Month: June 2012

Wildlife refuges are for wildlife, but it was people taking refuge. Delicate negotiations dislodged a family of geese occupying the path. Some slower moving creatures agreed to be photographed.

 

Emma is set for summer. A really primitive cabin is grand when it’s nestled in the woods and named for a bird. It’s even better when steps away from a bustling summer camp kitchen complete with fun boss and teammates. Tennis, anyone?

 

The sky was full of enormous kites at First Encounter beach on the bay. About a dozen of them. Riders reached tremendous speeds, executing snowboarder tricks with huge altitude. Spoke with one of them as he walked his kite back to his car for something to better control his pony tail. It was like watching somebody handling a Macy’s Parade balloon put money in a parking meter. The water at the ocean’s Coast Guard beach may be colder (always), but it’s always worth it.

 

 

Spending time admiring the wonders of far away sharpens our appreciation of what’s familiar. Or, we hope it does. New Jersey is lush and abundant with rabbits everywhere. No sage brush. With no time to admire all that, we have resumed packing, opened the pool for inspection and moved forward with the buyer of our New Jersey home. Jim and Emma have made the trek to Cape Cod to take care of some business before driving Emma to Maine for her summer job. The Cape is easy to like. There’s a fisherman’s lean-to on First Encounter beach with due celebration of a striped bass. Final shot from our deck this evening. Home Sweet Home.

 

 

June 2, 2012. Mortar boards in the air. Smiles all around. Emma and her classmates at the Principia Upper School gave us all a reason to celebrate. Now it’s on to Haddonfield and the other changes just ahead.

 

We’re back to more regular 4G service and other indicators of western civilization, like more movie theaters. The Big Sioux River at Sioux Falls has been encased by the city and manicured. It is a relic of the last time a glacier went through, the gorgeous warmth of quartz, some quarried by the inmates to build a territorial prison, so they could be confined in the Dakotas, rather than Detroit. There are many more enormous spray irrigators and big fields of corn, once we’ve traveled back this side of the Dakotas. Then on to St. Joseph, Missouri, the eastern hub of the Pony Express. A business that lasted just 18 months struck a romantic chord in all of us and is an irresistible metaphor for American grit and enterprise. Bill Cody was one of the riders. Now, back to the Gateway City with much to think about. We’re looking forward to celebrating Emma’s graduation before heading back to the east coast.