cards for Ozzie, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

It was so nice out today, I walked down to the park and the woods. Alas, everyone else had the same idea, and the woods were full of riff-raff. It was not a pleasant stroll through the trees, what with loud little kids, packs of teenagers, and yippy dogs everywhere. The water was high again, so I couldn't escape over to the river path, either.

I walked back up through the park, and took pictures of the handmade cards some kids left for Ozzie, the muscovy duck. They have made an arrest in his death, so people are relieved that his killer will come to justice. I also hope he (and his cohorts) get some counseling for their obvious anger issues and lack of respect for life.

Someone kindly donated a stone to place on Ozzie's grave, too. It's amazing how the community has come together over this strange little duck. Who knew he was so beloved? It's really sweet.

My mom said this was big news in Boston, too. She knew this was the park near me when she saw the story on the news.

The geese were enjoying the nice day, too.

DSCN8278, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

Our little friends the cygnets are starting to look more like their parents. They should start getting feathers soon. They're nearly as big as the geese now!

Here's one with mama, so you have a sense of scale:



There were a couple people feeding the birds crackers (despite the numerous signs asking them not to), so Mrs Prissy came out of the water and over to me. When she found I had nothing to eat, she hissed and tried to bite me! Ungrateful bird, after I've made her famous!

Then Mr Prissy started flapping around and hissing in the water, and I saw ominous bubbles rising from the deep. I think the snapper tried to eat him! He'd be quite the meal, I'm sure.

I'm surprised the snapper didn't move a few yards toward shore, where there was plenty of waterfowl for the taking:



I'm glad he didn't, though; there were ducklings amongst the geese and swans.



This has been a week of dealing with Mercury retrograde fallout. Numerous people are on vacation, making it even harder to track down and fix problems. Layout day has been a challenge, as has getting customers to call me back. The last one did, a few minutes ago. With an hour to go before I leave. Nothing like waiting until the very last minute!

I decided not to go to the Gem & Fossil show this weekend. Nobody was responding when I asked if anyone wanted to go with me, and I asked myself why I was going. I go every year, and yeah, it's cool, but it usually gives me a headache from all the stones and a backache from the cement floor. I don't need to look at shinies; I need to go for a walk in the woods. So I gave my tickets to a coworker who's never been to the show, and she was excited about it. That felt much nicer than going to another show where I can't buy anything anyway. :)

daffy, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

Today turned out much nicer than was forecast, so I had another pleasant walk through the park and woods. And look: daffodils!

( pleasant )

tranquility, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

The pond looked so nice in the rising sun this morning that I had to stop and take a pic to share. So tranquil, completely the opposite of yesterday.

When I left here yesterday to go to the gathering at Pazzo's (by the B'ball Hall of Fame), the wind and rain were ferocious. Power was out in Longmeadow, and it took me nearly half an hour to go about five miles (due to traffic being backed up).

The gathering was fun, though. We sat at the bar, a dozen or so of us, and passed around trays of appetizers while sipping our drinks. Turns out the place owes us a bunch of money, and scuttlebutt is that they're going under, so apparently we were taking payment in food & drink. So I was just helping out my company, don't you know. ;)

Anyhoo, back at the park, the swan came over to greet me as usual.



When I went back at lunchtime she was gone, so it looks like they finally caught her. Hopefully she's all cozy at the zoo, back with her mate.

The duck who's been following her everywhere was consoling himself by hanging out with the geese instead.



Poor guy. Geese are not nearly as cool as swans. *g*

pumpkin conga line, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I took a walk down to the park on my lunch break today, with a detour over to Big Y to look at the pumpkins. Aren't they cute?

( I also hung out with the geese and swans... )

family, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

As I was walking out of Heritage Park this afternoon, I spotted a family of geese by the pond, so I went over to see if I could get some pix of the goslings. I haven't seen any since that poor little lost guy a few weeks ago.

The parents were wary, but the kids were quite nonplussed by my presence, so I crept closer, snapping away with my camera.



( more... )

happy toes, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I love this day: the first day of the year when my toes are free. It's (finally) sunny, and currently 60 degrees. A fine April Fool's Day, indeed.

The joke on me today was that I had to deal with a creepy, paranoid customer who was placing a political ad. That's an hour I'd like back, please. The real joke is that the dude running against him is even worse. So glad I don't live in this town!

It's still quite soggy down at the park, but the sunshine makes it seem not quite so bad.( ahhh, warmth )

grab, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

It's so wonderful to be able to spend my lunch break at the park again! Gods, I missed that. It makes all the difference in the world to be able to get out of the building for an hour.

I found these burrs along the edge of the grass; it took a couple of tries to get the camera to focus on them, but when it did, *bam*! It was like magic. It understood what I was trying to do. We're becoming good friends, this camera and I. We're still learning each other's idiosyncrasies, but having fun along the way.

This guy was a little too far away to get a really clear shot of, but I love the look on his (her?) face:



There were several dozen geese floating on the pond, and as I was leaving, another large flock started descending for a pit stop. It was quite loud. Geese are a loquacious lot, aren't they? *g*

calm, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

All of the ice on the pond down the street has melted. Two weeks ago, people were skating here! I've never seen it melt so fast, and it hasn't been *that* warm. Wow.

There were at least a hundred geese on the pond. They seem quite happy to see open water there.
( honk honk )

sunny break, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

It was a mostly grey day, but the sun came out a couple of times for a couple of minutes, and I managed to catch one or two of those moments. It wasn't all that cold, maybe 40 degrees, so of course everything was slushy and/or muddy.

( slipping and sliding )