FROM HAYING TO
PLAYING......I am back in beautiful Maine, now for a week. Connecticut cooled off a bit while we were there saying good bye to our home for over 40 years - a 1715 Saltbox. What amazed me down there were the huge, leaf laden trees. It made me remember all the years that I had raked them while the kids made forts and jumped into them. Here, the wind seems to blow the fewer leaves away and leaf raking is less of a pain. Driving up as we passed into Massachusetts, the Laurel was in full bloom. Along the roads, blue Chicory decorated the scene. Upon our arrival in Phippsburg, the peonies were colorful as the iris and lupine are fading. One thing I'd like to share of my Connecticut experiences during the brief stay, was observing the haying being done. Fields were cut, and the grass mounded in rows. Then, along would come a baler that I had never witnessed before. It would take those rows of hay and bundle them into tied rectangles. Once formed, they would shoot out the back into a cart. Believe me, those bales were flying up into the air and bouncing into the cart. I just sat there and smiled. In the picture to the left, if you look closely, you can see a bale heading up into the cart.
of water on the upper rocks to see if the tadpoles, seen earlier,
had survived. Sure enough, the tadpoles were sprouting legs, and
some observant campers even found tiny 1/2 inch toads hoping off
into the shrubbery! I couldn't believe it.....right there on the
shoreline! The picture to the right should give you an idea of
where we were finding these amphibian creatures.
idents of Starfish Cave, remembering there
were no sea stars there on our first walk last year. We weren't
disappointed. There were lots, though most were small. Urchins
of a good size were also found, plus the usual sponges and anemones.
The group was large enough to hang around and make Inuksuks; one
group even fashioned an airplace made of rocks! The picture to
the left shows our returning the creatures to the cave after a
closer look in a pan.