Margherita's Day

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Good Evening All,

Here is the whirlwind Margherita whom I have spoken of before. She is now a regular on Sunday morning and after a few weeks here needs no direction at all. She attacks dirt and grime and leaves the rooms spotless. I told her I wanted to take her picture and she thought that was a silly request and was reluctant to stand still for a moment. She allowed only one picture and it is not the best I have taken with my new camera. Margherita and her two sisters are from Peru and, in her own words, she told me they have a strong work ethic there. It shows.

It was a lovely day here with temperatures in the low 60s and plenty of sunshine. Taking advantage of this, Bernice and I walked in the neighborhood in the late morning and Bernice made it the longest walk since her recent spate of taking to the outdoors. We got a close up of the fall flowers and the beginnings of the foliage changes. The dogwoods present a varied picture with their russets glowing in the sun and they seem to be among the first to have sensed the cold days ahead. Only a few trees have yet been willing to give up their leaves as if they are merely tiptoeing into this behavior to try it out.
Later in the day at about 4:00, urged on by Bernice to get some exercise, I drove down to our local beach. In good weather, when I had the time, this walk we call the Sycamore Walk, was a regular feature of my day and it would be good to reestablish the routine. There is a canopy of Sycamore leaves over a walk bordering the water and almost always populated by walkers of all ages, many accompanied by their dogs. The water is Hempstead Harbor that opens northward to Long island Sound On a clear day one can see the western edge of Connecticut over the 13 miles of sound usually sprinkled with sails. Today there was an exceptionally low tide and a wide swath of rocky shingle was exposed to the delight of the hungry gulls. I have long been fascinated and intrigued watching the gulls feed on the now exposed beds of clams and oysters. The shells are too hard fro them to crack in their beaks so they choose a likely meal and fly upward and let the mollusk drop to the scattered pebbles and stones below. If they are lucky they finally crack the shell and have access to their prize. But, there are crafty thieves among these birds who will rush in and snatch away a tasty cracked shell before the hard-working rightful owner descends to claim his meal. This may be why I observed the fruitless behavior of one gull. Instead of rising to a workable height of more than 50 feet this comedian released his shell from a useless height of only 10 feet and immediately rushed down to see the result. No sneak was likely to steal his prize but I paused and watched this optimistic gull try four times with no evident success. I wonder if gulls worldwide employ this feeding technique? Is this an innate behavior or do they learn from their elders? I also watched two cormorants diving for their meals and there were two small groups of ducks splashing in the shallows: wood ducks and mallards. You can see that I do not need my iPod along to be entertained on my walk.

Bernice is increasingly getting to her computer and is managing some emails. Sitting for a prolonged period makes her legs ache so her time there is frustratingly limited. Do not hesitate to send her your emails but be patient about receiving her reply.

Good night all,
Merwin