Author: Pat D

I noticed these guys recently while waiting around downtown.  These three little guys seem to have made a home under the roofing of this building.  They seem to be very fond of their residence! I like the juxtaposition of the decay and lively birds.

Stairways around town have special beauty.  The trip up offers promise with each step; sometimes the destination can be life changing.  Rudyard Kipling, who has his own special place in Gloucester history said: “Never look backwards or you’ll fall down the stairs.”  Some of these stairs beg you to climb. Never looking backwards seems like sound advice.

Added bonus homage to Rudyard Kipling in case you haven’t seen this recently:

“Did you bring your card? I forgot mine.”

Ice Beauties

I just love the way old signs call to us from the past.  Some of these are current establishments and some are long gone, but they each have their own character and story to tell.

Up close and personal with our waves.  I cannot stop watching them.

Happy Valentine’s Day and thank you to those who have their doors decorated! I’d been seeking these kinds of decorations for a while and keep seeing Christmas wreaths instead.  Now, we all know what’s coming next on the calendar (March 17) so I’ll be hoping to find some pretty green a-door-nment for next month!

Ohmmmmmmm……..

Our Bald Eagle program at Joppa Flats was cancelled due to rain, so we decided to go on a Saturday Morning Birding tour with Mass Audobon guide Dave Williams.  GMG Jimmy and I are distinctly NOT birders, just interested in birds and taking photos.  Although the more experienced were disappointed by the number of birds we saw, we were very pleased to bring home several decent shots.

We found a snowy owl at Parker River Wildlife Refuge.  A note if you intent to visit: a large portion of the main road in was closed on Saturday due to icy conditions and you may not be able to get as far into the Refuge as you might like.

We also visited the Salisbury Beach State Reservation.  Our guide believes this is a juvenile bald eagle.  This is zoomed in quite a little and has lost a few pixels but is still pretty interesting. That’s as close as we got to an eagle on this trip.

Northern harrier taking off

These tours are only $10 for members and $12 for non-members.  No pre-registration is required.  Give it a try!

Free sandwich with your Serenitee card until Feb. 13.  We decided to check it out.

You had me at the blood orange cosmo…….

Clearly there are lacrosse fans in the room! Nice mix of customers for a weekday lunch hour.  The Larry Bird poster in the background reflected the red light in such a way that it appears Larry is sporting a red bow in his hair.  You can just barely see it here. Try to get the seat that shows that..it’s  hilarious.

Fish sandwich for me, eggplant for GMG Jimmy.  And one of them was FREE!!  We enjoyed our visit to Manchester and Cala’s today.  We’ll go back and see Larry again.

Nothing more to be said here.  Pretty clear signage.

On lunch break.  Back to the office soon.

We visited Crane Beach this week on a very windy day.  The parking lot looked like a fishing pond as it was covered in water still.  But it was sunny and quiet.  We enjoyed the quiet beauty.

Choppy water

Sand blowing across the shell

It looked a bit like a seashell graveyard, shells strewn for several yards.

CB joined us but didn’t appreciate the blowing sand.

From the 1947 Flicker yearbook, a full page ad seeking “girl graduates” to fill positions as telephone operators “helping to win the war”.

And here are some of the potential candidates for those jobs from the same yearbook:

It’s worth a reminder that telephone operators served as emergency dispatch in those days prior to 911. This is a YouTube video used in training telephone operators in the 1940s:

Thanks to all you “girl graduates” who stepped up into such positions.

Providenza and partners heading off into the sunset this week.

Supreme Roast Beef has an interesting promo for Tuesday

I hope you find your treasure (whatever it is) today.  I hear there’s a game???