Today was pretty lousy. Just a bad feeling day all the way around. Body weary, incision … incised and sore. I enjoyed that delightful disoriented feeling of painkillers, without the benefit of painkillers. Just the worst day since the day after my little surgery. And odd that it comes 10 days after the thing.
So it was a delightful evening to go speak to a bunch of students, trying to keep my thoughts in order and my acronyms in line. Just a marvelous impression I left them with.
And then we went out and sat in the cold. I intended to take off my sports coat and put on a jacket I had in the backseat of the car, but it was taken out of the car. I did enjoy these portable little seats we got recently. They have chair backs, and they were material, rather than a cold plank of aluminum.
It was a first round game of the field hockey playoffs. My god-niece-in-law (just go with it) is a senior on the team. And she got a penalty shot in the game.
Her team won 7-0.
On Saturday, a day when the weather was much warmer and I felt much better. We went to the beach, and to a boat. But not this boat.
Same goal, though. We were out looking for whales, which are passing through on their seasonal migration. And what do you know, there’s a humpback now.
We saw two of them, from a safe and non-threatening distance. (There are laws about this. And the company that does the tour is very keen on following the laws, and telling you about them. And, also, keep your feet on the deck at all times. And please, for the love of the salty seas, stop trying to lean over the rails to pet the whales. They are 50 yards and more away.)
Thar she blows!
Or he. I’m not one to assign gender to our ocean-going neighbors. That may have been fine for Mellville, but we live in different times. Also, as far as I know, I’m no Melville.
(I’m no Melville.)
So we saw the one whale, and watched it dance and swim around for a while, and then quietly we moved off. And we found this whale.
It turns out that humpback whales have distinguishing patterns on the underside of their tails. Our vessel had several naturalists and some interns aboard, and while we were oohing and aaahing as tourists, they were doing the important work of studying the beasties. And they knew this one, and realized it, just from these quick glances at the tail marking.
We saw a handful of bottlenose dolphins on the way back in. But you’ll have to take my word for it. No pictures of them, but here’s the rock line that marks the return back into the little port.
And here’s a row of fishing vessels that were safely tied up. Maybe it’s a seasonal thing, or a Saturday thing.
It was a lovely little visit. Two whales, lots of birds, some dolphins and a nice day on the water. A three-hour tour. Not a single Gilligan reference was made.
We drove by this place on our way out, but did not stop.
It seems pretty bold to say you have the world’s best coffee. And at this particular store? They have 24 locations. To say nothing of every other shop that sells coffee. What are the odds?
At home, we had a flyover by a few Canada geese.
They’ll go back and forth from fields to ponds for weeks, always that direction in the evening, and the opposite direction in the midmorning, honking all the while.
I enjoy their song. For us, it is temporary.
