Day 11

January 11, 2022

My first long ride in very long time in 11 degrees

So I got my first real ride today.  I saw little black birds like sparrows that I could not identify.  It was 7 degrees when I left the house and 11 when I returned.  It's back to 7.

Ice was the name of the game, but the Green River was moving quickly so there were a lot of running places and that blue opal color that I love so much.  The icing on the walls has just begun and the shapes and textures needed to be found earlier in the day when the sun is brighter on the road.  Green River Road has a mountain on its west side.

I looked for the eagles today, drove up past where there's usually a nest.  I heard a call I could not identify, but I saw no birds at all.  I just saw this other worldly place.  

I spent an hour by the river, gave me time to feel its magic. Afterwards  I went on up to the rookery.  It was 9 there at 3:45.  It was still and snowed over and the moon was directly above.  

In 1958 my parents rented a house on Duck Pond in Welfleet and they hired a Smith College student, Jenny Soleil, to be our governess.  Jenny taught Barb to play the ukulele and we all learned a bunch of songs.  We sang a lot that summer. She taught us The Fox which became a standard Whiton sing along.  I still sing it in my head when I see one.  

He's so puffed up and seemed to be modeling for me.  

He's almost a caricature of a hawk instead of a real one, but he really was just sitting up there in open territory where the horses usually are, today in their barn.   He and the fox were both hunting in their own fashion, making use of their super sense.  And both of them demonstrating patience.  I learn so much on my rides.