Happy Wednesday! Yesterday I was out exploring for things I can share and I took an unusual picture. Let’s see if you can guess what it is!
Category Archives: Massachusetts
The Butterfly Place
The Butterfly Place in Westford, MA is located at 120 Tyngsboro Rd. It’d been a long, long time since I’d been there. From where I live in Taunton it’s about 70 miles and should take about an hour and 30 minutes to get there, depending on traffic.
I was making good time until an RV and an SUV decided to mix it up at the junction of RT 90 (Mass Pike) I was about 2 miles from the “Pike” when traffic stopped. The WB ‘copter floated overhead so I had an up to the minute report. According to them we weren’t going anywhere soon.
I shut off the car and open the windows and doors. Soon everyone was doing the same. People wandered around at the side of the road or up and down between the cars. Several ambulances and tow trucks went by but I didn’t see any Med flights so that was a good sign.
The hour we waited actually passed pretty quickly and I arrived at The Butterfly Place at 2:30 instead of 1:30.
The rules are simple, No Touch, No Talk, No Eye Contact..no wait, that’ the Dog Whisperer but it was similar. To protect the fragile inmates there was a no touch policy. If you are caught trying to attract a butterfly to your hands you are asked to leave.
It’s smaller than the Magic Wings venue in Deerfield but the principle is the same. There’s a coi pond, paths through greenery and little benches. Butterflies are everywhere. This is a family owned business so I don’t know if the staff was family or “hired help” but they were very nice and quite knowledgeable. They laughed when I told them I wanted to take pictures (Turns out so did everyone else) and challenged me to get a picture of one of the blue butterflies showing the blue. When they land they close their wings and look like a drab , brown butterfly.
They were the challenge, for sure. When they lit on the ground they did spread their wings…for a second and in spite of trying forever I couldn’t time it right so imagine my surprise when one landed right next to me and spread its wings as if to say “take it now, you only have one chance.”
Although we finally had a pleasant day outside, it was 80+ and humid inside. Just the temps the butterflies love.
You’ve already seen my favorite pictures on Wordless Wednesday.
Like Magic Wings, there were little Quail running every where. You had to be careful not to step on the tiny birds. The attendant called them Chinese Painted Quail.
Don’t let the small size fool you. They are fully mature. More than one pair were intent on making little quail. I got a chuckle when I heard a small voice ask his mother “What’s Mating?”.
I also spotted a pretty little bird. I couldn’t place it but something was tugging at the corner of my mind so I asked. It’s a Zebra Finch. I must have seen them at a pet store as they are domestic birds. She said there are 3 but the most I saw at once were 2 and I couldn’t tell them apart.
Butterfly wings closes at 5pm so about 4:30 I picked up the camera and headed home. The timing would put me right in rush hour traffic but it was worth it. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.
Norris Reservation
I love learning about little hidden gems of protected areas. Green spaces in the heart of urban Massachusetts, always a surprise, always a treasure.
I guess it’s true that you can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl. I grew up in the Adirondacks exploring the woods and fields and then I became “urbanized” , exploring the concrete jungle, museums, aquariums, zoos. As I’ve grown older I’ve been increasingly draw back toward my roots. I’ve tired of traffic and gas fumes and crowds. I look for quiet places, woods and steams. I thrill to the sight of a hawk or osprey, a great blue heron or an egret; the flick of a white tail’s flag , a parade of baby geese.
I follow the news of great white sharks off Cape Cod or the rescue of a baby harbor seal.
So I was thrilled to learn of a little place called Norris Reservation in Norwell, MA.
The day I was introduced to this little island of green was one of the hottest, most humid days we have had in this summer of hot, humid days. But even with the uncomfortable conditions I met plenty of other walkers.
Norris Reservation is small, only about 2 miles of easy trails, but it wasn’t crowded. There are board walks and well groomed trails covered in pine needles.
Lovely stone benches along the way let you pause and contemplate the quiet beauty of the natural surroundings.
I only explored about 1/2 of the trails on this, my first visit. I didn’t get to the tidal marsh or the bend in the North River.
The literature speaks of a boat house and picnic areas that I still need to discover.
My direction took me over a little bridge to a boardwalk around a pond. I heard something splashing in the water but I couldn’t see what it was. I sat on a bench and watched the fish rise and dragon flies zoom from flower to flower.
In the distance I could hear children laughing and splashing…maybe a back yard pool?
All in all not a bad way to spend a hot , summer afternoon.
Hot, Humid and Hazy At Gristmill Pond
One of the things that fell by the wayside as I made adjustments to my new life in Real Estate was my photography. I was so caught up in studying for my test and getting trained in my new duties that I stopped going out to shoot. After I passed my test I realized I hadn’t even had the camera in hand for a month! The last time was while I was in Seattle the beginning of June. That is unheard of for me! Since I bought the camera I have tried to take a least a few pictures every day.
I had a photo shoot scheduled to take senior pictures in Brewster Gardens in Plymouth July 8 so I dusted off the camera and lenses and headed to the Gristmill Pond in Plymouth to shake off the rust before the shoot.
When I got there it was sunny and the sky was blue, a beautiful day. The breeze off the ocean was keeping the temperatures down so I was expecting great light by the time of the appointment at 6 pm.
I pulled into the pond to see Mr & Mrs Majestic (your remember them, the swan couple) escorting one juvenile swan. I don’t know if they are still cygnets if they have their white feathers, but they were putting on a parade up and down the pond…a perfect photo op.
I hopped out of the air conditioned car, pulled out the camera and started taking pictures. It felt great to have the camera back in hand. I noticed the lenses kept fogging up. I expected that when I first stepped out of the car but after awhile the temps should have equalized. That’s when I noticed the blue sky was gone and the fog was rolling in off the ocean.
I wandered back to the car to remove the UV filter and of course the swans came swimming back again the minute I walked away.
I slammed the trunk of the car and ran back for more pictures when it hit me…where were my car keys?….I’d just had them. I used them to open the trunk.
I looked under the car. I checked my pockets. I looked in the car windows…nothing. Then it hit me. I must have dropped them in the trunk while I was rummaging in the camera bag!
Oh boy, I’m really stuck. I have AAA but my cell phone is also locked in the car. Where’s a thief when you need one. I started asking anyone in the area who had a truck if they had any wire or anything I could use to unlock the car. No luck or maybe no one was willing to admit they could break in.
Meanwhile the clock was ticking down to my appointment.
Finally I walked to the Old Grist Mill and begged a phone call. AAA agreed to send someone but gave an ETA of 6:30. I couldn’t even call my appointment to tell them I’d be late because the phone # was on my cell phone which was locked in the car!
I know I was looking like a crazy woman. I was sweating and red faced because of the humidity. If it’s one thing that makes me crazy , it’s being late!
Well as they saying goes, all is well that ends well. AAA arrived early and had me into the car and trunk in minutes. They were awesome. I made it to Brewster Gardens 10 minutes early and the photo shoot went off without a hitch.
This is an example of the beautiful results. 🙂
The soft light from the clouds and fog that rolled in gave me wonderful exposures and my client and I had a great laugh over my panic.