Wonders of the world
We went to Connecticut for five days to visit family and friends. It was a trip full of memories – good ones and not-so-good ones. Interesting to notice what I remembered, what I never would have remembered without being prompted, what I had no memory of. We had dinner with my siblings and niece and her kids in “Harbor Point” – a newly developed area of Stamford jutting out into Long Island Sound. It was like Disneyworld. We used to ride our bicycles down there and I didn’t recognize anything from previous visits.
I also rode the train into New York City to meet my friend. The museum we were going to visit (the Metropolitan Museum) was closed, so I will look at the catalog for the Weaving Abstraction exhibit in pdf instead of in person.
We went to another museum (MoMA) and saw the Käthe Kollwitz exhibit. There’s a lot I could write about it, but I wasn’t very focused. I was mainly enjoying spending time with my friend.
We saw this pileated woodpecker working on a stump outside a strip mall in Darien, Connecticut. I couldn’t believe it. It was like being visited by a god. Sam was driving and saw it first. He backed up (luckily no one behind us) so I could see it. I took a few pictures; this was the least blurry.
Now back home. The plants are expressing themselves exuberantly. It’s all I can do to absorb it.
Here are the poppies which self-seeded in the hoophouse. They love it in there. The fat pods will burst into bloom next week sometime.
The kale in the hoophouse has bolted and is flowering. The bees love it. It is a jungle of yellow blossoms in there. I might just let everything in there go to seed. Could it become a self-sufficient garden? On the other hand, I planted a few tomatillo seedlings and a ground cherry in there, which will need some space soon.
How wonderful to have time with a friend, and family too. Such a bold and pretty bird.
It was a good trip – the bird was a fantastic bonus!
it’s been so long since I went to Connecticut … I can well-imagine how different everything must be these days …
there’s something about large birds like your pileated woodpecker (blue herons, pelicans, cranes, and roadrunners) that is so compelling … I would have stopped for a picture, too!
Some things never seem to change, others unrecognizable. The woodpecker was breathtaking.
Wonders indeed! I hope you’ll share photos of the poppies when they bloom. Isn’t it thrilling to see a pileated woodpecker? We have them quite near in the forest surrounding our home (in Northern California). We hear them more than see them; it never fails to excite.
I will share – we have a few blooms now, expecting more. We have the woodpeckers at home in Maine but like you, hear them more than see them.
I’m reminded of Jude’s phrase from her father, “there is no there, there.” It seems it’s often the case when we go back to places from our past. The pileated woodpecker! We have had them in our woods in So. IL for several years. Before that I only had about 5 sightings in my entire life. It’s still quite a thrill to see them and I hear them much more often. I think they have been able to adapt to smaller sections of hardwood forest. But outside a strip mall!
I am always thrilled to see them. I didn’t think I’d see one on a median strip in Darien, CT!