Out and About, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Spring is springing on the Boston Common........



And in the Public Garden........



Where tulips are starting to bloom......



And the flowering trees are budding out....



And the swan boats are full of passengers once again......



Silently cruising the lagoon with their quiet pedal power.....



Spring is always such a treat after the previous winter!



On the Rose Kennedy Greenway, my always favorite outdoor building mural changes regularly throughout the year.

Ah, Boston............as fine a city as anywhere in the world.

Note to readers: I have been experimenting with using the Instagram platform. Please check it out, my user name is: joemanomet.


 

Spring - Out and About, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

What's more spring-like than the opening of the Boston Common Frog Pond carousel! This is my attempt at an artsy image that suggests the motion.



And speaking of an artsy image, I wandered by the "Daffodils" art installation in the Seaport District when the wind was blowing strong and caught a few of them fully inflated.



Over in the Public Garden, nature's art in the form of tulips are starting to bloom.



The lagoon in the Public Garden has been refilled and the Swan Boats are at the ready to give rides to  tourists.



The pedal-powered Swan Boats are a quiet way to cruise around and see some sights in the Public Garden. The calendar may say spring but, the passengers look dressed for winter.



Near Faneuil Hall, this row of restaurants is getting ready for al fresco dining on their outdoor patios. These outdoor dining options became popular during the last few years during the pandemic.  Not without some controversy, private business using public space has generated concerns for some.

Note to readers: I have been experimenting with using the Instagram platform. Please check it out, my user name is: joemanomet. My goal and intention is to post one image a day.

A Day in the Life of Pond, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Back from my big city visit to New York, it is a treat to hear the silence and natural sounds of the outdoors again. These deer stay hidden most of the time. They are skittish of humans but, eating the spring greenery by the pond is apparently irresistible after a winter of scrounging for food.

To see one lounging about like this is also very unusual - not just the lounging but, just staying there hanging out in the open. Usually, whenever they see me moving around inside by the glass they immediately run away.



They rarely walk in the water but, those fresh leaves at the pond edge are too tasty to resist.



Even mom and her fawn were in the water. That is especially unusual for her to come out in the open like this - much less to walk in the water.



The fawn was very tentative as the water was almost deep enough to cover the entire length of it's legs.



This one came over to the house side of the pond to munch on some fresh greenery.

The pond environment creates a rich habitat for many critters not just the deer.



The above Great Blue Heron was fishing for frogs at the pond edge while.......



....a companion observed from a higher tree branch nearby.



This resident Red-shouldered Hawk landed on a dead log beside the pond, shook like crazy leaving this oddly disheveled and fluffy look to his feathers.

Later, he looked much better.  

These two turkeys sought refuge in the treetops as a gray fox trotted through the yard.

I caught a bad reflection from the glass in the upper right corner but, you get the idea.



Watching this little duckling keeping up with mom as the rain peppers the water surface. Mom was going her normal speed so you know that the little one was pedaling furiously to keep up and keep close. Another day of life in the suburban wild.

All these critter images I captured from inside the house through double-paned glass with a point-and-shoot camera (Sony WX-500). It has a 720mm equivalent zoom feature and is handy for distant wildlife though not particularly sharp.



And lastly, the human wildlife. Over at nearby White Horse Beach, it was surprisingly empty. With the new town sticker system in place to allow only Plymouth residents to park near the beach, I stopped by on both a Saturday and Sunday afternoon about 3pm and found empty parking spaces both times. That is a first in my 20+ years here.

Spring Colors, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

I've have wondered where the 64-crayon box color, "Spring Green," came from. I think it must have been from here in New England - like the Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary.



Tidmarsh is located along Beaver Dam Road in Manomet and offers about 450-acres to wander and enjoy.



These were just up the road from Tidmarsh near Geller's Corner. 

And these, too.

After the browns and grays of winter, the green of spring is most welcome at local ponds. The deer enjoy munching on it, too.

Signs of Spring, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

A spring thunderstorm and shower was passing over downtown Plymouth and the harbor area as I wandered. Above, is the replica of the original Mayflower vessel which brought the Pilgrims to this area in the fall of 1620. It was a 10-week sail with about 102 passengers and 30 crew packed on this 100' sailing vessel. Imagine that - hardy folk back in those days 400 years ago.



The Plymouth Rock lives under this portico commemorating where the Pilgrims supposedly landed in what later became Plymouth. The storm and rainfall has moved out over the harbor and stretch of Long Beach.



A foreboding sky dumped intermittent rain from the passing clouds amidst splashes of direct sunlight.



The clouds covered the old Post Office building in downtown Plymouth.

At the many Plymouth ponds, spring also heralded the return of Green Herons from their winters farther south.



Azaleas exploding in color mark the turn of the season, too. A nice place to be - Plymouth.

Hints of Spring, Manomet, Massachusetts, USA

The young folk in short sleeves and shorts walking down the stairs is a sure sign of spring.



The winter was kind to the beach this year - lots of sand remains in the places it's supposed to be for humans to enjoy the most.

I like the stark simplicity of this view.  The upper arm of the Cape Cod land mass is about twenty miles distant on the far horizon. It is a stunningly beautiful area, southeastern Massachusetts including Cape Cod. The water temperature has risen to 40 degrees F, too. It will approach 70 degrees F in summer.

15,000+ Steps, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

It is another glorious spring day to be out and about in my favorite big city - Boston. From my base at Post Office Square, I visited the areas of downtown, the North End, Beacon Hill, the Esplanade, the Public Garden, Downtown Crossing and,  15,000+ steps later ended up back where I began.

Above, the weekend Haymarket market is back open and folks are out in public to shop. This market has been a fixture for hundreds of years and is one of the oldest open-air markets in the United States.



Folks were good about wearing their anti-Covid masks - both the shoppers and the vendors. The Custom House is in the distance against the sky.



Over in the North End neighborhood, many restaurants have reopened for outside service and the look is much different this time around. The city closed off the parking lane on both sides of Hanover Street so restaurateurs could use the space for outside dining. What a wonderful outcome! I hope it becomes a permanent feature of the North End. It makes it feel like I am in Italy - where diners and humans get priority instead of parking cars along the curb.



My only complaint is that the use of metal crowd control barriers and the ugly plastic white and orange automobile traffic control barriers are way too tacky for a long term solution. If curb service becomes a permanent feature, I hope we see a more aesthetically pleasing solution......



........maybe barrels and ropes and planters and hedges for example.



It is such a different ambiance than in the past.



This was another delightful addition to Hanover Street, too - a second floor balcony opera-style live singer to regale the passers-by on the sidewalk below.



I don't know if the North End has tried curbside dining in the past but, I hope it works out for the restaurateurs and becomes permanent in the warm weather seasons.



It is quiet in the shady space of the private Louisville Square park in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. Many/most of these brick townhomes are valued in excess of $10M each according to Zillow!



The tourist magnet Acorn Street didn't have many lookers when I passed by today. These properties are valued in the single-digit millions.



Window box gardens are ever-popular with the residents.



Another narrow old lane in the Beacon Hill area. (Cedar Lane Way)



The ducklings at the "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture (based on the 1941 Robert McCloskey book of the same name) in the Public Garden are sporting multi-color vests in acknowledgement of the recent Supreme Court decision which ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.



The performing arts theatres are all still dark along Washington Street.



And not many pedestrians out in the Downtown Crossing area because shops aren't open yet for indoor browsing.



Along the Charles River, the Community Boating fleet is still quiet..... maybe next weekend they can reopen.

It is strange being in such a dynamic vibrant city, Boston, but seeing so few people and so few signs of pedestrian life.