Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 -- Mattie died 160 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2008. That weekend we took Mattie to Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. This is an incredible state park with a one mile walking trail down to the Chesapeake Bay. Mattie walked a mile that day through the woods, passed marshes and wildlife, and landed up on the beach that you see in this photo. The beauty of this beach is you can find sharks teeth buried in the sand if you are a good digger and more importantly patient. I have many teeth still in my kitchen which Mattie found on his trips to Calvert Cliffs.


Quote of the day: Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before - it takes something from him. ~ Louis L'Amour

As today marks the 160th week that Mattie has been gone from our lives, we thought this photo was actually very meaningful. While we were outside on the deck last night looking at the sun setting over the marsh, a butterfly came by and sat down near me. I entitle this picture, "Angel butterfly." Look at the shadow that the butterfly creates on the deck. To us, it looked like an angel! Symbolic of Mattie.

This morning, I looked out our window because I heard a high pitched chirping. Here is our resident chipmunk. Mattie was in love with chipmunks, and I took a picture of this Cape Cod "Chippy" for him.

Peter and I had another active day. We walked about 5 miles! It is supposed to rain again tomorrow, so we are trying to make the most of outdoor time while we can. Peter loves to explore and literally he took me through a back road. It was bumpy and tree branches were flying everywhere. As we hit each bump in the dirt, I literally screamed out "oh dear!" I snapped a picture of this back road, not that I will forget it any time soon. 

As we came out of this back road, there was literally a hawk flying next to our car. The hawk landed on this tree and I felt he was staring at me.

The highlight of today's journey was finding Great Hollow Beach. This beach is on Cape Cod Bay. There was no one on the beach except for a family with their toddler. The toddler was a boy and he and his dad were building sand castles. This was a very bittersweet sight to see, especially since Mattie and Peter did not only build sand castles together, they created sand cities. Each time they built on a beach, we always had other children coming over and joining us. Notice this beautiful yellow wildflower in the photo. It grows all over the dune of the Cape. I learned today that this flower is called Sienna Sunset. A very fitting name for its sunny color. Peter and I sat on a bench overlooking the water today for quite some time, appreciating the sun, the water, and all the sights and sounds of the shore.

One of the trails we walked today was called Red Maple Swamp. This trail is in Eastham and was a charming walk through a forest of trees that also had a stunning boardwalk through the swamp. The notion of a swamp may sound unappealing to some, but swamps are actually quite picturesque and filled with incredible plant and bird life.

Along the boardwalk, we were surrounded by trees that were already turning for the season. I entitle this photo, "Fall into Fall!"

Right next to Red Maple Swamp is the Fort Hill Trail. This trail crosses open fields, connects with the Red Maple Swamp trail, and offers spectacular views of Nauset Marsh. I was unable to capture the bird life on the marsh because it was too far away, but through binoculars we saw egrets, cormorants, grey blues, and seagulls. Also in one of the fields, it happened to be filled with grasshoppers. As we approached, hundreds of grasshoppers were jumping everywhere! It was a surreal sight and one that I did not quite appreciate as much as Mattie.

Our next stop was visiting the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. This sanctuary is on 1200 acres and offers outstanding opportunities for exploration and discovery of the natural world, from forest and field to salt marsh, sandy beach, and tidal flats. More than 260 species of birds have been recorded at the sanctuary. As we entered the sanctuary, a bunch of actual whale bones were on display. We tried to pick up a rib bone, but we were unable to, it is that heavy.

At the sanctuary pond was this beautiful grouping of turtles, out capturing the warmth of the sun! 

The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Pond!!!

Along the trail, I literally stopped in my tracks because right in front of me was this wonderful female turkey!

We also came across a family of quail. This mother quail had several of her chicks with her, and she moved them into the grass as soon as she saw us.

Now a complete switch in content! As we were driving on Route 6, this is what we saw. I entitle this photo, "Freak Show!" This is a person who decorates for Halloween. This house was decorated like this last year, and what I am not sure of is whether this nightmare exists all year long, or just during the month of Halloween. Either case, I would truly despise this person as a neighbor. To me this is just frightening and macabre. In the right hand side of the picture is an actual coffin, with a body coming out of it, on the left hand side is a horse with a headless person on it. You get the picture!

Later in the day we went to visit Ryder Beach. We were introduced to this beach last year. It is right on Cape Cod Bay and it is quite peaceful and beautiful (also a great beach to do shell picking). Though it was a glorious weather day, by the late afternoon, it started raining again. We walked the beach in the rain and came across these wonderful piping plovers. I remember the professor I worked for at Boston College did research on Piping Plovers on the Cape, so I am very familiar with the identity and patterns of these creatures. What I love about these birds is their grace and how they run across the sand with their thin stick-like legs! My nickname for these birds is "sticks," and from this picture you can see why.

The final picture I am sharing with you today is of a seal we saw at Ryder Beach. I did not know the Bay had seals in it, I thought they were only on the ocean side. But we saw at least three seals this evening and for me they were a very special sighting in the rain.