the bridge would come down and we’d see a train come over it. I had missed it by just a little a few weeks ago when I was sitting outside having dinner with a friend not far from that location, and here came a train right behind the restaurant. Hardly worth taking a picture, but I tried.
I had several nice conversations with other observers over the idea of whether a train was heading our way or not. Turns out it wasn’t. One gentleman was from the Pacific Northwest and he said he’d been on the east coast for a year and he loved it. Wasn’t sure he wanted to leave. Another man was able to identify the mystery critter that ran across the path, from the rocks at the edge of the water and into the brush. It was a mink, he said. I’ll take his word for it. No picture, sorry. And lastly there was a woman who was from the area and had experience with riding the trains that used to travel in the area in the summer. But, as usual, the conversation took this twist and that twist and we wound up talking about quilting, and living alone, and making do with tiny houses. Every now and then I would look up and see a sailboat, or a tug boat, or I’d think about the scenery beyond the railroad bridge, and take a few pictures. Eventually it was time for her to get back to her bike ride, and I headed back to the pop up, quite pleased with the day’s events. Nice talking with you Charlene…
The quaintness factor of Nantucket became apparent even as our ship docked at Straight Wharf. All the buildings have cedar shingles, weathered to a soft gray, and trimmed in historical colors only. The window boxes are filled to overflowing with flowers in a riot of colors. Former fishing shacks (each valued at over $1M) greet you as you dock, and on the dock they are repurposed to be shops, with their colorful wares spilling out the doors. So colorful that I didn’t realize the sky had clouded over while I was taking pictures. And lots of places to eat, the smells were heavenly. 
After a mug of delicious chowder I headed out to take the bus tour of the island. The driver was a wealth of information about the history of the island. So much so that my mind is boggled to remember it all. First of all, turn left at this sign to find the tour. And if you find it then by all means take it.
On the tour you will pass a shop with interesting panes in the windows. The remnants of glass blowing produces these spirals of thick glass which I had never seen before. I was reduced to shooting pictures through the window of the bus, switching from side to side, and that’s obvious in some of these photos. I’m glad there were empty seats so I could do that without driving anyone nuts. The driver pointed out the oldest house in Nantucket, purchased as a wedding gift to Jethro Coffin and his bride in 1686. And he mentioned that Benjamin Franklin’s mother was born on Nantucket. The Old Mill is still in operation, so when you pass by it you never know which direction the sails will be facing. The cap turns so that they can be faced to the wind in order to operate. They can also be covered in canvas also, to aide in their operation.
But all of that information was a bonus to me. The entire reason I wanted to take the bus tour was to see another lighthouse. There are three on the island, but the last one is only accessible with a 4-wheeled drive vehicle or from the water. So the Sankaty Head Light was my grand finale of the day. The driver said that the light blinks faithfully every 7 1/2 seconds, but he admitted that they had turned it off once but he didn’t know that, and he confidently told that tour group to watch for it but it didn’t happen. He thoughtfully stopped the bus and let me off to get some pictures, but I made sure he wasn’t going to take off again in 7 1/2 seconds. He promised he wouldn’t.
I confess that I photoshopped a golfer out of this shot. He was in ALL my lighthouse shots. Even the distant shot. Go ahead and check if you like. The beach erosion on the far side of the island is taking a toll. Million dollar houses are now perilously close to toppling into the water. Concerned citizens funded the relocation of the lighthouse 400 feet further from the water, and it was determined that they would have lost the lighthouse if they had waited another year. There are also many perils for ships off of the coast right there. The Andrea Doria and the Swedish ship Stockholm crashed 45 miles off the coast. Fog was the culprit in that wreck. But many ships met their end there, and the wreckage lies on the bottom along the coast. Or in the Shipwreck and Whaling Museum. For 150 years Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world. Yes, this sleepy little town has seen it’s share of history.
Nantucket was quickly lost in the fog as we pulled out of the harbor heading back to Hyannis. The fog got heavier and the ship was rocking in the waves. My last photo op of the day was supposed to be sunset from the water, and that would have been nice, but all in all I’m not complaining…
Leaving Hyannis continued to reveal lovely images as we pulled away from shore. I do love the new camera with the terrific zoom capability, but it’s the fact that you can get clear shots without the tripod that puts it over the top. A tripod on that rolling deck wouldn’t have been fun to try to use. And the zoom let me see a woman using some sort of mystery device, at least from my point of view. I saw it as a black frame with two pieces of glass and couldn’t imagine what it was. I put the picture on my Cape Cod group and they thought it was just an iPad! She was taking pictures, LOL.
There was nothing to see but water and sky after a while, but then I noticed a shape breaking the horizon line. I wondered if it was a lighthouse, but through the camera’s zoom I could see the triangular shape of sails. The boat was the ‘fast ferry’, and it was really moving, and of course there was some rock, so trying to get a picture seemed futile but that didn’t stop me. I probably took more shots of that than I did of anything else that day. Especially because of the blinking light. It was performing exactly as the lighthouse lights do, steadily on and off. I asked about that on the Cape Cod group also, but no one seemed to have an answer. It did not seem to be moving, it seemed to be stationary. It is still a mystery.
And then Nantucket came into view. Even the harbor seemed quaint to me as we approached. I forgot to look for the Brant Point lighthouse until we were right on top of it. I believe I heard that it’s the second oldest and and also the smallest lighthouse. But I heard so many facts about the history of Nantucket that day that I was boggled so I will have to try to do some research before I try to repeat them. I had arrived…
No, not a prediction, it’s a place. A park actually. It wasn’t what I expected as I looked at the map on the computer. I was in Panera, located in a shopping plaza (Derby Street, Hingham, MA) with lots of shops that I’d have loved to visit, but I wondered if there were photo ops nearby. World’s End Park showed up as an option. I expected to park on a lot and take a few waterfront shots and be on my way. But, as is often the case, I was wrong.
I paid my $6 fee and the very nice Ranger told me that the entire figure-eight trail was about 3 miles long. Be sure to take the right hand fork to see a nice ocean view, she said. And then come back on the opposite trail to the highest point in the park with a view of the Boston skyline. So I was going to have to work for it. Plus I had planned another stop that afternoon so I limited my walk to the first loop in the figure eight. I have to wonder what I missed in the other half of the park. It would be worth another trip to find out. 
Your views were mostly through the trees that lined the waterfront on the park side of the water. So here are your ‘ocean views’, look way out beyond the road.
And the Boston skyline. I love Boston, maybe I ought to investigate taking the “T” in for a day of photo ops…
I should mention that my computer issue was as simple as ‘dusting’ out the magnetic connection between the charging cord and the laptop. It’s all fixed. And another friend took the hint and dusted hers out and solved her own computer issue. Always happy to help…
