words and pictures....
April 6, 2011
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)
April 4, 2011
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.
April 1, 2011
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)
March 29, 2011
There was a rather brazen bank robbery in downtown Newburyport today at the TD Bank on State Street. This seems like such a foolish and desperate act to walk in to a bank like this and rob it…
And sadder fact, he’s still not been caught.
Where were the Newburyport Police Department when this went down? Hello?
UPDATE (3/30/11): More from the Newburyport Daily News… Search continues for robber of downtown’s TD Bank.
March 28, 2011
I love living on the Merrimack River. As a small child I grew up in West Newbury on Way To The River Rd. The river was a short walk through the woods, down the dirt road that started at our driveway. At age 11, we moved to Moseley Ave in Newburyport, again a short walk from the river. The Merrimack River is in my blood, as is this whole area.
Everyday I look out from my desk and see the river. A short walk down the street and the view, more spectacular… 
I love living on the river…
(Photo: The Merrimack River facing west at Lowell’s Boat Shop, Point Shore, Amesbury, MA. © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)
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Coyotes on Plum Island
March 27, 2011
I was driving down to Plum Island this afternoon and had just made the corner at the airport when I spotted an animal walking out past the runway. Having lived in Los Angeles for 19 years, I recognized that it was a coyote. Although I have heard that there are coyote in this area, I had not seen one before this. Coyotes tend to be nocturnal creatures, so I was surprised to see one in the middle of the afternoon, slinking along the salt marsh heading for Plum Island.
I has however heard just yesterday that there was an article in the Newburyport Daily News about a cat missing on Plum Island and the suspicion that it had been caught by a coyote.
Well they are definitely out there on Plum Island.
A commentor on the Newburyport Daily News shared an awesome closeup photo and sighting here.
UPDATE (3/29/11): There was a good follow up piece in the Newburyport Daily News… Life With Suburban Coyotes.
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