Peripatecian's Weblog

Falling into Place

peripatecian — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:16:04 +0000

Summer is fading fast, or at least what was left of the summer that was not much of one. I see that the farmers’ almanac (or the other one – do you know there are two, they have a similar but different names and they are fierce competitors for the “farmers almanac” niche? http://www.almanac.com/ http://www.farmersalmanac.com/ ) had predicted it will be a cold winter this year in my neck of the country. I think if this proves to be true it will seem even colder. So I will be craving spring even more than usual in 2010.

On a more positive fall is arriving note, I am looking forward to the leaves changing. Every year is different but I think most plants had a great year. Lots of water, not to brutely hot. My unscientific observation is that the better the growing season the better the leaves changing show ends up being.

We will see.

The Clam Box

peripatecian — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:41:01 +0000

A trip to Ipswich, MA meant the wife and I had to go to the Clam Box. It is a typical New England seafood shack. Fried seafood – scallops, clams, fish, etc. Also lobster rolls and some other favorites.

We got there just before noon on a Saturday. Not only that but it was a lovely summer day. Luckily we did not find to much of a crowd. We got in, ordered our food within about ten minutes, and were eating about five minutes later.

The food was great. We had a three way combo. Scallops, shrimp and clams. All batter dipped and fried. This stuff was served on a bed of onion rings. My drink of choice was lemonade while the wife had an iced tea.

One of the many cool thing about the place was its age. The Clam Box has existed since 1935. That is a long time for any food establishment to be in business.

Late in the day we drove back past the place and the line was a lot longer!

Upton State Forest, MA

peripatecian — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:37:33 +0000

a trail through the woods

Yesterday the wife and I went for a hike in a nice Masschusetts State Forest. The place is a few thousand acres in size. It is primarily forest but there was also lots of water everywhere. A few swampy places, plenty of small waterways, vernal pools and things in between. There was also a large pond at the southern end of the place.

There is a small parking area just off the entrance and you need to walk to get to any other parts of the forest. There are both relatively wide roads that you can walk on and smaller trails.

We headed down to the pond and my wife lost her hat at some point. This lead to a change of plans for our route. We had to backtrack to locate the missing hat. We did find it and we did also succeed in having a pleasant walk.

Overall the Upton State Forest was nice, lots of typical New England forest scenery and good trails.

Out and About

peripatecian — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:47:03 +0000

A beautiful day! I was able to get out with my wife to a local property that has some nice trails. It was wonderful to see the trees are full of leaves. The last time I was walking out in the woods, a few weeks ago, this was not the case.

We visited a small pond and a vernal pool. There were small painted turtles and ducks hanging out in the pond. The vernal pool had something unexpected, a few children walking around. They had boots on and were literally walking around in the water. Not a real good thing to be doing to a vernal pool around here. They are fragile habitats and there are just not that many of them around anyway. Their mom was there too. Apparently the kids were trying to catch frogs.

Besides that little bit of disturbance the woods were glorious. It is so nice to be able to get out and about again in some warmer weather.

NH Spring

peripatecian — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:46:31 +0000

Some water, ice and trees at Bear Brook State Park

Today I took the day off and headed to New Hampshire. The wife and I decided it was time to get out and since it was supposed to reach sixty, figured we could have a good time.

Our destination was Bear Brook State Park. Not far off of I93, so just a little over an hour from home. The park is closed for the winter, meaning the facilities are not open, but you can still “recreate” in the park. At least that was what their website said. This seemed to mean hiking and other such things were fine but you were not going to be able to camp or visit things like their camping museum.

The ride out there was fine except for the gray clouds as soon as we crossed into New Hampshire. I was thinking, when I saw a road sign that said Salisbury, that maybe we should have headed out that way. Perhaps the woods were not looking so good if it was going to rain. Better to maybe go to take a peak at the ocean and perhaps spend some time in the arcade, playing some pinball. All of this seemed even more enticing once we got to the park. There was still a lot of snow on the ground there, as there was a lot of denser white pine forest stands there. It was also quite chilly when I got out of the car.

Turned out I was wrong about my first impression. It was a bit cooler than I would have liked most of our visit and there was a lot of snow throughout much of the 4 + miles we walked. Yet it did get warmer and the sun even came out later in the afternoon. It was also great to be out in the woods. The park has a lot of trails and much of the snowier one’s we were on appeared to be cross country skiing trails. So the snow on the trails was packed well. Another nice thing about this park is there is a lot of water. A few lakes, some ponds and plenty of marshes. With snow melt, water was pretty much running everywhere.

We found an open area exposed to some sun that was alive with ground bees. They were hovering all around, apparently looking to make nests. There were also some ground beetles running around. Black heads with red elytra. Once we saw one of these suddenly we noticed dozens.

Getting some time out in the woods, having a chance to relax for a day with my wife, seeing signs that spring is soon to be coming on strong….all good things and it made for an awesome day.

Spring Itch

peripatecian — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 06:54:27 +0000

Spring has arrived. At least on the calendar. Spring has not so much arrived outside. I spent most of today walking around in the city. The wind was blowing off the water, it was not to warm to begin with and I was cold! So I get a little cranky about the weather at this time of the year. Last year I escaped to Australia for almost two months in Nov/Dec so early spring was not so bad. This year I’m ready for warmth. And I only get more inclined to want it to be warmer when I talk to my southern relatives.

Lot’s of flowers are out, in fact they have been out for about a month already.

I have already started planning and doing some planting in the garden.

If I don’t get those plants taken care of soon, it is going to be to late to get them going this spring.

(can you tell my Mom is a gardener?). Here in New England we have one little tiny flower that is out in the front yard. Obviously the plants are a lot slower here than they are down south.

The other thing that happens in spring for me, a lot of years, is the need to get away from home. For many reasons I just can’t get away as much this time of the year. I want to, I try to and just can’t or don’t. So by the time spring rolls around I start reading about things like the best tropical islands and it makes me a little bonkers. How much would I enjoy lounging on the beach at this time of year, especially in the tropics somewhere! Heck, at this time of the year, I would even be willing to go back to Dallas (despite how much I disliked my time there a few years ago). I could get my buddy to launch his boat in Joe Pool Lake and I could just lay around soaking in the warmth! I looked and it was in the mid seventies there today.

O well. Another month will go by and I will have no need to be bitchin any more. I might even get a chance to go on a road trip next week, which of course would help tremendously with the early spring blues I’m feeling.

Australia’s Kwongan Heathland

peripatecian — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:06:39 +0000

I was trying to find some information today about a place I worked in southwestern Australia. I stayed in Western Flora Caravan Park, just north of Eneabba, and did my work in the native Kwongan heathland found there. The park is on the other side of the earth and far from habitats and parks that I am used to – places like the forests of New England or Island Beach New Jersey.

Some random facts:

The area is a biodiversity hotspot with a large diversity of flowering plants.

The Geraldton Sandplains are an ancient and very deep geological formation.

The soils are nutrient poor and the climate is tough. It is not quite a desert but it can seem like one at certain times of the year.

Bird diversity – relatively low
Reptile diversity – very high. Australia is generally know as the most diverse regions in the world for reptiles
Temperatures – often the hottest temps for the local region are recorded here. High 40′s in the middle of the summer (Jan and Feb) are not unusual.

Some links and other info:

The point of my searching around today was to find this factoid….. the rush like plants that are common in the Kwongan heathland are in the family Restionaceae (this may seem strange to most folks but I needed to know this for some writing I am doing).

Some interesting pictures around Eneabba.

One of the better introductions to the natural areas in the Southwestern Australia Biodiversity Hotspot.

And that is it for my little research notes.

Be well.

Red Top Mountain State Park

peripatecian — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:18:51 +0000

One place I have a connection with is Georgia. I lived there for 4 years when I was in my twenties and some of my family are now there too. So I go there about once a year. I love exploring new natural settings and Georgia provides lots of opportunity for that.

One place I have been to several times is Red Top Mountain. The place is generally busy and the park sees a lot of visitors. This has several causes. One is its proximity to Atlanta. It is less than an hour away. Another is Allatoona Lake. The park is surrounded on three sides by this man made lake and it is very popular. Not as busy as Lake Lanier but still plenty of folks visit on a regular basis.

The park has lots of amenities – a swimming beach for the kiddies, a campground, cabins for rent, a lodge with rooms and restaurant, a privately run marina, picnic facilities, two party halls for rent, hiking trails, a bike trail, historic buildings and site and more.

One thing I really found unusual here is a gated campground. You have to have an entry code to get behind the gate and into the campsite. I have been to parks where you find your own spot if you arrive after hours, and drive through even if you don’t know where your way around the camp area. You then go pay in the morning. This is such an extreme opposite!

The hiking trails I have been on are nice. Like most places if you get more than a little ways away from a trailhead the crowds thin out. Even so, there can be more people hiking around the trails than many other places I have been. I don’t mountain bike since I have hurt my back but one of the longest trails in the park is shared use – hiking and biking – and it does see a lot of traffic from the mountain biking crowd.

The lake is always either within site or not far away, where ever you go in the park. I like that a lot, and so do many other people. The south has a lot of recreational lakes and they can be funny places, in that there is not only people around in the park, but also lots of different boats going by. Sometimes people are hanging out right off shore and it is like you when you have a neighbor at a campground or large picnic area. You can hear their conversations and pretty much you know what they are up too, and they know the same about you. The oddity of the whole boating thing (me not being a boat person) is that it is nice to be around and see the water everywhere. There is something relaxing about it.

So that is my little blurb about Red Top. I will likely go there the next time I visit GA.

Jersey shore notes

peripatecian — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:38:39 +0000

In the middle of February there is nothing to do but dream about the beach in the summer. Yet I was down at the Jersey shore last month and spent time at Long Beach Island, Seaside Heights, Ortley Beach and Lavallette. It was cold! Of course the worst part is the cold biting wind. You feel like parts of you will just crack or shatter.

Besides that part of it, the Jersey shore is of course always lovely. In some ways things are just more pristine – cleaner, quieter, more memories bubbling up of summer at the beach and you just have more room to think.

Anyway I can’t wait until it gets warm and I get to go to the beach in my shorts – rather than wrapped up like the mummy!

Lavallette in winter

Some Boston Science Museums

peripatecian — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:12:43 +0000

Here are some science museums in Boston

The MIT Museum 265 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge; 617-253-5927 $7.50 for adults, $3 for children.

The Museum of Science 1 Science Park Boston 617-723-2500 ticket packages start at $23.50 for adults and $19.50 for children. Boston City Pass (888-330-5008; www.citypass.com) allows admission to the Museum of Science, the Harvard Natural History Museum and four other sites – $44 for adults and $24 for children.

The Ether Dome (Bulfinch Building, Massachusetts General Hospital, Grove and Cambridge Streets). Self guided tours – ask for pamphlet at information desk - whenever the amphitheater is not in use.

The Warren Anatomical Museum is situated on the fifth-floor mezzanine of the Countway Medical Library of Harvard Medical School (10 Shattuck Street, Boston; 617-432-6196). Admission is free.

The Collection of Scientific Instruments at the Putnam Gallery at Harvard (Science Center 136; 617-495-2779). Free. The Mark I computer is on the building’s first-floor lobby.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge; 617-495-3045 $9 for adults and $6 for children.

Miracle of Science 321 Massachusetts Avenue; 617-868-2866 casual fare

Toscanini’s 899 Main Street; 617-491-5877 serves homemade ice cream, coffee and baked goods, and weekend breakfast

The Catalyst Collaborative@MIT (866-811-4111) science-themed plays at the Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue