Consider the Gull, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Consider the gull. Everything it owns is with it at all times.  When ready to go, it goes.  It needs neither to find keys, nor grab a coat.  Everything is always at the ready. To paraphrase the late comedian George Carlin, they have no stuff - none to store, none to buy, none to sell, none to trade, none to protect - they have no stuff.  Sometimes I'm envious.

The downside is that winter's coming, the wind is cold off the water, I can pull my coat tighter, cover up with hat and gloves, go home to a warm house - but the gull must endure.  Although many/most are migratory, we have gulls here all year.  Are the ones here in winter from northern Canada and think they are warm in New England by comparison?  Would they rather be in Miami but don't know it exists?  Are they like a lot of northerners who just plain don't like Florida? Or, are they just waiting to get older to go to Florida?  I read that Herring Gulls can live into their late 40's - that may be bird old but it's not Florida old. Oh well.

A Fall Day, Wareham, Massachusetts, USA

I roamed around the Wareham area recently.  This is their Centre Cemetery and fall is in full bloom.

Nice place for the big sleep.

But I think I'd rather be in nearby Onset sitting on this bench for a few more years.

Or taking a cruise in Onset harbor would be nice, too.

I would guess that pretty soon it will be time to haul out and protect many of these boats for the winter.

This vessel is about to leave the Onset dock for the very last sightseeing trip of the season to the nearby Cape Cod canal.

A bench sits empty at the Buzzard's Bay train station. Not too many days left to wear shorts in New England.

I hope Betty Ann (or whomever owns this place now) is sitting in a beach chair somewhere with his/her toes in the warm sand.  I love seasonal ice cream stands - they are so reminiscent of childhood.

It was windy, cloudy, and cool that day and this person appeared to be practicing for winter. Me, I'd rather be on a beach somewhere with my toes in the warm sand.

Beaver Dam Conservation Area, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Plymouth has a number of town-owned properties set aside for conservation.   Given humanity's penchant for thoroughly exploiting the land, this practice of protecting property in its natural state may prove to be one of the greatest legacies we ensure for our future generations. 

The Beaver Dam Conservation Area is located on Beaver Dam Road near the Manomet Waste and Recycling Center. Parking is along the road, maybe room for 6-8 vehicles.

A well-worn trail winds through the woods along Little Island Pond. I am fond of a two-mile out and back walk there. 

Little Island Pond. Sometimes we're all so busy talking to/at each other, we've forgotten how to stop and listen to the sounds of the planet around us.  Like a bird, chipmunk, or squirrel, standing alert, listening, looking, smelling, sensing all that is around them. Standing still and listening to the voice of the woods and earth.

Sagamore Hill, Scusset Beach State Reservation, Sagamore Beach, Bourne, Massachusetts, USA

Once an Indian Council gathering place, and during World War II a coastal military installation to protect the canal, today, the Sagamore Hill historic site is a preserved section of hill, marsh, and woods as part of the Scusset Beach State Reservation and Cape Cod Canal.

A very pleasant trail winds through the parkland and can be accessed from the fishing pier parking lot on the Cape Cod Canal.

I have found that when I walk alone, sometimes my best photographic subject is my shadow. 

Fall still lingers, but it's starting to fade.

Most of the path/trail is wide and easy for brisk walking.

Out and back is about a mile or so.

And at the end of the trail, here's part of the view from the top of the hill. Towering (okay, not really towering) above the distant beach and Cape Cod Bay, Sagamore Hill offers full advantage of its elevation of 82 feet above sea level.  

Here's what you get when you rotate the camera really fast and click the shutter at some point during the rotation.  Digital Art - yeah - sort of.........

Fall, Old Sandwich Road, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Living on the coastal plain of Massachusetts, I sometimes miss not seeing mountains. Although many people do live here, once outside the metropolitan area of Boston, I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of greenery that remains. Pine and oak forests, rolling hills, fields, and sandy soil are common elements. Much of the "New World" still looks and feels natural - except now we have good internet.

Fall seems to be peaking now - on some trees, it's already over. Old Sandwich Road of today began as a trail for the Native Americans and reportedly became the first public road in the new nation. It's not much different now - largely unpaved, towering trees line much of it, farms, streams - nature's beauty held in good stead for the future.

Roads are quieter, tourists have gone home - it's time to start thinking ahead to the holidays and the coming winter.

Kayaks on a Fall Day, Bartlett Pond, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

It is rare to have almost no wind on the pond during the daytime. This was one of those rare times. A wet paddle blade offered some extra reflections.

The rippled surface from paddle strokes coupled with the late afternoon golden light created a nice reflection. I must enjoy the water - because soon - this will all be ice - and ice doesn't reflect ripples nearly as well - and kayaks don't glide on ice.

Fall Market, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

I guessed that this "giant" pumpkin weighed 274 pounds. I did not win the contest. Conveniently, I just read elsewhere that the world's largest pumpkin weighs in at 2,032 pounds!!

I realize from looking at these photos that our markets here are really not much different from images I've posted from other countries - produce is produce the world over, granted, with some local variations based on climate and growing conditions. For example,  I don't ever recall  having fresh local papaya in our outdoor markets in Massachusetts.

I've tried to make the prices legible for you readers in other parts of the world to compare. Of course, most other places in the world would have prices in kilos rather than pounds. (One pound equals about 0.45 kilograms, so $1.99 per pound should equate to about $4.38 per kilo).

$1.29 per pound is about $2.84 per kilo.

By the way, the giant pumpkin was only 228 pounds. Don't ever ask me to guess your weight..........

Head of the Charles Regatta, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

The Head of the Charles Regatta is the largest two-day rowing event in the world attracting more than 9,000 competitors and 300,00 spectators. Held annually  since 1965, a section of the Charles River adjacent to Harvard University campus, Cambridge, and Boston becomes the race course while the river banks and overarching bridges are crowded with fans and spectators.

It was difficult to coax my point-and-shoot camera to provide me a shutter speed-aperture-

ISO combination that froze the oar motion but provided a bit of background blur as I panned the camera. Times like this I wish I had a "real" camera - until I remember a "real" camera won't fit in my shirt pocket.

Spectators included many alumni of competing colleges.  They crowded the designated gathering area on the Boston side of the river. (This boat and others where the racer's backs are to my camera are not in a race but rather are returning down-river to the starting line area).

The Cambridge side of the river was equally crowded with folks and vendors.  Part of the Harvard University campus is on the other side of the treeline.

An eight-person crew passes beneath the John Weeks footbridge across the Charles River. This was a popular viewing spot affording a view directly down onto the river and boats as they passed beneath.

Part of the crowd on the footbridge, more of the Harvard campus in the background.

A four-person crew  passes the Radcliffe Weld Boathouse in the background.

The two-person crew looks like they may have been doing this for a few years. I was fascinated by the whirlpools triggered by the powerful strokes of the oars.

Here's a four-person crew making more whirlpools.

An eight-person crew facing their coxswain in the stern of the boat.

And speaking of the coxswain, this one is in the bow of the boat and reclines. The coxswain steers the boat through both a small rudder and through instructions to the crew regarding rhythm and power of their strokes.

 Since I don't really know anything about this sport of rowing, I can't say who did what to whom but, I think these two boats probably shouldn't be so close to each other.

This image and the next I processed into a high contrast, black and white view that was intending to suggest an old fashioned newspaper article from years gone by. Rowing is one of the oldest sports in the world with some documentation in Egypt more than 3000 years ago - though on papyrus not newsprint.

Like a herd of water-spiders.

More oar-induced whirlpools.

I strolled through Harvard Yard for a taste of fall on the way back to the subway to head home.

Yep, fall in New England can be pretty spectacular.