Seeking Sanctum on the Sudbury

Following the events of the past week in greater Boston, I'm sure I wasn't the only person seeking a quiet place for thought and reflection on the "day after".  The place providing that sanctum for me was the Sedge Meadows section of the Sudbury River in Wayland.  Here the river flows through the center of a nearly one-mile wide marsh and it was my hope that some kind of sense could be made of the otherwise senseless events.

Prior to launching at Sherman's Bridge Road, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer stopped for a friendly visit and verified that I would be wearing a life jacket.   For those not aware,  Massachusetts Law requires all kayakers and canoeists to wear a life jacket when on the water between September 15th and May 15th.

Skies were fittingly moody and the gusty winds out of the west seemed intent on slowing my upriver progress.  The opening photo shows how gray things looked as I returned to the river from a side-channel.

Hawks were plentiful and undeterred by the wind...

A lesser yellowlegs sandpiper stayed close to the ground...

The abrupt end of the old causeway below Route 27 made a good spot for lunch...

Still fairly high water levels allowed passage under the 4-arch "bridge to nowhere"...

...and a loop back to the river via its ancient, though now by-passed, course.

One of three brightly colored balloons encountered on the river today...

Back at Sherman's Bridge the day's catch found shelter from the wind...

There were 22 recyclable containers (8 redeemable) and 42 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as a very brittle plastic 5-gallon jug, balloons, plastic bags, and an empty spray paint can.  YTD = 1882

Note that Dunkin' Donuts is kicking off another season with the polystyrene huggies for their iced coffee customers.  Talk about senseless, how can they justify this kind of waste?

Enjoyed my quiet time on the water.  However, no amount of thought on my part could make any sense of recent events and my sympathies go out to the injured, and the families of those killed.

Yesterday will long be remembered as one of the most surreal days ever experienced 'round these parts.