Sittin' on the Arc of the Bay, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Sittin' on the arc of the bay. (Yes, that is a shameful play-on-words of Otis Redding's 1967 hit tune those of us of a certain age will remember).  As a young man, I used to wonder why all those old men I would see at the shore just sit on benches staring out to sea.  Now I've become one of them.  I think I've learned why:

After a career of work, it is sometimes simply enough to sit, to listen, to watch, to feel the sun on my face, the wind in my hair, the waves in my ears, and be glad to be alive for another day to  breathe another breath and simply enjoy the beauty of this world. And yes, there is a bench right at this spot.

There is something else special about this "arc of the bay."  Perched on the distant bluff is the Manomet Bird Observatory (MBO), a part of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. My son as a young boy, perhaps eleven or twelve years old, first visited MBO and was wowed by the science of ornithology and their work here.  That seed planted by those early visits led to volunteer work, paid work, college, and now, a career in the field.  How special it is to find your passion in life at such an early age and pursue it to such fulfillment.

Individual owners are repairing the wooden stairs that invariably suffered damage during ferocious winter storms.

Not to sound too philosophical but, the sun is always shining somewhere, like this little patch of bright green along the coastline on an otherwise cloudy sky.

Spring is still springing around the area.

More green, more leaves, more bees, more bugs, more light, more warmth.

The days are still getting longer, now about 15 hours between sunrise and sunset, the tadpoles are hatched, and soon the chorus of frogs will serenade the evenings.

I can't for the life of me figure out why this raccoon climbed the tree right outside my window - he was at least 20 feet off the ground. (The lighting was poor at dusk but you get the idea).   He's probably the same critter that recently chewed his way into our compost bin and pulled out various remains of fruits and vegetables.  A vegan raccoon? Perhaps - it is an amazing and wonder-filled world in which we live.

Note: all images made with my cellphone.