Orange Glow

Sunset on the deck overlooking Nathan Hale Beach, Huntington Bay, Long Island. What had started out as a warm evening with a not terribly promising sky transformed into this magical moment. Un-retouched, uncropped; just as it happened around 7:30 PM on Friday April 24. I can hardly believe this is New York in late Spring.
Click to embiggen.

Daydreaming on the LI Shore

It's a warm Saturday in Spring on Long Island. What could be better than the Young Rebel Goombas recording Daydream Smile in the studio and outside the gentle waves lapping the Long Island Sound? Maybe the Goombas live tonite at Off Key Tikki? Enjoy!

Earth Day 2009: The Beach Edition

I'd defy anyone to walk along the beach this morning and not be inspired


by the remnants of last night's mist swirling off the Sound


by the random pink shells amongst the wave-smoothed pebbles


or the assembly of worms washed up on the shore

If a tree falls...

Made a HUGE mistake in walking up the neighbor's drive to chat. Sorry, that came out wrong, the chat was very nice, as is the neighbor. No, the mistake I made was to look at my yard from the north side, the side of neglect, an area that we cleared of debris and dead shrubs wrapped in burlap a couple of years ago but that we have done nothing to since then. Because we don't rake the leaves here, allowing them to smother the weeds and enrich the soil, the ground is about 4" higher on our side of the fence; there are a few branches that fell during the winter and many twigs. Generally the area looks unkempt but the source of my dismay was a huge conifer that has fallen sideways and is being propped up by the fence. If it were to fall completely it would probably take out the fence too...
As the tree is still green we guess it's still alive but half its roots are out of the ground. We've no idea how long it's been like that, whether the roots have frozen in this season of frigid temperatures, but we have to try to save it. So the mission for tomorrow is to dig around the side of the rootball and see if we can prop it up, then brace it with stakes. That's the plan anyway. Of course the whole venture could go horribly wrong, the tree could fall on the person supporting it...
So many scenarios, none of them good.

I might as well be in the frozen north...

While the rest of the country is enjoying the first week of Spring, the north-east is stuck in some sort of permanently frosty winter: icy blasts, temps in the 20s and 30s, occasional snow showers - I could be in northern Canada.


Speaking of which, I layered up yesterday and walked to the beach where a line of Canada geese were surveying the waves on the Sound.


If I had been on my own they'd have stood on the sand patiently but I had the dogs. So up they flew.


And landed maybe 6' nearer to Canada in the safety of the surf.


Nice job Sadie!

Winter beach

Fleets Cove Beach before the snowstorm. Last week's snow has frozen on the sand and more is predicted for tonight. We're not even half-way through winter yet and I'm over it.

Beach Finds

I never find anything useful or interesting on the beach - an empty beer bottle maybe or an old cracked comb, doggy poop certainly; but not the sea glass or shells that others seem to pick up so easily. The other day, though, I hit the jackpot - an unspoilt clamshell, a bleached white stone and this piece of amber prettiness. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

Imagery

As the financial meltdown continues, with news that Playboy is now a junk stock with no future, I stepped out to the beach to take some shots. It's pretty stormy out there, too. These are the words that kept leaping to mind: Bail, bailout, maelstrom, sinking, ship.....


Then, to the side of the road I spotted one perfect, beautiful flower on a scrap of wasteground, thriving in spite of the wind, the peeing dogs and the occasional truck. There's always hope....

Labor Day 2008

So this is where summer has been hiding.

Spring Day, ha!

Last week it was upper 70s. Today it's cold and raining. This is just to remind me it will get better



And soon we will go barefoot on the beach again

Spring at the beach

The wind is coming from the north-east, which accounts for the chilliness but it's bringing the smell of the ocean to Long Island Sound. Two sailboats, a speedboat and a skiff are on the Bay, the sun is shining out of a bright blue sky and Jeff's Seafood has soft shell crabs so it must be Spring.

Beach Stones

We walked on the beach early this morning, in celebration of temperatures in the fifties. The tide was low and calm and the water crystal clear. I took this photo on the edge of the Sound with all the tiny stones and shells glistening through the water in the morning sun. It reminded me that Spring is almost here.

Looking East

Thunderstorms and downpours meant we were inside for much of yesterday, but when the rain finally cleared out around 4PM there was a phenomenal sunset, so I took the dogs to the beach. The setting sun reflected pink and grey on the calm waters, and the lights were just coming on over at Eaton's Neck and Asharoken. So pretty.


Not quite as cute as Polly, though.


Or Sadie, for that matter.

Facing South

Well, it didn't reach 65F, in fact the temperature was much the same as yesterday, but it was still warm enough to walk on the beach.

Xmas Walk

Walking on the beach, 3 pm. 25 December 2007

Submerged rocks

We temporarily interrupt this blog to bring you a picture of waves swirling around a submerged rock.
Peaceful isn't it?

Autumn at the Beach

2 pm, Monday October 22 2007 and it's 73F. We've had an unbelievable run of beautiful weather in NY. It hasn't been this warm through the end of October since we moved here. Someone termed in "perma-summer". That pretty much sums it up. The leaves are changing and falling and they've removed the awning down at the beach because summer is over but you wouldn't know that from the temperature or the number of boats out on the Sound.

Sunset at the beach

wood table
Originally uploaded by modernemama

The last rays reflected on the wood table. Peeling paint can be pretty.

Sunset toward Huntington Harbor

Sunset toward Huntington Harbor
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Exhausted.
No words.

Long Island Sound - 7 AM

Long Island Sound
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Looking toward Connecticut from Nathan Hale Beach, Huntington, NY