The master in the art of living
Early spring at the boardwalk, Asbury Park
Every once in a while I make an excuse to visit the octopus lady that’s down in the old Casino on the boardwalk in Asbury Park; yesterday afternoon I went over with the intention of photographing some of the other public art that’s on display while the building is being revamped, but my lens was drawn to her, again.
There’s something about this mural that feels very out of place there and yet very right for being surrounded by a building that’s falling apart all around her. It amuses me to watch the contrast of yuppy joggers and local bums strolling beneath her coquettish glance, seemingly unaware of the change to the city she might portend.
Some more pics from the Casino are in this post.
Bird geeks.
Camera geek
😉
Not much difference, huh?
Other than the lighthouse, the main draw at Barnegat Light is the sea ducks. The problem is the birds like to hang out way at the end of this jetty along the inlet. Scary stuff! If you haven’t already seen the link at Patrick’s blog, have a look at this story of a local birder who recently fell and was trapped out there in his quest for pics of the eiders that frequent the inlet.
Most people walk the jetty like it’s nothing, but I’m normally a trembling mess. I was ready to refuse outright today and walk along the sand, but went ahead anyway and found it okay. Maybe cause the rocks were dry and it wasn’t freezing cold. The birds make the walk worth it… nestled among the rocks are pretty harlequins and the inlet offered close looks at common loons in breeding plumage and courting oldsquaw.
Way out at the very tip, the jetty boulders were squirming with purple sandpipers… little dark birds that I like nearly as much as sanderlings.
Have a look at Steve’s pics from today… wow. (Camera envy.)
I met the moveable feast of Spring a bit ahead of schedule; found it spread with sun among the mountains and laughed at my urge to escape the last bitter days of a too long winter.
Where shade lies deep in hilly woodlands, trilliums were hurried to bloom in the unseasonable heat of an early March day.
Patches of bluets frosted the early green of grass at our feet and tempted the eye of passing butterflies.
Among the leaf mold on rocky hillsides we found hepatica blooming and the promise of dogtooth violets in the dampness alongside the river.
Lush ferns and mosses trailside hinted at the beauty that’ll come later when the mountain laurel and rhododendron bloom above them.
With any luck, I’ll find these same beauties closer to home in a couple weeks, with the same wonder and hope in my heart, reaching still for something beyond.
Spring… have you wandered to find it yet?
😉
We had near to a foot of snow finally; it blew into great drifts that swallowed Luka whole. The neighbor’s catalpa served as a staging area for the robins and cedar waxwings waiting for a turn to drink from our little fishpond. The deep end is free of ice thanks to a bubbler constantly churning the surface, the shallows a tea-colored slush from the oak leaves accumulated under the thin ice.
The holly tree out front kept a small army of robins fed today, their plump bodies colored for spring. I want to feel sorry for them out there in the cold and snow, but they seem content enough, even if they don’t look it.
Black Swan, Sunset Lake, Asbury Park
I’m guessing there won’t be any more snow this season; not that there was much to speak of anyway. I miss the blizzards we used to get when I was a kid, when everything would be buried and the neighborhood was transformed for a couple days.
Anyway… I took this pic back in late January at one of my favorite parks. I’m looking forward to finding meadowlarks in that field next month.
That’s Sunshine with half her face smooshed up through the gate…
😉
