A Train Trip Along the Frosty Coast

This has been a brutal winter up here in the Boston area. (Come to think of it, it's all been in February!) Well, in the midst of snow on snow on snow on snow, I traveled to Philly an a frosty day. You know it's been cold when the salt water of the bays and estuaries freezes.

Getting around Boston had become tough, with the transit system we call the T essentially having a melt-down:  shut down for days and limited services when it was up and running.  But fortunately, Amtrak was still running, so I got to Philly and back with some reasonable days.

I always take a seat on the left side, so I can see the coastline:  the beaches and saltmarshes and estuaries that stretch from Rhode Island through the meadowlands of Jersey.  

Even the sky was frosty on the 18th of February, rendering the photos in a natural sepia tone.  Despite the cold and snow all around, there was special beauty in frozen waterscapes that passed by my window.

Since many of these vistas are far from urban, I'm sharing them here (instead of my photo blog, Urban Vistas).

A diffused and haloed sun shines through a frosty sky in Rhode Island

Crossing the frozen Pawcatuck River, leaving Westerly, RI and entering Pawcatuck, CT

High above the frosty waters, a bird of prey has a great view of the Little Narragansett Bay approaching Stonington, CT

Frozen estuaries near Stonington, CT

A weak sun shines over a sepia landscape of bare trees and frozen waters.

Open waters near Mystic, CT

Riverfront walkway next to the tracks at New London, CT

Reconstruction the Boardwalk at Niantic, CT

Frozen estuaries near Guilford, CT

Another frozen stream approaching Branford, CT

Crossing the Hutichenson River, entering the Bronx

Steam clouds rise from power plants in Queens, seen from crossing the viaduct to the Hell Gate Bridge

Frozen  Jersey meadowlands with the Pulaski Skyway in the background

The Tinge in the Leaves

The tinge of color can be seen in the trees.  The  first mini-season of Autumn is upon us.  The chilly breezes are beginning to blow. Our love affair with the warmth of summer is ending. It is a sad parting.

The music of Autumn is melancholy.  It is the season of separation, of leaving, of dying.  The lyrics were written by  Joni Mitchell, and sung (in my head) by Tom Rush:

    "I get the urge for going

      When the meadow grass is turning brown

      Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in."

The song speaks to the loss of separation that comes with the season.   The separation of a friend who is leaving, of the changes in nature, with birds and geese migrating, and the grasses in the meadows dying.  

It is not yet officially Autumn, but the signs of the season are upon.  

The leaves are turning brown.  
Summertime is falling down.  
Winter's closing in.
Winter's closing in.

I Hate Winter Hair!

We have had a really brutal, cold, and dry winter. It's horrible for hair!  It's all dry and sometimes frizzy.  But without it's normal curl, it just drops straight, especially after I've been wearing a warm wool hat on a single-digit degree day.

For someone with relatively short hair, and a bit thin in the front, it can be a disaster. Tell me about thin hair!  A year or so ago, a cousin said I look just like my grandmother and great aunt who had thin hair, especially in the front!

The photo on the left below was last May, when at least I could get some curl in my short, somewhat thin hair.  Yes, I do get it colored; being "distinguished" with gray is oversold, in my opinion!  Last time I got a color and cut, and my stylist teased up a few waves on top, a homeless guy on the street asking for a smoke said I looked like "a young Rod Stewart!"

After a complement like that, I'm thinking winter isn't all bad if I can only just hide my hair under my nice, warm winter hat all the time!

At least in the spring and summer,
I can get some curl in my hair.

A young Rod Stewart?  I don't
think so!  But I like the "young" part

First Flower of Spring!

Wow! Can you believe it? A flower blooms in February in Cambridge!

It was Feb. 14th, Valentine's Day, and there it was along a side street: a crocus grows in Cambridge.

What a harbinger of spring!

It’s still cold, but the end of winter is coming (some day)!

.....