HAPPY VALENTINE'S
DAY!!I almost forgot that this holiday was on my doorstep! Usually I am Connecticut at this time of year where we have a tradition of hiking to find natural objects that are red, heart shaped or show signs of affection! I will try to do such a hunt in the days left before the 14th. I've used this bird before - it is one of my daughter's Daily Birds that she created while a student at Syracuse's School of Visual and Performing Arts. Each week for their newspaper she did a bird with some kind of weird beak. Note the design on the bird's valentine. Anyway, this starts off a tribute to this fun day.
I did
create a heart of sorts on the beach a while back. I remember
my hands were so cold that the symmetry suffered. These were things
I found on the beach that were reddish - a couple of frigid Sea
Stars, empty crab carapaces, and stones of a red/orange color.
I think there is one piece of a brick in there. The arrow is made
from Razor Clam shells and snail shells. I'm sure you could do
better!
would
make a catch and dine while producing a blood red scene. No capture
was witnessed. I pressed on while buttoning up. I started my search
on Head Beach. The tide was low and right away I saw a gull poking
at the sand just above the waves. I checked the hole and pulled
out a Surf Clam which he was after. I threw the clam to him, and
when he felt comfortable with my presence, grabbed the clam for
lunch. Those are tough clams to open, and I watched him drop it
from a height to break open the shell. My sharing the clam was
a Valentine-ish generosity. Usually, I try to save the clam from
these birds.
it
would be fun to look for their nests in the Cattail Marsh now
that it is frozen over! So I picked my way through the Cattails,
but found none. Sort of like finding a needle in a haystack! But
I did find a gem nearby while looking for more Rose Hips.........a
Cecropia Moth cocoon! It wasn't red, heart-shaped or affectionate,
but it was my first such find up here in a few years. It's that
sort of fuzzy thing attached to a branch of Bayberry near the
red rose hips........
As
for signs of affection, I figure the beavers are snuggled in their
lodge which appears to be frozen in. I thought there might be
an opening in the ice at some distance from the lodge where the
sun had softened the ice. Remember, these creatures can swim under
ice for some distances, and there is usually a layer of air just
under the ice cake. Lichen somehow answers the quest for affection
to me. These two plants, a fungus and an alga, have developed
an association of dependence that withstands the test of time
and weather. Here is one such lichen growing on the shoreline
rocks oblivious to the harsh conditions. There is also a suggestion
of red in the garnets embedded in the piece of rock closeby, and
streaks of red that may indicate the presence of iron. These were
found at the mouth of the Bathtub.