Unusual Day At Oliver Mill Park

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I’ve been keeping an eye out for my friend, the Great Blue Heron, that hangs out at the herring run in Middleboro. Since there are actually 2 of the “herring runs” in Middleboro I like to refer to this one off Rt 44 as Oliver Mill Park. After all, there a sign there that calls it that.

A few days ago I saw a large number of photographers all running around with their gear and tripods trying to get pictures of “Blue”. Since then “Blue” hasn’t been around. I figured he felt harassed by all the attention and was giving us the cold shoulder. Now with rain keeping all but the most intrepid away, he was back.

I couldn’t pass up the chance for a couple of shots even though I didn’t have the big telephoto with me. He watched me as I made my way down to the sandy part of the river bank.

 Once there we were eye-ball to eye-ball, mono a mono so to speak when I got dive bombed by something! My first reaction was to swat it away which I now regret. I wish I’d tried to grab it instead because it was a little bird. A few minutes later one zoomed over  “Blue’s” head so close he ducked!

The birds reminded me of the swallows I see at Daniel Webster but they didn’t have the “V” tail like a swallow. They were swooping all over the place. I took my pictures and left “Blue” alone. I stopped on one of the little bridges and took a picture of the miniature waterfall. Then I headed back to the car.

I was almost in the parking lot when I saw one of the Canada Geese families. They were paddling around the upper part of the river were the water appears to be smooth.

As I watched they swam really close to the top of the fish ladder and sure enough, one of the little goslings got sucked over the edge. Now he could have just continued to float down the ladder and he would have ended up on the sand where the family could reunite but these aren’t people and all they could think to do was get back together.

So the little gosling struggled and the parents honked. Finally one of the parents went over the edge too and swam  to the gosling as if to push it up but that didn’t work. It took the adult goose several tried to get back above the ladder and the baby was still stuck.

About then we humans had seen about all we could take. One guy headed for his car to get a golf club to try to push the baby up. I was getting a shovel out of my car when the men in the 3rd car yelled that the baby had finally made it.

Mama & Papa Goose wasted no time in getting everyone away from the top of the fish ladder then. We humans were relieved that the little drama had ended well.

That sums up my unusual day at Oliver Mill Park. It isn’t every visit that I get dive bombed by a tiny bird and get to see a life and death struggle play out right in front of me.

A Poor People’s Lunch

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The taxi tour of Block Island covered a lot of the same ground I’d walked the night before so once I got to the 2nd lighthouse I was happy.

 Mission accomplished. Once we left the lighthouse it was just a short drive back to town and the taxi stop by the ferry terminal.

On the way back  Jim told me about a book he’s written about living the Christian life. He said it was called “Overcoming” and it was geared toward people who were already active in their church. It is non-denominational so any one can read it and enjoy it. He was very low-key about his accomplishment. Since he said it was his first book I asked him how he got published. I’d heard so many times about rejection slips for new authors that it seemed amazing to me that he got a publisher first try. He admitted it was tough so he had finally gone the “self-publish” route. Even so, I found the book listed on Amazon.com.

Back at the terminal I asked him where he would suggest I go for lunch. He gave me the same suggestion as the “Jim” from the day before…”The Poor People’s Pub“.

Unlike the Mohegan Cafe where I had dinner. The Poor People’s Pub was supposed to be more reasonable and where the “locals” went to eat. To get to the Poor People’s Pub I started back down Water St in the direction we’d just come. I can’t get over what a beautiful day it turned out to be.

As I meandered along Water St I admired the little park that ran between the street and the water. There are benches where you can sit and watch the ocean. Folks were walking dogs. It was just lovely.

At the end of Water St. I turned left, passed through a 4 way intersection and walked about 2 more blocks before I spotted the pub on the right.

I went inside to be seated. The interior was dark and cool but I asked if I could sit outside. It was too nice a day to waste inside. A wrap around porch held additional seating and there were quite a few patrons there already.

The menu was typical pub food..French Fries, Onion Rings, Burgers but they also offer French Onion Soup, sandwiches, pizza, salad and a kid’s menu. I actually ordered from the kid’s menu because the portions were gigantic from what I could see at the other tables. A kid’s hamburger and a soft drink was just enough for me for lunch.

While I was eating the signature car arrived. That was when I remembered someone telling me I would know I was in the right place when I saw a car with steer horns on it. Sure enough, a set of long horn steer horns were mounted on the hood of the car. Now that was a sight.

After lunch I returned to the Harborside Inn and their lovely porch to just kick back and relax. I decided I would take the 3pm ferry back.

My bags were in lockers by the ferry terminal so everything was set for my departure. This was just enough of a break… like a “nugget” of vacation …but it was time to return to real life.