Squeeze the Day FFO, Swans, and a Bald Eagle, Too!

 Update: Please note . . . I wrote this cheery, breezy piece and posted it earlier this afternoon before news broke of the unspeakable horror of the murder of nineteen children and two adults at an elementary school in Texas. A week ago there was another mass murder where a racist shooter killed ten people and wounded three at a supermarket in Buffalo, NY.

    It has been ten years since the slaughter of innocent lives in Sandy Hook, CT. 

    What is being done to end this insanity? 

    God help us all.

                                       =============================

                                                   

Here is a recent finish, Squeeze the Day, a cross stitch pattern designed by Lindsay Weight of Primrose Cottage Stitches on Etsy. The yellow chair was from Michaels. 

I’ve been trying to publish this post since early last week, but my laptop would not allow me to upload photos from my “real” camera. I even went to the Apple store intending to purchase a new laptop as mine is at least ten to twelve years old only to learn that if ordered that day it would not arrive until some time in July. I did not place an order and eventually I was able to upload the images you will see below in this post.

As a general rule, after getting up early my entire teaching career, I have made it a point never to wake at the crack of dawn. In fall and winter, I might get up at 8:30 and in spring and summer 7:30 or 8:00 seem like civilized times to start my day. :-) Why am I telling you this? One morning last week I woke at 6:00. It was bright and sunny and the night before I had seen Carol’s latest blog post at Carol’s View of New England. [If you don’t follow her blog, you should consider it as she is a wonderful photographer.] Anyway, she had posted among other things images of the swan family at Jenny Pond in Plymouth, so I decided to head down there with my camera.

At one point, the ducks and Canada geese were getting a bit to close, so Mrs. Swan called out for her hubby. With a thunderous flapping of wings, he came zooming in from the other end of the pond to drive away the offenders. Here he is laying down the law to two geese who had gotten too close.

Soon peace was restored. One sad note. . . in her post Carol showed seven cygnets. There were only four by the time I visited. I have been told that the little ones often fall victim to the large snapping turtles.

As I was wandering around taking photos, a gentleman asked me if I had been to photograph the bald eagles. I know there are many nesting pairs on the south shore, but I have yet to see any. He gave me directions and off I went.

I could not see the eaglets, but dad was on duty. 

The nest is huge and has been there in that spot for at least five years. I learned about it from some birders who were incensed that a young woman had disregarded the sign and whom they felt was too close to the nest. I suggested that perhaps she had not seen the small sign telling people not to get any closer than 300 yds. They responded that they had informed her, but that had not gone well. I’m glad I missed that. Why is it that some people think the rules and signs do not apply to them? Would I have liked to get closer? You betcha, but I wouldn’t ignore the message on the posted sign. I was able to get these images with my 100-300 zoom. She should not have been that close and given that her lens was gigantic, she did not need to be that close. To see larger versions of any of these images, please do click on the photos, especially the eagle ones. Will I be heading down there again in hopes of spotting the eaglets? You betcha! I’m told they are most active early in the morning. Of course, that will mean getting up very early again. . . 

All of this activity occurred before 11:00. Did I manage to squeeze anything else exciting into my day? You betcha! My cousin Miss Lucy was taking part in a track meet in Hingham which I attended. The weather was perfect and it was fun to see all the events. Besides watching her compete, I enjoyed watching the discus throwing. Each athlete had her own style and wind up before letting the discus fly.  I’m sure that it not the correct terminology, but it was sure fun to watch. Lord help the man in the field measuring the throws as a few times he narrowly escaped being hit. One errant throw ricocheted off a lamppost, and it was a good thing he was fleet of foot as it headed straight for him.

After the track meet, Lucy, her mom, and I went to dinner. I had truly managed to squeeze a lot into that day!

Have a great week and don’t forget to squeeze the day!!!

One more thing . . . do I realize “betcha” is not proper English? Yes, I do. Do I intend to keep using it? You betcha! ;-)