Friday, July 8, 2016

Lesson 427: Wild Life


Happy weekend, Readers!


Thanks for getting a ticket for your weekend wildlife tour.




Summer is a unique time of year here at the Lamp Post.
Both hubby and I are teachers 
and all of our children are school-aged.





We have 1440 minutes a day to fill,
and that we do.
Most days are filled with laughter
and loving,
and learning.



And yes,
many a squabble.
We're very, very normal.




Eloise will be your guide for a trip through my Wild Life.
Be Nice! :)

We spent some of the week exploring--
Panama Rocks in New York-
-about a 45 minute drive from the Lamp Post.

Here is my crew in July of 2016.


This is my mom (little blond girl) and her posse
66 Julys prior in 1950.
You can tell it's July because of the American flag on the center right
and my uncle's Christmas in July sweater on the back left.
Snazzy!


We had a Canadian Invasion on July 4th!
Despite my dad's careful watch,


the geese hit the beach.


I've learned through recent study that they are considered a nuisance 
by many Erie area environmentalists,
and considered an invasive species as well.




We also did the Lagoon boat tour at Presque Isle this week.
They offer free tours each day,
but you must sign up that day--no pre-registration.
I'd recommend going to get in line by 9:00 if you want the first tour out at 11:00.
By 9:30 there was a line and the first boat was filled.
Registration opens at 10:00 each morning.
Thanks to Cousin Bonnie,
the early riser who secured our place in line,
and we caught the first boat out on Wednesday.

We geocached while we waited--
there is a nice one right at the lagoons.


The tour was great.
The boats have a few sets of binoculars to pass around.


You can spy turtles sunning themselves on logs,


and doing other stuff.
I learned the male turtles are smaller than females.
Hope she wasn't disappointed.


The tour took you through Graveyard Pond,
Long Pond,
and Big Pond,
as well as out into Misery Bay.


We saw lots of cool things while we toured, picnicked, and beached it.


Squirrels.



Birds.


Bicycles built for two.


And for LOST fans:
Hurley's van with a fresh paint job--sunny yellow!


We found some right in our own pond in Harborcreek Community Park.


It's no lagoon,
but you'll recognize it with it's lone tree--
something I photograph often.

With a warmer than usual winter without much snow,
and a dry spring, we are four inches below normal.
You can see it in the pond's overflow drain.


The low water levels and the warm temps allowed for lots of plant and algae growth.
Frogs love plants!



There are hundreds of them to watch!
Come check it out.

Although,


you will be the one who feels like you are being watched!



The open fields at sunset are very pretty this time of year.







Nothing,
but nothing, 
beats the Erie sunsets though.


Daughter Ellen Louise mentioned it on our recent vacation to the Maryland shore.
Sam was all excited to see the sunset over the ocean.
After a mini-earth science lesson,
he figured out that we'd be seeing the sun RISE over the ocean instead.


Ellen made this realization after snapping this photograph,


"You know, Erie really does have bomb sunsets," she said.



The sun has set on this day,
and Eloise is ready to retire.

The skies are cloudy,
much like this,
but the heaviness released onto the earth with a much needed rain.


Rain may not be so good for Sam's first All-Star game.



He plays a few games tomorrow, 
beginning at 9:00 am.


You can't stick your tongue out at the weather, Sam.
No sense worrying about something you can't change.


Lesson for the weekend:
Save your concerns for more pressing matters.

And I'll leave you with this picture
as my final wordless story for the weekend.


ELOISE











No comments: