Finally a Sunny Day

Posted on March 18, 2014March 18, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Take full advantage of it, a sunny, blue sky day high 50’s maybe even 60’s. Of course it rained the next day but still it’s a taste of things to come. That was last Tuesday.

I couldn’t waste a day like that so I decided to go exploring. You’d think after all the years I’ve been “exploring” that I’d have found everyplace but not so. Last summer I heard about a place in Wrentham, MA that I just have to find.

It’s not an Audubon Sanctuary and most of my sources just scratch their heads. Maybe they are really just keeping it to themselves?

Anyway I poked around on the internet and finally found a brief reference to Wrentham Conservation. That was it. I dug and poked some more and finally got a street, That was enough. It was supposed to be off RT 140 on the left so I’d just follow RT 140 until I found it. Sounds good right?

I passed through Norton, MA . I stopped in Foxboro because I spotted a pretty , white church steeple. I just love those white New England Church Steeples especially when I can get an angle without tons of utility lines blocking the view.

After my brief photo stop I moved on past the Foxboro office. As I approached the northern side of Foxboro I stopped at a DQ Restaurant for a $5.00 lunch special. A price like that’s better than McDonald’s. Then back on RT 140, still looking.

Finally I found the left turn I was looking for. The road soon split. The right hand fork went to a Quarry and a Sand and Gravel company. The right fork meandered past nice homes on a lake. Of course the lake is still frozen right now but I bet it’s pretty there in summer.

At the end of the road was a DPW building and there was a worker by a truck. I pulled in and started to ask him about the area and he knew right away. I’d just gone a little too far. He was really enthused about the location. He said it was marshy and loaded with beaver and Great Blue Herons.

I turned around and found the cut off. Hard to believe Wrentham still has so much snow. The trail dipped down a little hill but I was in sneakers and the hill was ice and packed snow. I was sliding with every step. Rather than break my neck I decided that it would be better to wait a little longer. Let spring thaw a little more and return with boots and hiking stick because by then it won’t be snow and ice, it will be mud!

Can’t wait to really check it out!

Top O’ The Mornin’ To You

Posted on March 17, 2014March 17, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Happy Saint Patty’s Day!

Is Spring Trying to Arrive?

Posted on March 16, 2014March 16, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Monday, March 10 and I awoke to another snow storm. The snow was melting over the weekend and all but the snow piles were gone. Dirt and ground was snow free.

I sighed and went about my morning routine resigned to taking more pictures of snow but then it stopped and a weak sun tried to peak out. A little later I looked out and that new snow was gone! All melted away even if clouds had won out over the sun.

Determined to find something other than snow for my project 365 challenge I grabbed the camera and set off.

Everyone says how pretty spring is but not this early. It’s pretty depressing. the snow banks that are left are dirty. Trash lines the sides of the roads where it’s dropped out of the melting snow.

Trees aren’t green yet and with no sun everything is dull.

Eventually I found myself at the herring run at Oliver Mills in Middleboro. A gaggle of Canada Geese were browsing the hill above the river. Two pairs of ducks were swimming below the fish ladder.

Other than that it was quiet. I was struck by how different it looks when there are not trees to block the view.

I took a small road that runs above the site to try capturing the views that are normally blocked.

As I was snap-snapping away a movement caught my attention. It was a gray kitten and he was running like his life depended on it. Probably does most of the time but not from me.

Then I saw this little black spot. I looked closer and realized there was another kitten, a little black one, and he was staring at me as if to say I dare you to come closer. Of course I had to try. I inched my way a half step at a time. Slowly I got close enough to photograph him. He was still staring at me.

At that point a big delivery truck rumbled past and I looked away to step out of it’s path. After the truck went by I looked back and the kitten was gone.

I went back to the car and sat for a bit to see if either of them would come back. I didn’t see them again but my patience was rewarded by my first sighting of the year of a great blue heron. Spring must be on the way!

The Ides Of March

Posted on March 15, 2014March 15, 2014 by Dusty Roads

In modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, “The ides of March have come,” meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied “Aye, Caesar; but not gone.”

I remember learning this is school. I think we learned it in English class, not history, when we read some of Shakespeare’s plays. I was not a fan. To this day I find the Bard hard to understand. But this phrase did stick in my mind and apparently in many other peoples minds as well. I think everyone is familiar with the expression if not where it comes from.

It seems March 15 is right behind Friday the 13th as a day with bad vibes. 🙂 The ‘superstitions’ concerning the Ides of March are that on that date there would be forebodings that certain tragic events might befall persons if they do not heed the warning signs.

I am no soothsayer and I am not particularly superstitious but I will wish everyone well today while I remind you to “Beware the Ides of March”.

The Real Reason To Go To Gatlinburg

Posted on March 14, 2014March 14, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I touched on this yesterday in my post about Cade’s Cove. When all the moonshine and whiskey, train rides and Dollywood are said and done, the real reason I want to go to Gatlinburg is the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

The Park Services page turned out to be an awesome resource for planning my visit. Since I’ve been struggling with arthritis and recovering from my spill in San Diego, I don’t know how much stamina I’ll have for hikes. I hope to be able to do some but it’s too soon to tell. My right hip still acts up quite a lot. Just in case hiking is not an option the website lists the auto tours.

An auto tour of the park offers a chance to see panoramic vistas, cascading mountain rivers, weathered historic buildings, and majestic forests stretching to the horizon.

We know there’s one though Cades Cove but there’s a whole list of others:

Cataloochee Valley
Newfound Gap Road
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
Upper Tremont Road

In addition, the book Smokies Road Guide covers main thoroughfares and scenic backroads in the park. This book and the self-guiding auto tour booklets listed above are available at park visitor centers and online. Self-guiding tour booklets are also available from dispensers at the start of the roads they cover.

I have my National Parks Pass and my “Passport books” to get stamps but there’s no entrance fee to the park anyway! Yup one of the most visited parks in the US is free.

I’m heading to the park in the spring. Anytime is beautiful in this park but the Great Smokey National Park is knick named the Wildflower National Park. Spring and summer are renown for spectacular displays of wildflowers along roads and trails.

And along with the wildflowers are wildlife. The Site offers tips for wildlife viewing. Some are standard like view early or late in the day but I especially liked this advice: Viewing wildlife in the Smokies can be challenging because most of the park is covered by dense forest. Open areas like Cataloochee and Cades Cove offer some of the best opportunities to see white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoon, turkeys, woodchucks, and other animals. The narrow, winding road of Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail encourages motorists to travel at a leisurely pace and sometimes yields sightings of bear and other wildlife.

I’m so ready to go check this out! I’m polishing and cleaning the camera, lenses and filter. I hope I can get some photos that come close to the beautiful ones I get to see when I search online.