It’s a grey day here on the river today, with snow falling for the past 24 hours now. I have been reflecting today on losing something you think you found but really didn’t. In the blink of an eye, the sun shone through the clouds and lifted my heart up into the heavens, and I basked it’s warm and comfortable embrace…

And then it slipped away, back through the clouds and left me bereft of understanding as to where it went. But, alas, I do know that nothing in life is ever permanent. We struggle with loss and grief, and naturally we should. We learn from loss and grief, and naturally we should. And then, we move on.

Life is the grand hall of learning. It shapes who we are, and leaves us all with indelible impressions, called memories, that give us pause to reflect. We can reflect on the sadness, but we must always remember the joy.

(Photo: Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Afternoon ~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

We wait with anxious excitement as Winter wanes, for early signs of Spring.

This Winter has been so unseasonably warm and we’ve had no significant snow what-so-ever.

Today I discovered the first signs of early Spring in my front perrenial garden…

Three little newly sprouted yellow crocuses:

I could see signs of more crocuses sprouting through the garden, that sorely needs to be cleaned up… Keep sprouting little crocuses… I look forward to your purple friends to show their faces soon.

(Photo: Yellow Crocus on Point Shore in Amesbury, MA ~~ c. Pamela J. Leavey ~ February 19, 2012)

It’s another hot day on the river… This is the place to be…

It’s been a hot, dreary, rainy, thunder stormy day today on the river… so I’m reflecting on the visions of a sunny day as I watch the rain outside of my desk window…

(Photo: Dory at Lowell’s Boat Shop in Amesbury, MA ~~ © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

The Newburyport, MA area has been under a tornado watch since this afternoon and the watch has now been extended to 11:00 pm. Just a few hours ago a huge tornado hit Springfield, MA. NBC News reports:

Tornados are so rare in this area. I’m hoping they pass us by, right now we’re under a severe thunderstorm warning…

One of the things I love about where I live on the Merrimack River is that I have a wonderful view of the western sky in the evening. After a couple of days of rain, the clouds started to part early this evening and I looked out of my kitchen window to see a streak of pink across the sky. I grabbed my camera and took this from desk window:

And then I headed out the front door to catch a little view of the lovely sky with my lens…

I always feel there’s something very mystical about the bare branches of the trees reaching up to the sky.

(Photos: Evening Sky at Point Shore, Amesbury, MA, April 5, 2011 — © Pamela J. Leavey)

It’s another rainy today again and I’m dreaming of sights like this on the river:

It won’t be long now before the boats start going in the water…

(Photo: Point Shore Amesbury, MA August 2010 – c. Pamela J. Leavey)

Mother Nature played a joke on most of New England today: Snow.

I was hoping that we’d be spared here near the mouth of the Merrimack River and only have rain. No such luck. I went outside last night briefly at about 11:00 pm and there was a light blanket of snow on the ground. At 7:00 am I awoke to a power outage. With all the snow storms we had all winter, there was not one outage. Now it happens. Thankfully the power was back on within a couple of hours.

Tomorrow we should see some sun and warmer temperatures here on the river while we’re waiting for spring. We need more lovely days like this for the trees to start budding and the spring flowers to burst out of their winter cover and shine in the sun:

(Photo: Seagulls at Joppa Flats in Newburyport, MA, March 2011 ~~ © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

I was sitting in my den talking to my daughter and her boyfriend tonight when we heard a copter outside. That’s a rarity around here but a sound she and I are accustomed to after living in L.A. for 19 years. We went outside to see what was going on and saw the Whittier Bridge on I-95 over the Merrimack River in Newburyport – Amesbury, MA, was lined with blue and red lights.

FOX 25 reports:

Police got multiple 911 calls from motorists saying they saw a white Toyota Camry go off the bridge and into the water. 

They have spotted skid marks that seem indicate a car went over the rails. According to the State Police, troopers from Newbury Barracks, Marine Unit, Dive Team and the Air Wing all reported to the scene.

With Hines Bridge closed, my daughter and I drove down Rt 110 to Rt 1 and over Green Bridge to try to get a look. Newburyport Police were turning people away from the open side of the Chain Bridge who were trying to get a look.

The Coast Guard’s Station Merrimack River has launched both a 25-foot rescue boat and a 47-foot utility boat.  A rescue helicopter has also flown in from Air Station Cape Cod. It’s currenty 8 degrees in Amesbury, just on the other side of the Merrimack River but the water temperature is believed to be about 38-40 degrees. This area of the river is not frozen but it is loaded with ice flows.

There is no word still on how many were in the car and missing or survivors. Local and State Police, Fire Department and Coast Guard are still on the scene.

I thought I might find more color in the evening sky tonight when I took my walk at Newburyport’s Waterfront Park. No such luck. It was more like a winter sky:

I’m not sure if Hurricane Bill’s presence off the coast of Massachusetts attributed to the winter sky effect this evening or not…

Still, I am totally enjoying the ever changing vistas of the Merrimack River in downtown Newburyport and my walks have been great for my spirit and given me more energy. I should start walking in Amesbury too. It’s such a beautiful town, right next to Newburyport. But so far I am enjoying the drive along the river that takes me to my walks at the Waterfront Park.