Don’t miss the 5th Annual Schooner Challenge! Proceeds to benefit the Evelina M. Goulart, the Essex-built, Gloucester fishing schooner. Tickets may be ordered online at www.essexshipbuildingmuseum.org or call 978-375-3337.
My View of Life on the Dock
Don’t miss the 5th Annual Schooner Challenge! Proceeds to benefit the Evelina M. Goulart, the Essex-built, Gloucester fishing schooner. Tickets may be ordered online at www.essexshipbuildingmuseum.org or call 978-375-3337.
Deep in the weeds, as my friend Michelle says when she is super busy with work.

Tonight’s lineup is a good one, and we still have 2 open slots. Message us or email clangathianos@me.com if you want to perform 3 songs for your chance at the $1,000 Finals.
7:40pm: Ally Doody
8:00pm: Dierdra Darrah
8:20pm: OPEN SPOT
8:40pm: Satch Kearns
9:00pm: Izzy Attenborough
9:20pm: Three at Home
�9:40pm: Zion Rodman
�10:00pm: OPEN SPOT
Our judges tonight include Chelsea Berry and Steve Caraway. Call Katrina’s to reserve a table.
Last week’s players were.

Chris Langathianos ~The winners are 1st place Johnny Chronic and The Influenza, The Only Humans 2nd place, and Gina Botticelli 3rd place

Johnny Chronic and The Influenza

The Only Humans

Gianna Botticelli
Thank you, George Hall, Amanda Cook and Joe Cardoza for the great job in judging. Katrina’s for hosting, Chris Langathianos for running the show. Awesome job by all!

Hoping that all our veterans were able to spend the day in a way that was meaningful to them.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
To read about the origins of In Flanders Fields see the following from the Arlington National Cemetery website.
Especially on this coldest and dampest of Memorial Days, I am enjoying the photos Liv is sending from her adventures in Italy, these from sunny Sienna.
Piazza del Campo in the center of Siena, Tuscany
The medieval Duomo di Siena, built between 1215 and 1263

“Saint Michael Defeats the Rebel Angels” masterwork by Renaissance-Mannerist painter Domenico di Pace Beccafumi (1486-1551). The painting is permanently installed at San Niccolò al Carmine, a Sienese church and monastery.
Mama Plover sitting on an egg
This question was asked by a young child visiting the plover nesting area at Good Harbor Beach. Another asked, why are the Piping Plovers in a cage? And today while on plover wellness check, I overheard an adult telling her daughter that the little tufts of dried seaweed within the roped off area are all Piping Plover nests, filled with Piping Plover eggs. 
In actuality, there is only one nest in the roped off area, and that nest is in the middle of the net and wire exclosure. The prefix ex in the word exclosure gives us a clue as to the meaning of the word. The contraption is designed to exclude other creatures, not to confine the plovers.
Wildlife monitors will place an exclosure over a nest to prevent people and dogs from accidentally stepping on the eggs and to prevent foxes, other mammals, seagulls, crows, and owls from eating the eggs. The holes in the wire are large enough for a Piping Plover to run freely in an out of the exclosure, and small enough to keep predators out.
What is Foxy Loxy up to? It’s morning and the young fox is very hungry He is foraging in the sand for plover eggs!
You can clearly see the Mom and Dad plover taking turns on the nest. About every twenty minutes or so, they exchange places. When there visiting the plovers with your children bring binoculars or your camera and watch this wonderful story unfolding right here our beautiful Good Harbor Beach. 
The very slight depression in the sand in the photo above shows a Piping Plover nest scrape. The diameter of the scrape is about the size of a tennis ball. Sometimes the Dad plover tosses tiny bits of shells or pebbles in the scrape, but just as often as not, the scrape is unlined.
Happy Memorial Day from Wolf Hill!
Wolf Hill has just about everything under the sun to make your garden sing, and then some. If not in stock, they will order it and have the item to you in a few short days. Choose from a gorgeous and super healthy selection of native perennials, shrubs, trees, flowering vines, annuals, tropicals, and every kind of garden tool and accessory needed.
The staff is beyond helpful at Wolf Hill. I hear customers asking questions non-stop and they always provide a pleasant and knowledgeable response. Whether answering questions, loading your car, or assisting with placing orders, the customer service at Wolf Hill is simply stellar. You can always tell when the owners are super special people when the same staff are there year after year.
These Guys! Always lending a helping hand – Jacob, Rick, and Ricky. Not only is Rick the tree and shrub manager, for which he has a wealth of information, but he is also very knowledgeable butterflies. Ask him what butterflies have been in the garden lately.
Late spring is the best time of year to pick out roses because most flower earlier at nurseries than they would in our Cape Ann gardens. You take the guesswork out and test the roses for fragrance and for color when in bloom. Wolf Hill has an extensive selection of shrub, climbing, and topiary roses.
We are so blessed to have not one, not two, but three fabulous garden centers here on our small island.
Happy Memorial Day from Marshall’s Farm Stand
Marshall’s Farm Stand is chock-a-block full of a tremendous assortment of annuals and perennials just waiting to be planted.
Owners Melissa and Karen created the colorful red, white, and blue Memorial Day themed display and all the pots are ready to set out in the garden, no fuss, no muss.
While there, wish the Marshalls a happy fiftieth year in business! Check out the 2017 Farmer Bob cards, with daily deals on just about everything at the farm stand. The photo on the flip side of the card is a wonderful family portrait. What a beautiful family! I wonder what year and am guessing, based on the outfits, the 1970s. I forgot to ask and hope a family member writes and lets us know. Marshall’s Farm Stand is located at 144 Concord Street in Gloucester, and they are open seven days a week, from 9am to 6pm.
Ann and Dolly loading up their truck to plant red and white flowers at her relative’s grave sites.
Come see the ever expanding selection of gorgeous flower and veggie seedlings at Cedar Rock Gardens. Not only are they offering annual flowers, herbs, and vegetable this year, but they are also growing native perennial wildflowers such as New England Aster and milkweed.
It was so cloudy and overcast when I was there picking up an order; these photos don’t do the garden justice. Come on down and see for yourself, Cedar Rock Gardens is bursting with beauty and fully stocked for the Memorial Day weekend.
Open seven days a week, from 8am til 5pm, Cedar Rock Gardens is located at 299 Concord Street in Gloucester.
Sweet William
Loads and loads of peppers, in every degree of heat imagineable.
I love stopping by just to say hello, Elise and Tucker are so friendly and helpful. Tucker built the new office shed.
Coming later this spring are pick your own peonies!! And after that, sunflowers, zinnias, and straw flowers 🙂

Lost of folks are asking, are the Piping Plovers nesting in the Good Harbor Beach parking lot? The answer is no, the Piping Plovers are nesting on the beach near boardwalk #3. The mama and papa, and now chicks, that are running all around the GHB parking lot are a shorebird named Killdeers. Comparatively quite a bit larger, and more commonly seen, Killdeers are related to Piping Plovers, but are a different species.
Killdeer Chicks and Parent, Good Harbor Beach 2016
That I am aware of, this is the second year in a row Killdeers have chosen to nest at the Good Harbor Beach parking lot. It is frightening to see the babies zoom in and out between the cars. The mom and dad give vocal cues to the chicks, but still they run willy nilly. Killdeers have a fondness for human modified habitats, such as the GHB parking lot, and a willingness to nest close to people.
Like Piping Plover chicks, Killdeer chicks are precocial. That is a word ornithologists use to describe a baby bird’s stage of development at birth. Precocial means that shortly after hatching, the bird is fully mobile. Plover chicks are not completely mature, they still need parents to help regulate their body temperature, but they have downy feathers and can run and feed themselves within moments after emerging. The opposite of precocial is altricial. Birds that hatch helpless, naked, usually blind, and are incapable of departing the nest are altricial. Robins and Cardinals are examples of altricial birds. 
Adult Kildeer
If you encounter the Kildeer family and would like to take a photo, or simply observe these adorable babies on-the-go, my advice is to stand quietly and don’t chase after them. Running after the chicks will put the parents into panic mode and they may lose sight of the other siblings. As the chicks mature, they will spend less time in the parking lot, and more time in the marsh and at the tidal river edge. Kildeer adults, and even the chicks, are actually good swimmers. Last year the Kildeer family crossed the tidal river and spent the second half of the season on the opposite side of the marsh.
Compare the Killdeer chick above, to the Piping Plover chick below.

http://www.rudderrestaurant.com/

73 ROCKY NECK AVENUE GLOUCESTER, MA 01930
978-283-7967
INFO@RUDDERRESTAURANT.COM
Two Perfect Piping Plover Eggs!After last week’s harrowingly warm weather, we lost all sight of the Piping Plover pair trying to establish a nest by the boardwalk #3 location. Thursday and Friday brought record temperatures of over 90 degrees, drawing unseasonably large crowds and literally, a ton of garbage, which was not only beyond disgusting, but in turn, attracted a plethora of seagulls and crows. Saturday, there was absolutely no sign of the Plovers, from one of end of Good Harbor to the other. Sunday, my husband Tom discovered a few tracks and Monday, I found a few as well, but nothing like we had seen earlier.
Thinking our Plover Pair were lost to us, lo and behold Tuesday morning I spied Papa Plover sitting in one location, for a very long time (half an hour is a long time for a plover to sit in one spot). Could there be an egg beneath Papa? Unfortunately, where Papa was sitting was on the edge of the roped off area, next to the party rock, with dog tracks only several inches away.
Dog tracks running through the roped off area and next to the Piping Plover nesting site.
I quickly called Dave Rimmer, director of land stewardship for Essex County Greenbelt. He came by immediately and confirmed yes, we have a nest!!!
An exclosure has been installed and the plover parents are adapting well to the protective wire frame.
The roping has been rearranged with the nest now in the center.
Car, Truck, and Two Deer Accident
Fortunately both drivers of the two vehicles are uninjured and fine, if not a little shook up. Two White-tailed Deer were struck as they ran across Rt. 128, coming from the Lobsta Land marsh, heading toward the river. Judging from a quick glance, both deer appeared young. The Verizon truck driver and car driver did not sustain injuries, although there is extensive damage to their vehicles. So sorry this happened to them, but very glad they are a-okay.
Mike Tarantino and Phil Curcuru
If you see these two at Good Harbor Beach, tell them thanks for the terrific job they did on the new handicap accessible boardwalk. Additionally, this morning, they were making needed repairs to the footbridge. Thanks so much to Phil and Mike and all of Gloucester’s DPW for getting Gloucester beaches ready and in tip-top shape for the coming Memorial Day weekend.

Katrina’s
$1,000 Singer- Songwriter Challenge
week # 3 winner!
Elisa Smith & Erin Bonnie Sue Koren

Sign up by emailing your name, phone number and whether you are a solo artist, duo, trio, etc. to clangathianos@me.com.
https://www.facebook.com/events/290128601426632/?notif_t=plan_user_associated¬if_id=1490900894084212
List of last weeks performers
Mike Foley
Joe Perry
Elisa Smith & Erin Bonnie (first place)
Holub(duo)
Tatiana Lynn
Tony Frontiero
Judges were, Lilith Fair performer and John Lennon Songwriting Contest winner, Amy Fairchild, 2017 New England Music Award winner, Annie Brobst, and local producer/music aficionado, Gary Gorczyca.



Dinner Specials Each Week!
Wednesday, May 24th – 7pm
Special Guest: JON BUTCHER!

Grammy-nominated Jon Butcher comes to the Rhumb Line
this week. His countless fine recordings, thrilling nation-wide
electric and acoustic performances, major motion picture
scores and more has rightfully earned him the status of
legend from coast to coast. Hard to believe we get chances
like this here in Gloucester – to be so close and intimate. To
feel it way down deep. Better get there early! We hit at 7. ~ Fly
Dinner with great music!
*Each week features a special, invited musical guest
The Rhumb Line Kitchen……now features Janet Brown with some new and healthy ideas!
Plus a fine, affordable wine menu!
Upcoming…
5/31 – John Rockwell
6/7 – Allen Estes
6/14 – Bill Gleason
6/21 – Quentin Callewaert
Visit: http://www.therhumbline.com/
Looking forward……to seeing you there 🙂