I am a Wimp

Posted on February 20, 2016February 20, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

I am a wimp. There I admit it. Last weekend the cold in the northeast smashed all records. With wind chills we were being warned about frost bite in 10 minutes!

With this dire prediction I got up at 4:30 am to drive to Scituate Ma to take pictures of the “sea smoke”. I wanted to get there around dawn.

sea smoke

Sea smoke is a phenomenon where fog wisps up off the water like smoke tendrils. The bitter cold and the warmer ocean were perfect conditions. But I am a wimp.

I got as far as sticking my nose out from the warm, toasty covers before I pulled the covers back over my head and went back to sleep.

Bed 002

I was really ashamed when I saw the absolutely beautiful photos my friend Sean took. I wish I could share them with you but I don’t have his permission . Search him out on Face Book. You’ll see some great pictures.

Sean Goss photography

Dino Land or Into the Fog!

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

Dusk was fast approaching. The twilight time when shadows lengthen and imagination runs wild.

We watched the “Great Pumpkin” wow the crowd and explored the exhibits tucked in the entry square and then it was time to take that first step.

Once you start down that path there’s no turning back. You enter the world of the dinosaur. Sounds wash over you like a wave. Birds calling, strange growls and grunts, some distant thunder.

Fog, misty, creepy fog clings to the trail and plants. Pumpkin displays and jack-o-lanterns line the path but you know there is more.

You can hear them, even sense them and there looming out of the gloom is your first dinosaur.

Jurassic Park in the northeast. A pterodactyl takes flight and a baby raptor bounces in the bushes waving his tiny hands.

They are all here. Allosaurus, stegosaurus, and triceratops. The Famous Tyrannosaurus Rex. More fog drifts past as the atmosphere deepens. More thunder and now there’s lightning.

You hear the rumbling almost before you see it. The great brontosaurus, traveling in a herd, stomachs growling like a bad case of indigestion. Thunder lizards!

Let you imagination soar. Go at dusk, not during the day. Experience the atmosphere. Imagine it. You’ve entered the land of the lost.

Just Another Monday

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

I got myself all excited in anticipation of yesterday. The weather folks said warm weather, no rain nor snow nor sleet. Temps mid 70’s maybe even 80 in some places. Oh yeah I am all worked up. Where will I go? What will I do with such a perfect day before me?

I was so excited I woke up at 4 am. The cats looked at me like I was nuts.

I peeked out the window at the pre dawn and saw…FOG! A thick gray blanket obscured everything. Ok back to bed. After all 4 am is almost the middle of the night.

4 hours later I hopped out of bed. It was pretty dark for 8 AM even with the curtains closed. I peeked out the window and it was still foggy. Not as thick as at 4 am but still a damper on the start of my day.

I got the cats fed, kitty litter cleaned, my breakfast done and shower out of the way in record time when my phone rang. I almost didn’t answer it but easier to just deal with it and get it out of the way. Turns out it was a work call. Oh well I was a good girl and took care of it.

Time now to take the trash out and decide where I’m headed with the camera. I was surprised by how windy it was. I had thought about going to the arboretum but with winds like this I decided to see if the ocean might be crashing…surfs up dude!

As I grabbed my camera the phone rang again. Another work call. What’s going on? No one ever calls me back! I took care of that one and headed out the door again.

I stopped at Oliver Mill first. There were car loads of people which as usual translates to no birds. Only 2 gulls and 1 Canada goose. I left the folks to wander the stream looking for fish and headed to Plymouth. Next stop Manomet Point.

By the time I got there the sun had completely disappeared behind the clouds. The wind was still blowing but there were only a few whitecaps, no “angry sea”, no seals. 🙁 Not to be discouraged I took out the big lens and attached it to the camera. I recently read an article about hand holding these big telephotos and I wanted to try it out.

I spotted a little bird’s head sticking up over a rock. I think it’s a cormorant. So here goes nothing. I hefted that big old lens up , focused and snap snap. I took 3 shots. 2 were only so- so but this one isn’t half bad for my first try.