It’s a beautiful day here on the river…

As I sit here at my desk, to my left I see the river sparkling with a fervent, intensely brilliant reflection of the sun. Not a cloud in the sky, with my desk facing south, the sun sits at 11:23 outside of my window.

To the right of my desk, outside of the bay window in which my desk sits, I watch as the ice floes float down stream, creating ever changing patterns.

Housebound as I am for a few more days, I am re-minded every day how blessed I am to live here on the river with my slivers of river views that constantly fill my heart and soul with love and gratitude.

The mighty Merrimack River is rooted in my body, mind and soul. As a small child I grew up along the river in West Newbury. At eleven, we moved to Newburyport and short walk to the Chain Bridge area.

It was one year after moving back to this area (a little over 3 years ago) when I realized that more than anything in this breathtakingly beautiful estuary, abundant in Mother Nature’s gifts, it was the river that most spoke to me.

She lifts me up, she carries me in her bouyant arms, like the mother and she lets my heart and soul float in her love.

(Photo: Winter On The Merrimack River ~~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2012)

Having your right foot in a cast is truly a pain in the a**. I’m not sure what is most annoying about it all, but not being able to drive is a big one. It’s tough being stuck in house and dependent on family and friends for supplies, etc…

I also sorely miss my hiking at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Maudsley State Park and along Point Shore in Amesbury. Before I started hiking a few weeks ago, a good drive along the river to Plum Island always served to clear my head.

Thankfully, my hiking partner came by to rescue me on Monday and we took a wonderful drive along the Merrimack River, from Amesbury, through Merrimack and Rock’s Village and then over the Rock’s Village Bridge and back along River Road in West Newbury (my early childhood stomping grounds).

We were looking for Bald Eagles which have been here in smaller numbers this season. The Bald Eagle proved to be elusive on Monday, but we treated to a sighting of 4 – 6 Eastern Bluebirds… Yes, that’s right, the Blue Bird Of Happiness.

Sadly, the afternoon light was not in my favor as I tried to take some photos of these delightful creatures of the Great Mother Goddess, as the photo above attests.

As we headed back to Newburyport along Rte 113, we decided to veer off and take a drive by the Upper Artichoke River Reservoir before heading home. As we drove along the reservoir we spotted a few Mute Swans gliding along the reservoir with their wings up.

What a glorious sight. I’ve had a great deal of contact with the Mute Swans in recent weeks while on my hikes on the Parker River Path.  Their grace and beauty are simply astounding and watching them fills my soul with a powerful awe.

The nearly two decades that I lived in the Los Angeles area I longed to be closer to nature. Aspects of my life have opened up and changed to provide me the time, at least for now, to enjoy this place, this glorious span of nature’s bounty, that I call home, here on the river.

Newburyport’s harbor as seen from the mouth of the Merrimack River…

(Photo: c. Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

This luscious blue hydrangea blooming along High Street in Newburyport caused me to stop the car a couple of weeks ago…

(Photo: Blue Hydrangea ~ © Pamela J. Leavey)

Abandoned 50 gallon drums at the mouth of the Merrimack River in Newburyport…

(Photo: Plum Island Drums © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

Everywhere you look right now gardens in the area are flourishing, including The Secret Garden in Newburyport…

(Photo: c. Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

My mother had the the most amazing gardens when I was a child. She loved to be outdoors gardening and her labor of love always showed in our yard. That love for gardening is something that was shared among other members of her family and passed down in generations.

The Secret Garden is nestled in Newburyport and it belongs to my cousin who spends each day working in her garden paradise, tending to her perrenials with love and devotion.

When I have the time to visit with my cousin in the Secret Garden, I am transported to a place of peace and always feel a sense of being home. As the love of gardening has been passed down through generations of women in my family, so to have perrenials been passed along and kept blooming for generations. The Secret Garden has iris and peonies that belonged to both my mother and my aunt, even my grandmother.

My mother would tell me as a child that nothing was more important than tending the earth. She knew the connection of our need to treat the Mother [Earth] with love and respect…

(Photo: c. Pamela J. Leavey)

As I mentioned here the other day, the publisher of Newburyport’s American Yatch Club’s newsletter had asked permission to use one of my photos for their cover. Here’s the front cover featuring a photo of a dory in front of Lowell’s Boat Shop in Amesbury, MA:

The photo featured is one of many I have taken of the dory’s in front of Lowell’s Boat Shop. As it’s one of my favorite subjects to photograph, no doubt there will be more in the months to come. Many thanks to Jim Grenier of Renegade Studios for publishing my photo in the newsletter!

I took a drive to Newburyport today to run some errands. As I drove over the Green Bridge and looked out over the river, I was happy to see the docks going into the water. It’s a sure sign of spring and of course after spring comes summer.

I love the seeing all boats in the river. They have been missed…

(Photo: The Virginia Tug, Novemebr 2010 — © Pamela J. Leavey)

It’s rainy and gray on the river today and apparently there will be more of that for the next couple of days… There will be no cleaning up the front flower garden until the rain stops.

I’m excited to share that I received a request from a friend today to use one of my photos of a small boat on the river for the newsletter of Newburyport’s American Yatch Club. I’ll have a PDF copy of the newsletter in a few days and will upload that so that readers can see the photo. 

In the meantime I’m waiting patiently as many are for Spring to arrive full force. The last of snow piled up from the snow plow has finally melted down in the back yard and I’m anxious to till the vegetable garden plot and enlarge it from last year’s late planting when I moved into my river view apartment.

For now I’ll just watch the birds here in the back yard and on the river and dream of sunny days to come.

(Photo: Canadian Geese at Plum Island River, Newbury Salt Marsh, March 2011 — c. Pamela J. Leavey)

A little local info… The Plum Island River connects the Parker River to the Merrimack River at the mouth of the Merrimack and it separates Plum Island from the mainland. Plum Island is the home of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, which is a prime birding location.